Exclusive Chapter from Wolves of the Beyond

Wolves of the Beyond #1: Lone Wolf

Hey you lucky Guardians of Ga’Hoole fans! Here’s your chance to read an exclusive excerpt from the first book in the Wolves of the Beyond saga, a spin-off series from the world of Ga’Hoole, to be published December 29, 2009.

Before she felt even the first twinge in her belly, the she-wolf set out to find a remote birthing den. She knew somehow that this birth would not be the same as the others. She had been traveling for days now, and she could sense her time was near. {read more}

The prologue of Lone Wolf, entitled “Away”, tells the story of Morag, a she-wolf of the MacDuncan clan who sets out to find a remote birthing den for a birth she knows will be different from the others. Three puppies are born, “two tawny like their father, the other silvery gray”, who appears to have a splayed front paw marked with a “dim tracery of a spiral, like a swirled star”.

Though the mark on the paw is odd, Morag convinces herself that he is not malcadh, the ancient wolf word for “cursed”, and that the splayed paw is not deformed and will turn out all right as the pup grows older. Shibaan, however, suspicious of Morag’s sudden disappearance, tracks the she-wolf’s trail. As the Obea of the MacDuncan clan, it is Shibaan’s duty to carry deformed pups out of the whelping den to a remote place where starvation and death are certain to follow. If the pup somehow manages to survive, he is permitted back into the clan as a gnaw wolf, the lowest-ranking wolf in the clan.

Though troubled by the silver markings on the pup’s paw, Shibaan knows, as the name of her rank suggests, that she must obey the harsh laws of the wolves. She takes the pup from Morag and leaves him on the edge of the thawing river, where he is bound to be swept away by surging waters. If not, Shibaan convinces herself, the pup will be seized by an owl from the kingdom of Ga’Hoole, since a malcadh is fair game to them. Feeling no remorse and knowing it is her duty to leave the pup to die, Shibaan leaves.

Overall, I enjoyed the chapter and was glad to see Kathryn Lasky’s unique writing style present, as I had become quite fond of it in the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series. I also appreciated, as I’m sure other Ga’Hoolian fans will, the reference to the collier and smith owls of the kingdom of Ga’Hoole. Being a spin-off series, one would expect the two series to be linked in places, and perhaps even in characters or events, but it still came as a pleasant jolt of surprise for me.

Once you’ve tasted the prologue, don’t forget to pick up your copy of Lone Wolf, containing 240 delicious pages, on December 29, 2009.