I Read What?!

So, here we are. I've made it halfway through this entire fucking series. Track of the White Wolf.

Did it pass the test of time?

Actually, yes. It was surprisingly readable. Roberson's at a fifty percent average. I'd compare it to Star Trek movies, but let's be real here, both the Motion Picture and Search for Spock deserve better than to be compared to Shapechangers or Legacy of the Sword.

That doesn't mean it doesn't have flaws though. So let's start there.

Plot:

So, this book is kind of the opposite of Legacy of the Sword. Instead of a hackneyed attempt at a single plot that relies on stupidity and bullshit, we have a lot of plots that all generally make sense and don't really require anyone to be unforgivably moronic. But there's too fucking much of them.

Let's count the separate plots that come to mind. Don't be surprised if I miss one or two.

1) Niall's complicated relationship with his race and heritage, his doubts, fears and inadequacies.

It's almost not fair to count this, because this is Niall's specific personal arc. But we'll move onto event related stuff:

2) Niall's captivity in Erinn.

3) Alaric/Lillith/Varien's machinations through Gisella (and Ian's enslavement.)

4) Strahan's machinations in Solinde and the rebellion.

5) Cheysuli extremists want to replace Niall and eventually get rid of him.

6) Homanan rebels want to put Carillon's bastard on the throne.

7) Plague!

That's a lot of fucking plots. And they're not all created equal. It really would have been better if Roberson had jettisoned some of these plots so she could devote more time to the ones that worked.

This is how I'd do it:

Obviously, we keep Niall's emotional/identity arc. No question there.

We keep the Erinn captivity and the Alaric/Lillith/Varien stuff. It's got the most significance for later on in the series. And of course, this being a generational epic, we want the generations. Erinn stays because I think it's good for Niall to have a part of his story that's completely divorced from the complicated burden of being Cheysuli in Homana.

Lose the bullshit in Solinde. It served no purpose in this book. Niall and Ian showed up, got a fight scene or two, then figured out that this was meant to keep Homana divided so the plague could ravage them. Once they left, it was an afterthought again. Lose it. It'd be easy enough to think up some other reason for Donal to be away for a while. (Maybe he's going to consult with some shar tahls about the plague?)

We can, however, keep the plague. That's probably the strongest area of suspense.

Keep the a'saii plot. That was good and ties most clearly in with Niall's emotional arc. Isolde is great, Ceinn is hateful, and the resolution, while a bit quick, worked for me. (They're possibly not done for good...)

Lose the Carollan plot. Or better yet, move it back a generation and put it in Legacy of the Sword. Look, I understand the appeal of having Niall be not Homanan enough for the Homanans as a parallel to the a'saii plot, but this was fucking insulting and honestly dehumanizing. Carollan doesn't get to be a human, he's a plot device. And this whole thing requires him to somehow be too stupid or passive to realize he's being used?

But I think it could have worked in Legacy. Carollan is supposedly thirty-six, but he really should be thirty-nine to accommodate the timeline. He was conceived before Carillon took back Homana. That would make him about 17-19 in Legacy of the Sword.

That's the perfect age for a young person to get ambitious. He can still be deaf, but he's actively involved in wanting recognition from his father or taking his father's place after his death. Let's lose the idiot plot where Donal is kidnapped because he would rather skip town than actually rule his country. Instead, let's put Strahan here. Maybe he's manipulating this young man. Donal's one strength is his affinity for children. We didn't get to appreciate that after Sef was revealed to be Strahan. Carollan's not a child, but he's not long past it. They find common ground and Carollan relinquishes his claim. That way, Donal actually would have gotten to fight for the kingdom he's been handed.

We can even work it in so that Carollan still gets to pop up to help Niall. Let's say, having made friends, Donal gets Carollan an estate somewhere. Carollan, being a man of his own mind, eventually gets tired of being cooped up and goes off on his own. Eventually, he meets Taliesin and they do the whole cottage thing. Niall still gets the weirdness of meeting a long lost relative with his face (but really, the Niall looks like Carillon thing had its real pay out with Rowan, so it's not that necessary.)

There you go! I personally think this is much more workable. I want Carollan to still be deaf, by the way, but there's no reason he can't still be active. Maybe Strahan is helping him conceal it/magically compensate.

Anyway, we'd still be left with five of our seven plots, but they'd weave together better. And we'd have a little bit more time for the good stuff.

--

Characters:

Now here's where things get good. I think the characters in Track of the White Wolf are excellent. They're well developed and interesting, and none of them really hit a wrong note for me. Except Donal, who didn't improve enough over time.

Niall is a great lead. He's the opposite of Donal. He's not the chosen one. He's not special, or at least not beyond being the latest link in the prophecy. Things don't come easy for him at all. Eventually, he gets his lir and his respect, but he really has to fight for it. He grows into himself, and it's nice to see.

Ian kind of exists to suffer. Rather like Bronwyn before him. That said, because Niall and Ian actually have a relationship, it means more. Ian is a good older brother, and as liegeman, he reminds me of the best of Finn...without the homoeroticism, thank god. I've never been a Wincest fan.

