Book Review: The Wolf's Trail by Thomas D. Peacock

 

I've owned the ebook of this for a while but never actually checked it out before. Let's change that. Spoilers ahead.

This is the tale of Zhi-shay', an elderly wolf who tells his nephews and nieces various Ojibwe stories, which showcase how the wolves and the Ojibwe's stories parallel each other in some aspects.

I'd say that this is overall a pretty good book. I enjoyed learning these various stories from another culture, and it being a xenofiction is of course a nice bonus.

However, I was a bit dismayed to see that this book doesn't really have a plot. I kept expecting an actual plot to show up, and for Zhi-shay''s stories to tied into this plot somehow, but instead it's literally just the old wolf telling these stories. Which is still okay, but I think that the book would've been stronger if there had been an actual plot, or at least a little bit of an ongoing storyline outside of the Ojibwe stories being told. This would in turn endear us more to the wolf characters (who are pretty bland as-is, some don't even have names). I think that it's a bit of missed potential to not have an actual plot happening here, which could then be strengthened by having the Ojibwe stories tying into the plot somehow (or being a parallel to the plot or something).

There's also some instances of the wolves having concepts of very human things which don't always make a lot of sense. How does a wolf really understand what stuff like human jobs, various human religions and electricity are? And these are just a few examples. I can suspend my disbelief a little that the wolves would know of certain human aspects (such as the Ojibwe stories, which are said to be close to those of the wolf's in this universe, and some simpler human concepts), but at times Zhi-shay' seems more like an omnipotent human narrator than just a wolf telling a story. Which goes against the framing device being used here.  

I also spotted a few formatting errors in my ebook edition, and I also have to deduct a point for the book using the long-outdated alpha-beta-omegas theory in regards to the wolves, which was already debunked for 21 years when this was first published, so the author has no excuse for using it here.

Overall I still enjoyed this book, it's rather educative if you want to learn more about Ojibwe culture. But if you want a book with an actual plot or characters to really grow attached to, look elsewhere.

Rating: 3.5/5