Wolfsangel by M. D. Lachlan

Set in the era of Vikings and Gods walking amongst men, Wolfsangel begins with a Viking King leading his men to a rampage, based on a prophecy given to him by mountain witches, about a baby who will lead and carry on his name. However, instead of one baby he finds twins and takes them and their mother home with him. The King pays a heavy price for this rampage and returns to the mountain witches who are feared by all. As the journey continues, we follow the paths of the twins, their various relationships and the role of the Gods. As the story emerges, we come to believe in the origin to the Werewolf, the seemingly cruel hand of the Gods and how this entwines with Norse history and lore.

I have a vivid imagination – I picture the story as I read. As the first chapter opens, I could imagine a child lying in bed, listening to his grandfather tell a story. The prose begins unlike other sci-fi novels I have read, however this is not to say it is unique perhaps I am not as well read as others. In any case, the scene is setting in my mind a tone that is still the grandfather telling the story and at his pace. But to me, this is just a prologue.

We learn the witches gave one boy to the King to be raised as his own, and the other twin, to the Wolfmen. Are these the werewolves?

When we meet Vali, one of the twins, he is living in a village away from his kingly heritage, fostered by a mother and her children and his ward, an older man who Vali thinks is annoying. Vali is lucky to be raised by this foster family and you can see an emerging king with a kind heart, who is slightly cheeky (he disses his ward with ease) and without his own importance. It is here we meet Adisla, the girl who captures Vali’s heart. We go with Vali on his first ever raid, we feel his pain and become slightly nauseous as the vivid telling of the raids and the killing is described by Lachlan.

We meet the other twin, both when he is raised by the Wolfmen and later when he is captured. The Gods also appear and we learn the village has turned against Vali and his ward and so he forms an unwilling alliance with his twin and they escape to find Adisla who has been kidnapped. But why was she kidnapped? Was the right twin given to the King? Is the God Loki, the trickster, caring of the people he manipulates for the greater good?

I enjoyed Wolfsangel, and eagerly await the follow up. Lachlan does not drag on history to inform the reader about who the character is. He describes when it is important, he vividly describes the fight scenes, the history, the layout and I found myself thoroughly emerged. The pace of the story grows and captures you and I was lucky to be on leave from work so I could read this book almost in one sitting. In simplistic terms, I loved it and found myself Googling Norse mythology.

Print Friendly