Midnight’s Sun

A story of wolves living in northern forest and tundra. From the wolves’ viewpoint, but unlike any other book I’ve ever read about wolves. I was fairly riveted, but it took so long to read because of eye strain, and some technical issues (see below). I had to take breaks and read easier books or graphic novels here and there instead. The main character is a wolf who doesn’t really fit in well, to his strictly-ordered pack. Thinking outside the regimented norm is dangerous when survival is at issue. As he finds out even more keenly when ousted from the pack and living on his own. Barely survives at times, thrives in others. Has encounters with strange wolves, a fierce weasel, ravens and half-wild dogs. Travels long distances, faces down a rival, and meets a female unlike any he’s known back home. Then he starts a family but almost looses them, gets captured by humans, narrowly escapes but in a strange set of circumstances ends up in an uneasy partnership with a human in the wilderness. (Other wolves never quite believe him when he tells about this later on). He suffers greatly travelling to try and find his family again, not sure if they’re even alive. And in the end encounters other wolves with a risky, death-wish agenda: to kill as many humans as possible, in retaliation for what mankind has done to all animals. Led by his old rival. When they finally meet, he discovers they have more in common now, and form an uneasy truce- if they can survive it.

So much more than I can mention here! The story had a deeply-felt sense of culture among the wolves- the meaning of their songs (howls), the legends and stories shared (their own version of Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs, etc). A sense of the very landscape being alive. The inter-relationship with other wildlife. The keen communication via scent and sound, the shape and feel of the wind, the terrain, etc felt so vivid at times. There was also a very subtle but profound examination through the story, of what a complete paradigm shift in how a family approaches things can occur, and how difficult that is to navigate. I feel like I’m not quite stating that clearly, but it’s the best I can do now.

I don’t remember feeling this enthralled by the fox story (same author) but now I really want to read that one again. The rabbits one wasn’t quite as good either, which is kind of funny because some other readers say the opposite: that this one has inaccuracies in how it depicts wolf behavior and pack structure, whereas the rabbit and fox stories were better. I am not sure if it’s just been too long since I read the others, or I’m in a simpler state of mind now so overlooked things and appreciated this one better, or if I just know less about foxes and rabbits so wouldn’t pick those details out. Shrug. Does it matter? I enjoyed this.

I have a copy of this book on my e-reader. It had a few typos, but more annoying was that the page turning function didn’t work properly. I’d go to turn back one or two pages, and end up chapters away from where I started. Eventually figured out that if I skipped back to start of the previous chapter via the table of contents, and then moved ahead one page at a time, I could get back to my place. The bookmarking was unreliable too- sometimes it would save my place, sometimes not. Spent a lot of time just trying to return to where I’d left off reading, which was frustrating.