Hunger Makes the Wolf

Hob Ravani is a member of a biker outfit on Tanegawa’s World. Tanegawa’s World is a hardscrabble place, a dry and desolate world that wouldn’t draw any interest, even from the Transrift corporation, save for its considerable mineral resources. Those resources, and those resources alone, make the desert planet valuable. It’s not Arrakis, but Tanegawa’s World is still a prize to the only corporation with the capacity to travel to the stars. Not even the Federal Union that ostensibly is the government of humanity and all of its worlds has the secret to their Rift drive.And then there is the fact that some people who live on Tanegawa’s World are affected by the strange contaminants on the planet. It IS an alien world, after all, and humans and their works and creations are intruders upon it. Humans who live away from the filtered, protected city of Newcastle are exposed to the world. They can develop unusual, exotic powers, powers that are feared by the corporation, and everyone else on the planet for that matter. People with this contamination gone feral, called witchiness by the locals, are a breed apart. People like Hob.Hunger Makes the Wolf, the debut novel from Alex Wells, tells Hob’s story.Hob’s story is a classic one of rising to power and authority, and moving to do what is right. As we meet Hob, she is just an enforcer in The Ghost Wolves, a for-hire outfit that really is not much more than a gang. They ride bikes, they hire themselves out for pay (rather than being raiders and reavers) and they exist in the liminal space of the desert. Hob does not have much authority within The Ghost Wolves, even given her affinity and relationship with Old Nick, their leader. However, one inciting incident, one small pebble, is poised to launch both Hob and the Ghost Wolves down a scree slope to destinations neither Hob nor the rest of the Wolves expect. It’s interesting and intriguing character development and growth for Hob and her “family”.The worldbuilding of the novel, no surprise, drew me in. In real life, the author is a geologist, and so brings the reader into the desert landscape in a real and immersive way. Readers who think that a desert is just endless sand dunes will be disabused of the notion, as Wells’ characters inhabit and make use of the variety of desert experience. I could feel my footsteps on the hardpan of the desert on Tanegawa’s World, the sands of the dunes, and life and a sense of place on a dry, alien world. There are hints of the bigger universe, how the Weathermen pilot ships for faster than light travel, that there are many worlds beyond Earth and Tanegawa’s World out there in this ’verse. Overall, Wells’ writing puts the reader into the universe, onto the planet, and onto the bikes and trains (oh the trains!) that cross the dusty landscape. The only other thing I could hope for, and they are sadly rather out of fashion these days, is a Clement/Anderson style description of the Tanegawa solar system.Beyond the sense of place, and in addition to Hob, the novel’s minor thread and key focuses on Meg. In a braiding loop of past and present points of view with Hob’s until they meet, we get to see Meg’s point of view of the mess that draws Hob into her story, and ultimately propels Hob’s story forward. Once they are in the same time frame, Meg’s story continues in a minor key from that point, with the novel far more interested in Hob than Meg. If Hob’s story is one of rising to authority and responsibility and taking a stand, Meg, some steps further back on the path, is of an awakening to who and what she is. I am torn that the whip-fast and lean plotting and pacing of the novel makes it impossible for Meg to get more of her story out, especially as a foil and a reflection to Hob herself.Finally, I want to mention the action beats in the novel. With a gang on a desert planet going up against a corporation and other comers, you’d expect, in addition to worldbuilding and character development, you are going to get some high-octane action. The novel delivers in spades, from up close and brutal fights, to racing alongside a train, to things I don’t want to spoil. There are quiet beats of character development and movement along those lines, and then the clean clear lines of Hob and the Wolves’ nature comes into sharp focus. The action beats are sharp and there aren’t any “50 page combats”. In addition, they are clean, clear and crisp.And if the cover, with Hob in full witchiness mode, with a bike, and a spaceship in the desert world background, doesn’t make you at least curious about the book, there is no hope for you in my eyes.Sharp, honed, and brilliant, this debut novel makes me want more set on Tanegawa’s World, more with Hob and Mag, and just more in this universe. It’s clear there are plenty of other worlds in this universe that Wells could visit, and introduce us to the characters who inhabit them. How about it, Alex?