The portrayal of women this time is decent, I think. Like Donal before him, Niall is torn between two women. But we actually get to know both women this time. It's not great that Niall takes a mistress knowing he'll be married soon, but I sympathize more with him because I see how it happened. I see Deirdre and I like Deirdre. I can see why Niall loves her.

Isolde doesn't get any more page time than Bronwyn did, I suppose, but she did get to have a moment of triumph. I AM annoyed that her death was off-page and essentially an afterthought after Rowan's. But that's a minor complaint.

Lillith is a fun villain. I'd argue she's the most successful villain so far. She's got exactly what she wanted. She's a horrible rapist who I want to see die horribly, but I don't mind enjoying her antics before she goes.

Gisella is...complicated. There's ableism issues here too, if you think about it. And I'm definitely not okay with the trend of having the woman who looks most Cheysuli be the villain (well, victim in this case, but you know what I mean.) To be fair, per Legacy, Isolde is also pretty dark. But I think it's interesting that Isolde doesn't get a description at ALL in this book.

But I do think Gisella is tragic and sympathetic. And I'm still aghast that she ends up being sent BACK to the people who made her kill her pets.

As for our returning characters: Aislinn got to have her own small growth arc, and that was nice to see. She remains dignified and intelligent and I love her. Rowan is still great, and his death was very affecting.

And Donal...well, Donal continues to suck. But also he's dead now! WHOO HOOOOOO!

--

So yeah. I'm contemplating writing up a retrospective on the first half of the series on a whole. I'm not sure there's much I'll say that I haven't said here though. The series is very much a mixed bag. We have two very readable books and the two worst books I've ever read.

If I had to rank them...that's actually tough. I'd have a tough time picking best or worst.

Song of Homana and Track of the White Wolf are both very readable. Song is better in terms of plot: it's very specific and directed. There's a lovely momentum to the impending tragedy. I did not like the random diabolous ex machina that was Alix's kidnapping. But everything else worked nicely.

White Wolf is better in terms of character, I think. I mean, if nothing else, it's nice to have a lead who isn't trying to commit marital rape. (Well, as I said, I'm not sure how much Gisella can really consent. But that said, I also understand that Niall's not necessarily aware of that. It's more complicated.)

I guess, for the sake of homoeroticism and epic tragedy, Song of Homana wins out, but it's a close match.

As for worst...same problem really.

I think objectively Shapechangers is the worst. There's no redeeming factor to that bullshit at all, where at least Legacy of the Sword had a seed of a good plot. But god, Legacy was such a torture to read.

In the end, from best to worst: Song of Homana (1), Track of the White Wolf (2), Legacy of the Sword (3), Shapechangers (fuck off)

Okay, well, I'll have to decide on the next book soon enough. See you later!

So last chapter, Niall continued on his quest alone, faced Strahan, and learned that all is not well at home. Also a falcon might have swooped down and ripped out his eye. Oops.

I think I'm going to need a warning for this one. Ableism, this time. You'll see what I mean.

( I don't have a warning for an unsatisfying resolution to a lingering plot thread but sometimes I think I should )

The curse of the generational epic is that eventually we see all the characters we know and love (or in this series, despise) eventually die. And now we've just said goodbye to our last remnant of Shapechangers. Farewell dude, you were the best part of two terrible books.

( Tragic is as tragic does - but why couldn't we have lost Donal instead??? )

Last time, we learned that the plague reached Homana-Mujhar, causing our heroes to race back where they'll use their remarkable knowledge of medicine to save a lot of people.

Except, you know, they don't have a remarkable knowledge of medicine, so fuck if I know what they're actually going to accomplish.

( But they'll look good doing it? )

So we're entering into the last third of the book! And you know what? It hasn't been a bad trip so far. Obviously I've had a few complaints here and there about certain plot inconsistencies and illogic, and I'm annoyed that Donal is still alive, but having likable protagonists who aren't rapists* or idiots goes a long way.

(* I mean, okay, it IS pretty questionable as to how much Gisella can consent to anything, but I'm willing to give Niall something of a value dissonance pass here. I can buy that the folks of this setting probably don't have the best understanding of legal capacity.)

I could wish the plot was a little less busy: we have a plague, a war in Solinde against Strahan, Alaric/Lillith's machinations in Atvia, a bastard claimant causing a potential civil war, and Cheysuli extremists all in the same story. That's a bit much. But we'll see how it shakes out.

( And honestly I'll take a crap plot with good characters over a good plot with terrible characters any day )

So last time, Niall had his ceremony and may have fixed his sister's relationship. Maybe. Jury's still out on whether or not Ceinn's pulled his head out of his ass.

( But he's got a shot now )

So last time, we got some lessons in shapeshifting and a brotherly reunion. Now we get to go to Clankeep!

( Ought to be fun! )

So last time, Niall managed to have some issues with both siblings. He's also suddenly run off, feeling empty.

( Is it mind control? Or is it Maybelline? )

So last time, Donal was a dick. I know that's not really new, but it's worth highlighting, nonetheless.

( And Jennifer Roberson forgot her own story again... )

So last time, we learned that Bronwyn's life is even sadder than it sounded in Legacy of the Sword, and Gisella did something to Niall that didn't sound remotely good.

( In the end, I feel like it's all Donal's fault )