Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: January 11, 2022
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Science FictionA captivating debut about survival, found family, and the bond between a
girl and a wolf that delivers a fresh twist on classic survival stories
and frontier myths.
After angering a local gangster, seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen must
flee with the gangster's prize fighting wolf, Iska, in tow. A team of
scientists offer to pay her way off her frozen planet on one condition:
she gets them to the finish line of the planet’s infamous sled race.
Though Sena always swore she’d never race after it claimed both her
mothers’ lives, it’s now her only option. But the tundra is a
treacherous place, and as the race unfolds and their lives are
threatened at every turn, Sena starts to question her own abilities. She
must discover whether she's strong enough to survive the wild—whether
she and Iska together are strong enough to get them all out alive.
Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is the debut novel by author Meg Long. The story takes place on a monster infested planet called Tundar. The
only thing that makes this Planet remarkable is its deposits of
exo-carbon, a valuable material used in all the tech in the galaxy. It is a story about survival, found family, and the bond between a
girl and a wolf that delivers a fresh twist on classic survival stories
and frontier myths. 5 years ago, 17-year-old Sena Korhosen mothers were killed in the planet's infamous sled race to the exo-carbon mines. She vowed that she would never work with wolves or race again.
Since
the planet's constant ion storms wrecks any high-tech vehicles that try
to land and mine in the biggest exo-carbon deposits, sleds pulled by
genetically-enhanced "vonenwolves" must be used. The treacherous journey
to the deposits in the planet's mildest season gradually turned into a
once-a-year spectacle of a race. (Think Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race race in Alaska on steroids). The death count is high and few race
teams ever make it to the end, but for most, it is their only financial
option and their only hope of getting off the planet.
Sena's mothers were racers who died tragically in one such
race, leading her to hate every aspect of it and become emotionally
closed off from the world. In fact, she's become a pick pocket in order to save up enough money to get off the planet. After she's caught stealing from the wrong people, Boss Kalba gives Sena a month to fix his prize fighting wolf, Iska. She has a lifetime of unique skills
in training the vonenwolves and they seem to respond to her on another level. Sena finds that she and the wolf have a connection. One that can't broken.
A team of
scientists, under Professor Kaasen, offers to pay her way off her frozen planet on one condition:
she gets them to the finish line of the planet’s infamous sled race. Though Sena always swore she’d never race after it claimed both her
mothers’ lives, it’s now her only option. But the tundra is a
treacherous place with terrible monsters, and as the race unfolds and their lives are
threatened at every turn, Sena starts to question her own abilities. She
must discover whether she's strong enough to survive the wild—whether
she and Iska together are strong enough to get them all out alive.
Sena's relationship with the wolf Iska is everything that's right about this book. It's beautiful and heart warming, and I dare you not to shed one single tear while reading this story. There are some interesting side characters as well including Pana, who is the trained sled mechanic as well as doctor, and Remy, the teams engineer and genetically engineered human who becomes friends with Sena. I
also absolutely loved the world. It was lush, and almost too realistic.
From the ruthlessness of the miners to the greed of the corporations,
none of it was glorified. The world was gritty and fierce, and it shone
so bright because of this.
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