Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Moonlight Wolves #2: Das Rudel der Finsternis.
I had a lot of praise for book one, so let's see how book two in this series/trilogy fares! Spoilers ahead!
Now back at his home-pack and no longer under constant threat of the Shadow Wolves, Tamani has to get used to life as a pack wolf. He has the basics from his time with the Guardians, but the interactions between pack wolves are different as there, and he now has a relatively lower rank than before. He's also secretly breaking wolf law by sneaking out to be with his partner Shira, who is from another pack. The pack starts to feel anxious when they start scenting strange wolves in their territory. It seems that the culprit is a new pack at the fjord, a pack naming themselves the Pack if Darkness. This is yet another foe for Tamani and the pack to face.
Okay, so, thing is, despite this being a series/trilogy (I don't think it's known how many books this series will have yet in total?), book one was a rather self-contained book. Sure, there were a few plot threads left open such as Tamani's bond with Shira, but overall it was a pretty conclusive ending.
This is not the case with this second book, as this book seems to be mostly setup for what is going to happen in the third book. I don't say that this is outright bad or anything, but it does make the story feel like it drags a bit and is a bit uneventful. The book's title refers to the Pack of Darkness, the new pack terrorizing the locals of the fjord, however as antagonists they are introduced very late into this book.
There's a few hints given early on about traces of wolves being found on the Ice Pack's territory, but the whole payoff of learning who these new villains actually are doesn't happen until late into the last third of the book. Which feels like it's a bit too late, in my opinion, especially if the book is named after them but they're barely in the book.
The Pack of Darkness also really doesn't do all that much in this book yet, by which I mean, there's no grand epic battle or plan to defeat them yet nor do we get to know them properly. There's a few smaller battles with them, but by the end of the book they're still at large and have vowed to return to attack our heroes once again. So this book is a whole lot of setup, but barely any payoff. We do finally know who our mysterious new antagonists are by the end of the book, but there's just so little we're being given on them here aside from a few encounters with them where they threaten and attack Tamani's pack. We don't even have any named individuals among them yet, except for a she-wolf and her pups who ran away from them. But like, no named antagonists on the side of evil yet.
With the Shadow Wolves last book, they were both established early on and we also learned a lot about them before their ultimate defeat, and it was all paced rather well. We didn't just learn what they wanted and why they are evil, but also got to know quite a few individuals among them (some good, some evil, some more morally gray) and just the whole culture and beliefs of their faction. This led to the Shadow Wolves not just being well-established, but it also clearly showed that they're not all over the top evil. Yes, some individuals among them are/were, but there were also quite a few nice Shadow Wolves, who would eventually go on to form the more morally neutral or even good Shadow Pack.
The Pack of Darkness so far, we don't really know anything about them. They're evil and they want to take over the land and terrorize the local packs. That's what we know. No motivation, no backstory, not even any named individuals among them we should be fearing, not even their leader or the subordinate who led the attack against the Ice Pack. This is just such a stark contrast compared to last book where everything was very well-established and paced before they were ultimately defeated. If this arc, this Pack of Darkness arc, is supposed to span two books (presumably ending in the third book based on its synopsis), that's fine, but it should be paced better.
I'd personally have introduced the Pack of Darkness a little earlier into book two, and established more about them other than them just attacking our heroes a few times. The she-wolf who ran away with her pups is interesting, but still does not give us a lot of information about the Pack of Darkness. So I'd have used book two for a few smaller battles (like it is now) and then establishing at least the very bare basics of this new antagonistic group. Not everything, but even just a few named wolves among them and a reason why they want to take over could do a whole lot.
Okay, this aside, the rest of the book was still decent. I like learning how wolf packs function in this world, kind of based on the old alpha-beta-omega theory but with some unique twists thrown in. We get to properly know Tamani's pack, the Ice Pack, in this book (they were barely in the first) and there's some interesting characters among them. My favorites were probably Alasi and Neko, the pack's healer and her student. Neko is actually one of the former Shadow Wolves from book one, but you just feel so bad for the guy in this book. He's desperately trying to be a good healer but the entire pack except for a few seem to hold his heritage and even fur color against him. Alasi is a cool and neat mentor, though. There were a few more likable (and unlikable) characters in the pack, but it was neat to finally see this wolf society properly established. Last book's Guardians and Shadow Wolves all work a little different from how normal wolf packs function in this universe.
The Tamani and Shira plotline is...there. I'm usually not super into romances in general, especially forbidden ones, but at least it wasn't a super central focus of the book. Tamani does visit Shira a few times and thinks about her from time to time, but so far the main focus lies more on the goings-ons within the Ice Pack itself and of course the unknown threat plaguing the packs.
However with the ending established I do think it's going to play a large part in the next books because, guess what, Tamani is a father now and Shira has given birth to his pups. Ruh roh, that's not allowed in wolf law! So that'll no doubt lead to some drama next book, however I obviously won't be judging that here because that's not what this review is about.
For now, I'll say I kind of like how Shira's and Tamani's forbidden relationship was handled. Yes, it was there and it's not a trope I'm very fond of, but the fact that it's a plotline that's more in the background and not constantly at the forefront I makes it a lot more bearable to me. And the brief forbidden romance scenes Tamani and Shira did have together in the book weren't badly written. I'm not super into their relationship or anything, but you do feel that these two care about each other.
So overall I'd say this is just a small step below the last book, which I was very fond of. Not perfect but still a solid followup. It's a bit more flawed than the first, but still good in its own right. I wonder how Tamani will deal with the Pack of Darkness and his new pups third book (possibly the conclusion?)!
Rating: 3.5/5
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