Wolf Star: The Claidi Journals II (Claidi Journals, 2) - Softcover

Tanith Lee is one of the leading fantasy authors working today. She has written over 50 novels and short story collections, among them the bestselling Flat Earth Series. She has won the World Fantasy Award numerous times as well as the August Derleth Award.

Grade 6-10-In this sequel to Wolf Tower (Dutton, 2000), readers will find Lady Claidi Star getting ready for her marriage to Argul, a Hulta hottie. She is kidnapped just before the ceremony by men from the Wolf Tower, whose Law she has recently destroyed. Her captors are double-crossed and instead of returning to the Wolf Tower, Claidi is dumped in the middle of a strange world peopled by robots and mechanical animals. Among her new companions is Venn, prince of the realm. He believes that she has asked to come there and together they start to unravel the mysteries behind her kidnapping and the Wolf Star. There are connections between Venn's mother and the families of the Towers (mentioned in the first book) and a not too surprising connection between Venn and Argul. Claidi is a likable character whose voice is true, but the tone and language in her writings never establish a sense of place or an understanding of the worlds in which she finds herself. The journal style and the episodic plot do not allow for a great deal of shading, and those who haven't read the first volume will be completely in the dark. Lee's tale offers readers lightweight confection, but for those who want to enter the world of the story, suggest Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising" sequence (McElderry) or Robin McKinley's stories of Damar. For characters that are struggling to find their place in the world, try Ellen Kindt McKenzie's Taash and the Jesters (Holt, 1995) or Lloyd Alexander's "Westmark" trilogy.
Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
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