Another reviewer essentially called this book a Western, with “Mad Max” overtones (the characters ride motorcycles rather than horses) and science-fiction trimmings, and that’s about right. The plot, basically, is a familiar one: likeable “outlaw” band helps townsfolk fight off evil [fill in the blank: Corporation, in this case].The author handles this tried-and-true narrative well, with plenty of action and suspense.The main reason for recommending the book, however, is the characters. The outlaw band, the Ghost Wolves, and their interactions with one another are very appealing. Especially enjoyable is the main character, Hob, a young woman who goes from low-wolf-on-the-totem-pole (because of some past mistakes) to leader of the pack after the original leader, her mentor Old Nick, dies. Hob’s friend Mag is not part of the “pack” but helps them and is almost equally interesting, having an ability for thinking and plotting that complements Hob’s internal fire and flair for action. Mag’s story alternates with Hob’s during the first part of the book, a time in which she is in considerable peril. These two characters alone would make the book an excellent young adult/coming-of-age story, especially for girls.The science-fiction (or possibly fantasy) elements are mostly left rather mysterious. What do the miners on Tanegawa’s World, the story’s desert-planet setting, mine, and how does it assist in interspace “rift” travel? What are the mysterious blue crystals discovered near the beginning of the story? How and why does the planet change its colonists, some more than others? These and many other questions are left unanswered, presumably waiting for sequels—always a somewhat frustrating situation, though the foreground story here is wrapped up well enough to keep the annoyance from being too severe. I will probably tune in to further volumes when they are written (as I trust they will be) to find out what happens to Hob and her gang and to learn more about the hidden features of Tanegawa’s World and the machinations that surround it.

A very gritty, violent world run by a corrupt and iron-fisted company named TransRifts Inc, the planet of Tanegawa’s World is home to company employees and guards, miners, farmers and the rejects that have been blacklisted by the company. Those rejects are the biker group called the Ghost Wolves, headed by Nick Ravani, living a hardscrabble life out in the desert. Hob arrived on a rift ship as a young girl and was taken in and raised by Nick. When she finds the body of Nick’s miner brother in the desert and learns that his daughter Mag is missing, Hob is determined to try to bring her home with the help of a strange being known as the Bone Collector. The story goes on from there with troubles between the miners and the company, as well as the people who have been changed by this strange world, gaining “witchy” abilities which the company is determined to stamp out by any means necessary. Hob is one of the few women in the group but can hold her own amongst the men, and she has the same abilities that Nick has, she can summon fire from within. I liked the wonderful characters, including Hob, Mag, Coyote, the Bone Collector and Rollins, the undercover spy working to learn the company’s secrets. It looks like there just might be a revolution brewing and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series to find out what happens next.

Interesting world building and characters, a bit of Dune meets Mad Max. Nice to read a story that is well written, coherent and well edited, not a given in many recent books. I will definitely be buying the sequel due to be published Feb 2018.

If Firefly took place on a planet instead of a spaceship, it would read like this. Thorougly enjoyed reading this book. It cries out for a sequel. Definitely want more!

The premise overall was intriguing (sort of cyberpunk-adjacent), and the characters were compelling, so I want to like this book a lot. Unfortunately, the barrage of POV switching makes the book feel lacking in focus much of the time, and the pacing feels strangely slow despite a good amount happening. That, and the book loves killing characters off in ways that don't necessarily feel impactful.I probably won't pick up the sequel, but if you really love the premise, you might still like this one.

Wasn't sure initially, didn't buy it but then kept thinking about it and bought the bullet. Great story, characters that aren't too perfect, great setting for the tale and hard to put down. Plot has some twists but it's not so complicated that you get lost, definitely scope for future sequels. Always love finding the beginning of a good series!

I really did enjoy this book and would recommend.