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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
This felt very…White Woman tries to write Indigenous characters but still has a mostly White ensemble cast. It was pretty forgettable.
I love this book. I have have it 4stars because some logistical problems and the climax was good but didn’t totally work for me - on many levels. I’m so excited to read more though and I love this book so much despite those issues.
TW/CW: violence, gore, blood, past death of parents, animal cruelty, animal death, animal attacks
This is what I get for getting my hopes up for every YA sci-fi book I come across…
It’s such a shame, though; the premise hooked me with no effort, but Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves ended up being a disappointment through and through.
For Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, its best aspect was simultaneously its worst aspect. That aspect was the worldbuilding. I’ll start out with why most of it worked: with each page, it was clear that there was so much time put into making all of the dominoes fall in the right place. Everything from the social cleavages to Tundar’s fauna to the intricacies of the sled race were so thoughtfully written with a clear intent on making an immersive world—which Meg Long succeeded in.
However, said worldbuilding was lumped into so much of the first half of this novel that it felt more exposition than story. The plot didn’t pick up until about halfway through. I expected more of a through-and-through survival story, but Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves lingered more in civilization than it did out in the frozen wilderness that it promised. What wasn’t exposition was most often just descriptions of animal attacks, and that combination wasn’t ideal.
The other curse from the worldbuilding was the naming of certain things. There was already a degree of suspension of disbelief implied, but naming a frozen planet Tundar (tundra) and giving the animals names like rënedeer (reindeer) made Meg Long’s world all the less plausible. With all of the thought that was clearly put into this book, I feel really bad saying this, but the names just felt…plain lazy. I’m not saying that the names have to be perfect, but they shouldn’t be that derivative of what they’re based on.
With all of that mess piled on, I found it hard to get attached to any of the characters. Sena’s personality got on my nerves from the get-go, and since most of the other characters were introduced around the 1/3-1/2 mark, they came off as having little to no personality. Sena never quite developed, either, and a lot of her actions seemed to have unrealistic motivations, given her past. Add an all-too-easily-defeated villain to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a batch of very halfhearted characters.
All in all, a sci-fi novel with a bold premise that was unfortunately bogged down by too much of a good thing—great worldbuilding, but half a book’s worth of exposition to show it. 2 stars.
This is what I get for getting my hopes up for every YA sci-fi book I come across…
It’s such a shame, though; the premise hooked me with no effort, but Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves ended up being a disappointment through and through.
For Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, its best aspect was simultaneously its worst aspect. That aspect was the worldbuilding. I’ll start out with why most of it worked: with each page, it was clear that there was so much time put into making all of the dominoes fall in the right place. Everything from the social cleavages to Tundar’s fauna to the intricacies of the sled race were so thoughtfully written with a clear intent on making an immersive world—which Meg Long succeeded in.
However, said worldbuilding was lumped into so much of the first half of this novel that it felt more exposition than story. The plot didn’t pick up until about halfway through. I expected more of a through-and-through survival story, but Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves lingered more in civilization than it did out in the frozen wilderness that it promised. What wasn’t exposition was most often just descriptions of animal attacks, and that combination wasn’t ideal.
The other curse from the worldbuilding was the naming of certain things. There was already a degree of suspension of disbelief implied, but naming a frozen planet Tundar (tundra) and giving the animals names like rënedeer (reindeer) made Meg Long’s world all the less plausible. With all of the thought that was clearly put into this book, I feel really bad saying this, but the names just felt…plain lazy. I’m not saying that the names have to be perfect, but they shouldn’t be that derivative of what they’re based on.
With all of that mess piled on, I found it hard to get attached to any of the characters. Sena’s personality got on my nerves from the get-go, and since most of the other characters were introduced around the 1/3-1/2 mark, they came off as having little to no personality. Sena never quite developed, either, and a lot of her actions seemed to have unrealistic motivations, given her past. Add an all-too-easily-defeated villain to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a batch of very halfhearted characters.
All in all, a sci-fi novel with a bold premise that was unfortunately bogged down by too much of a good thing—great worldbuilding, but half a book’s worth of exposition to show it. 2 stars.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars for intriguing plot and characters sometimes limited by less than stellar writing. Overall enjoyable read, and I finished the book wanting more
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't know what I expected but I was enticed to read as much as I could!
