Book Review: Wolf Time

In an attempt to up the property value of my site, I am going to do a literary review. Since I’m trying to become a novelist, I really need to read more. Problem is, I have trouble setting aside time for it. The main time I read is on a plane flight. Luckily, I got stuck in Denver overnight flying to Boise, so I had plenty of time to read Wolf Time by Lars Walker. Lars Walker has helped me out in starting to be a writer, supported the writing group I’m a member of, and was nice enough to send me a free copy of both Wolf Time and The Year of the Warrior. He also had a new title that was released by Baen in December, Blood and Judgment.
First off, Wolf Time is definitely aimed towards a conservative reader. It takes place in sort of alternate reality modern times where liberals have taken over America and have been able to pass legislation based on any wacky idea ever presented on a college campus. This adds a black humor to the book, but this alternate reality is more of a setting to the novel than as the emphasis of the story. The actually plot of the story is a bit hard to describe, but involves a healthy dose of Viking fact and mythology, discussion of the Christian faith, and the eternal search for one’s purpose in life. The story starts out rooted in the real world, involving conflicts of university politics, national politics, and a secret society possibly committing acts of terrorism in the name of Christianity. More fantasy elements pile on as the book moves towards its ending… an ending I didn’t quite understand (then again, I’m easily confused). There is a lot of talking in the novel, but that’s actually one of its strengths because the ideas presented in the dialogue are quite thought provoking (certainly more thought provoking than your average New York Times columnist). All in all, I really enjoyed the book, and, most importantly, it really left me thinking afterwards. I give it four out of five stars.
My brother was kind enough to lend me a number of Heinlein novels, and I have to go finish reading Citizen of the Galaxy which I read most of on the plane flight home and haven’t touched since (won’t my reading group be so proud of me when they hear I’ve finally read some Heinlein!). Then I need to read Return of the King which I was saving until after I saw the movie. Then there is some writing I need to work on myself… God, there is enough hours in the day.