Pathfinder Tales: Prince of Wolves

Just read this on Friday, and Master of Devils yesterday. I'd been a huge fan of the short-story arcs in PF, but took my time getting around to the novels.

From a PF perspective, I enjoyed getting a good look at Ustalav, seen through the eyes of 2 interesting characters like Jeggare and Radovan. I like the nod to Sherlock Holmes & Watson in their dynamic, though of course it's a lot more involved than just that. Radovan's a great anti-hero; not too 2-dimensional like he could be. As for the Count, I find his pretensions quite amusing, and like how his worldview contrasts w/ Radovan's.

There were some minor editing issues (mostly missing words like "to", and "tenants" instead of "tenets), but luckily those decreased in the next novel. I wish the rating system allowed for 1/2 stars. I'd give this 3.5 stars (to allow for the fact I liked Master of Devils even more, which also gets 4 stars).

Look forward to reading more of their misadventures.

Prince of Wolves (2010) by Dave Gross was the first of the Pathfinder Tales novels, a series of novels published by Pathfinder RPG publisher Paizo, and set in their Golarion campaign setting. I believe it’s fair to say that the primary target of this product line was the Pathfinder RPG enthusiast, but that none of the parties involved would object if their popularity spread much farther afield.

In the special thanks, Gross mentioned Erik Mona putting “a bug in his ear in Calgary,” suggesting to me that the Paizo staff were confident enough in his abilities not just to tell a good story, but to communicate the spirit of Golarion -- a task in which I believe he succeeded, with a few miscues along the way.

The novel was set in the country of Ustalov, the Golarion analog of TSR’s old Ravenloft. The Vistani are there, but they’re Varisians now. The swirling mists, as well. The Tarokka has been reborn as the Harrow deck. Ustalov felt so familiar that you expected to stumble across Strahd, himself. But there is no Strahd or Van Richten. Not yet. Perhaps the mists will deposit them here soon. This was where Gross’ novel succeeded. Ustalov is a scary place.

Gross’ other triumph here was that he told a passable detective story. I love Sax Rohmer, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Jim Butcher. They told great detective stories. Gross told a really good one. I enjoyed the way Gross fed us the clues. I enjoyed getting the a-ha at the same time as Dave’s protagonists. And there were only a couple of places where a revelation stretched my suspension of disbelief. Heck, Doyle did worse than that.

Finally, Gross created a delightful pair of protagonists in Jegarre and Radovan. In their debut, Hell’s Pawns, I loved how they played off one another. Manipulating and playing friendly mind games with one another. Familiar, yet formal. Moonlighting without the romantic tension.

The first place the novel stepped wrongly, in my opinion, was when he chose to split up the party. Jegarre and Radovan were less interesting to me on their own. The courtly world of Jegarre dragged without Radovan to make fun of its foilables. Radovan wasn’t as fun a figure with his new companions, and their relationships were less believable. The chemistry that made Hell’s Spawn crackle and pop took a break for a large portion of the novel, and I missed it badly. The last chapter indicated that in future stories they would be friends instead of boss and investigator. That’s too bad.

The second place where Gross misstepped was having Radovan repeatedly use pejorative labels to describe the deformed villagers. (The novel was written in first person.) While I had no objection to Gross’ use of deformed characters, and though I believed their presence contributed to the horrific atmosphere, the repeated use of the word “freak” was offensive to me. Once or twice was enough to establish Radovan’s insensitivity with the reader. The additional uses saddened me, and detracted from an otherwise enjoyable read.

When I was trying to decide how to rate this book, I kept asking myself if I should rate it as “game fiction” or “regular fiction.” Game fiction has gotten a bad rap. Perhaps deservedly so. For game fiction, it’s five stars. Gross’ contribution is definitely at the top of the game fiction genre. In the broader context, I would still give this passable yarn a four.

The first person dialog really turned me off to this book. Had it been the first book in the Pathfinder tales that I read, I would have been turned off by it. As it was I started with Winter Witch and really enjoyed this book as well as Plague of Shadows

The only part that really redeems this book is Radovan and the Witch Azra. I really felt myself drawn to both of them but was sad in the end as it did not end as I wanted or wished it would have.

If you like first person or cheap detective novels you might enjoy this book. But this book to me in no way lives up to the Pathfinder name or quality.

First off, the star rating system is far too unclear. Four stars - to me- mean that this is a really good book! Buy it and you won't be sorry, particularly if you have avoided fantasy fiction based on RPG settings because of past disappointments. Paizo Publishing is blessed with good writers both internally and under contract, and their quality shows in "Prince of Wolves." Mr. Gross' prior work, "Hell's Pawns", though as comfortable serialized in the "Council of Thieves" adventure path as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vacationing at Procrustes' Bed and Breakfast, was compelling enough to make me want to explore his work further. "Prince of Wolves" is a well crafted and well written adult story. It was engrossing from start to finish.

"Prince of Wolves" is the story of Varian Jeggare, nobleman detective, and his rough trade hellspawn bodyguard, Radovan. They travel to the haunted land of Ustalav in search of a member of Jeggare's organization, the Pathfinders, who has disappeared on the trail of a mysterious relic. Their voyage takes a sharp left turn and the two are forced to struggle on their own through a land rife with intrigue, cults, and monsters.

The story is revealed in alternating first person, with Radovan and Jeggare as narrators. Radovan's casual voice is easy to read, while some may struggle with Jeggare's dry, pedantic style. But for a nobleman to whom "I'm glad you're not dead" is an embarassingly effusive outburst of emotion, the style is perfect. Those accustomed to easy-read adventure stories may find this offputting, but this is a book, not a movie. The reader is expected to invest some effort into the reading in return for a richer and more rewarding experience than being spoon-fed entertainment.

The book takes us through a land much like those in the old vampire and werewolf movies, and the author gives those classic movies a friendly nod in several places. He slyly lulls the reader into believing they know what comes next, just before events take off in unexpected ways - a nice bit of misdirection. Mr. Gross makes the lands and the characters come alive, masterfully handling descriptions of monsters and magic so they flow naturally into the story, yet are completely accessable to a reader unfamiliar with Paizo's Golarion setting.

On the downside, part of Varian Jeggare's narration is forced into 'tell' mode rather than 'show' mode so every reader understands where the story is taking place and why. The action bogs down for a while in a morass of new names and places. This is a brief lull before the book regains its generally lively footing. One disclosure at the end seemed out of the blue, but upon rereading of the last two chapters, the foreshadowing was there, but subtle. Mr. Gross is more fair to his readers than Conan Doyle ever was, allowing the audience enough information to figure things out for themselves, or at least come close to an explanation. The few motivational questions or loose threads that appear are answered or woven in nicely. The author does not shy from descriptions of violence, sex, and gore, though they are handled tastefully.

I look forward to more Pathfinder Tales and anything from Mr. Gross.

Written by "fan favorite" Dave Gross, you are introduced to a half elf Pathfinder and his Teifling bodyguard. The book takes place in Ustalav, a Gothic Horror setting. As you might guess from the title, werewolves feature fairly prominently in the story. I would rate this as a Teen+ book, highly enjoyable to all ages above 13. It's a PG-13 under the MPAA.