I love how the author put LGBT aspects in the book without highlighting them, it was just there and part of life.
The strength of the books plot was awesome, no need for romance or love interests to carry it, it carried itself. Enjoyed and recommend.
I love how the author put LGBT aspects in the book without highlighting them, it was just there and part of life.
The strength of the books plot was awesome, no need for romance or love interests to carry it, it carried itself. Enjoyed and recommend.
3 reasons to read Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves:
-Really interesting world building on a snow-covered planet known for its sled races
-17-yo Sena flees with a prize fighting wolf after angering a local gangster
-Sena’s only way off-world is to team up with a group of scientists who are willing to pay her if they get to the finish line
-Really interesting world building on a snow-covered planet known for its sled races
-17-yo Sena flees with a prize fighting wolf after angering a local gangster
-Sena’s only way off-world is to team up with a group of scientists who are willing to pay her if they get to the finish line
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
4/5
Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is Meg Long’s debut novel. It features dog/wolf sledding, sci-fi, action, adventure, survival and you guessed it, snow. And lots of it.
The story follows 17 year old Sena. A girl tired of being alone and fighting for every scrap she can get just to leave the ice-cold planet Tundar she calls home. With every scheme Sena gets closer to saving enough money to leave, but when she’s caught by the planet’s mob boss, she must use all her wits to survive all by herself… though maybe she doesn’t have to do it alone.
Look. I liked the premise. I read the synopsis and I was like “yes! Balto plus angry teen girl? I’m in!” I’m just sad it took about 1/3 of the book for the synopsis to even be relevant in the story.
So it started slow, oh well, that’s fine, most books do. This book also has a LOT of exposition at the beginning. Though it does take some time, Long does explain a lot of how the universe works and Sena’s background and everything.
What I did love about this book - and why I’m giving it a higher rating than what I was planning - is that once the action part got going, it went and Did. Not. Stop. Meg Long went HARD during the last 1/3 of the book. Also, the women???? Strong, bad-ass queens. I would die for them all. Even the animal ones.
Here’s where I’m torn though. The ending was so open that I was shocked. Threads were not just left open, they were straight up dropped and left to drift in space for eternity. So, if there is a sequel or companion book, then I will gladly keep my rating at a 4 and GLADLY read any book from this (hopefully) series. But if this ends up being a stand-alone then I’ll have to lower my rating because just too many threads were tossed away.
I really, REALLY hope there is a sequel though! I’m fully invested in this world Long has created and I am willing to go on a journey with her.
4/5
Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is Meg Long’s debut novel. It features dog/wolf sledding, sci-fi, action, adventure, survival and you guessed it, snow. And lots of it.
The story follows 17 year old Sena. A girl tired of being alone and fighting for every scrap she can get just to leave the ice-cold planet Tundar she calls home. With every scheme Sena gets closer to saving enough money to leave, but when she’s caught by the planet’s mob boss, she must use all her wits to survive all by herself… though maybe she doesn’t have to do it alone.
Look. I liked the premise. I read the synopsis and I was like “yes! Balto plus angry teen girl? I’m in!” I’m just sad it took about 1/3 of the book for the synopsis to even be relevant in the story.
So it started slow, oh well, that’s fine, most books do. This book also has a LOT of exposition at the beginning. Though it does take some time, Long does explain a lot of how the universe works and Sena’s background and everything.
What I did love about this book - and why I’m giving it a higher rating than what I was planning - is that once the action part got going, it went and Did. Not. Stop. Meg Long went HARD during the last 1/3 of the book. Also, the women???? Strong, bad-ass queens. I would die for them all. Even the animal ones.
Here’s where I’m torn though. The ending was so open that I was shocked. Threads were not just left open, they were straight up dropped and left to drift in space for eternity. So, if there is a sequel or companion book, then I will gladly keep my rating at a 4 and GLADLY read any book from this (hopefully) series. But if this ends up being a stand-alone then I’ll have to lower my rating because just too many threads were tossed away.
I really, REALLY hope there is a sequel though! I’m fully invested in this world Long has created and I am willing to go on a journey with her.
I usually like books set kind of in a dystopia future but this world was a little hard to get into. And not much really happened until midway, and the end was obviously left open for a sequel. Not a fan.