Renee's Book Addiction

Men of the Otherworld (Tales of the Otherworld, volume 1) by Kelley Armstrong

OK, so I’ve been trying to figure out how to write this review without sounding like a squeeing fan-girl. Over the last year, I’ve come to recognize Kelley Armstrong as one of the most consummate writers I read.

There is nothing like the feeling of reading a book, and knowing you’re in the hands of a gifted, capable author. I’d only read about the first 100 pages when I realized that almost the entire time, there’d been a smile on my face. I was up till 4 am that night, unable to put the book down, then up early the next morning to finish it.

Here’s the book description:

As a curious child, Clayton didn’t resist the bite — he asked for it. But surviving as a lone child werewolf was more than he could manage — until Jeremy came along and taught him how to straddle the human-werewolf worlds, gave him a home . . . and introduced him to the Pack. So begins this volume, featuring three of the most intriguing members of the American Pack — a hierarchical founding family where bloodlines mean everything, and each day presents a new, thrilling, and often deadly challenge. For as Clayton grows from a wild child to a clever teen who tests his beloved mentor at every turn, he must learn not only to control his animal instincts, but to navigate Pack politics — including showing his brutal arch nemesis, Malcolm, who the real Alpha is . . .

This anthology contains old stories that were originally on Kelley Armstrong’s site (they were removed to prepare for this publication), and new stories, including, “Kitsunegari,” narrated by Jeremy. I originally read the short story, “Infusion,” which tells the story of Jeremy’s conception and birth, online. (Btw, there is still some great free fiction on her site that is set in the Otherworld.)

The 2 novellas, Savage and Ascension are the centerpieces of the book, and are some of the best of Kelley Armstrong’s work. Her confidence as a writer is so clear on every page, making the Otherworld so well imagined that it feels real.

Savage is the story of how Clay was turned into a werewolf and adopted by Jeremy. It gives an incredible amount of insight into both of their characters. Ascension is the story of Jeremy’s rise as Alpha of the North American Pack. In Savage and Ascension, a lot of Clay’s personality quirks are explained, as well as why his loyalty to Jeremy is so unswerving.

I loved how, in Savage, Jeremy gains the trust of the wild werewolf-child, Clay (about 7 years old) who is living alone in the bayou, eating rodents and sleeping among the trees, with fast-food burgers and rabbits Jeremy hunts for him (in wolf form.) Their dance back and forth of lure and retreat is entertaining and touching.

Once Clay accepts Jeremy and starts his new life, Jeremy then needs to groom Clay for living among humans. Clay’s observations of civilized life and puzzlement over the strange habits of humans (he does not consider himself human) sometimes made me laugh out loud.

Awesome quote #1:

To pass the time, he (Jeremy) also coached me on other things that I deemed a complete waste of brain space — useless skills like table manners and  rules of public behavior. Stand up straight. Speak clearly. Don’t eat with your hands. Don’t growl at people. Don’t piss on the furniture. And, above all, don’t sniff anything.

We also get to see what the pack was like before Jeremy is Alpha. Peter, Antonio and Nick are there, as well as the Santos’, Malcolm (Jeremy’s father) and Dominic (Antonio’s father and Alpha.) This background makes the events in book 1 of the Otherworld series more clear.

I loved seeing Clay and Nick together as children, though it’s clear that their adult dynamic was established long-ago, during their early years.

Awesome quote #2:

You’d think that anyone who had been visiting Stonehaven since he was old enough to toddle would know his way around the woods there, particularly when that someone had werewolf blood, but Nick often had trouble finding his way out of the forest at his own house. 

He obviously needed more practice, but no matter how often I abandoned him out there, his sense of direction never seemed to improve. That, of course, only increased my resolve to keep leaving him there. What were friends for, if not to help you overcome your weaknesses?

Clay’s voice is smart and without guile (though one is never completely sure about that last one, which is what makes him such an entertaining narrator. Kelley Armstrong’s writing is so sly, in this.)

Clay has often been described (by other characters) as a sociopath. However, this is clearly not the case. KA illustrates how his lack of empathy for those “not-pack” does not mean that Clay does not have a code, which is more that of a wolf than of a human.

Awesome quote #3:

I knew, even then that I should feel something. I saw it in Jeremy’s expression, the expectation that I should be at the very least shaken. But the woman was nothing to me, so how could I mourn her passing? Her death was wrong. Unjust. That I understood. The law of the wild is clear on such matters. You kill to survive — for defense and for food. There’s no excuse for anything else. But to feel more for a stranger? It was and still is, beyond me.

Like with hit-woman, Nadia (in her Nadia Stafford series) Kelley Armstrong deftly allows her characters to negotiate the seas of ethics and morality and somehow retain their “humanity.”

In Ascension, the bond between Jeremy and Clay grows as the years pass, and Clay becomes a young adult. Increasingly, Clay becomes Jeremy’s protector, willing to do anything (and I do mean anything) to keep Jeremy safe. I love relationship stories, and these 2 novellas, while telling a larger story of the pack are ultimately (imo) the story of Clay and Jeremy. Devotion, loyalty, generosity, and pack are the elements to their relationship.

“Kitsunegari” catches the reader up to the present, with the story focusing on Jeremy and Jamie. The mystery of Jeremy’s origins (described in the first story, “Infusion”) is explained, creating a wonderful arc which ties the book together. There were so many opportunities in these stories to gain insight to Jeremy and Clay (and the rest of the pack) that I don’t usually get in the regular series books. I’m looking forward to more of these glimpses into the male perspective of the Otherworld. I’m beyond thrilled that a Tales of the Otherworld, volume 2 will be released in 2010.

All of Kelley Armstrongs proceeds from this anthology go to World Literary of Canada.

• Kelley Armstong’s site.