The Origin of the Wolf by Danny Beeson

Book Review

Stephen Frame

The Origin of the Wolf starts in solid fantasy territory: an injured man is washed ashore on a remote beach. He has no memory of his past, how he came to be in the sea or how he gained his wounds. The fishing community who find him takes him in, and he starts a new life amongst them. All is well. For a time. You just know this isn’t going to last, and it doesn’t. You know it’s not going to end well. It doesn’t. The hero of the story, Lyncon, begins to remember who, and what, he is. His life in the fishing village comes to a crashing and bloody end when his true nature is revealed. Lyncon is a werewarg: a fusion of man and wolf, created as a weapon in the war between humans and elves.

So begins the main part of the narrative. Lyncon struggles to come to terms with what he is while battling the forces of both humans and elves in a bid to avert a rising evil. These are the two threads which wind through the remainder of the story. There is plenty of action along the way; the fight scenes are particularly well handled, as Lyncon gathers friends and takes on villains from both sides of the war. There are two main antagonists whose pasts are linked, making for a satisfying opposition. Again, you know there has to be a climax where the two must appear together. The story propels you to the final outcome, which is when Lyncon and his friends must face them. Both the human and the elf sides in the war are portrayed as morally dubious, which feels right and authentic. Wolf-related shape-shifting is held back until needed in the narrative, which is most welcome. Large parts of the story are devoted to Lyncon finding and befriending a mysterious elf who helps him discover his past and control his power. This friendship arc is one of the story’s real strengths and helps lift it from being a run-of-the-mill tale of a man with a hidden and deadly past. The book is clearly intended to be the first in a series. By the conclusion, as much has been resolved as is left open-ended, and an entirely new story arc is given in an epilogue.

In all, it’s a good book if you’re looking for some easy-reading entertainment. It has all the fantasy elements you’d expect: a noble and troubled hero, a mysterious sidekick, evil magic wielders, warring kingdoms. But there are just enough twists in it to lift it out of the ordinary, such as a neat and dark reversal of the elf as the epitome of all that is good. Recommended as a good weekend book if you’re up for some fast-paced adventure.