Mark Reads ‘Wolf-Speaker’: Chapter 4 |

In the fourth chapter of Wolf-Speaker, SWEET BABY POTATOES. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Wolf-Speaker.

WHAT DID THIS BOOK BECOME IN THE PAST TWENTY-FIVE PAGES??????

Oh, hey, this is a book about cute wolves and not hurting nature and WHAT THE HOLY FUCK, WHAT IS THAT, AND WHAT IS THAT OH MY GOD.
“Besides, who needs humans?” RIGHT? Because instead we could have a pack of fucking wolves. I will forever refuse to get over this series taunting me with its cute animal privilege.
“The wolf who sings alone is not happy.” There is a goddamn wolf dispensing knowledge in the pages of this book. Despite this, I still wasn’t prepared for where it would end up.
Still, I wasn’t surprised by one thing: the wolves’ reaction to Daine’s failure to convince the humans to stop destroying the forest. While Brokefang tries to comprehend this, it’s not like he ever can. Daine was completely out of her element, and Tristan and the castle lords had no reason to listen to her. I’m not sure that warrants the derision Frostfur gives Daine, though. Like I said before, I want to give Frostfur a chance, but she’s not helping.
This chapter further develops Daine’s growing concern for how the wolves are changing because of her blood/influence. When she finds out that they’ve been stealing tools from the humans, she knows what a terrible thing this is. As she says, “This was thinking about the future. This was knowing tools were separate from the men who wielded them.” Those are distinctly human forms of understanding. Oh god, what’s going to happen???
OH FUCK, I JUST UNDERSTOOD THE BIT WITH THE BLUEJAY IN DAINE’S DREAM. It is foreshadowing the arrival of Coldfang. FUCK.
Who is the man with the antlers???
Back to Frostfur. It can’t be good that Frostfur refuses to see Daine as anything other than a burden on the Pack. That can’t end well! It can’t! And even then, it’s hard for me to ignore the fact that despite that Daine is People, that doesn’t mean she’s a wolf.
Yet.
H E L P.
Cloud’s sass gives me strength to get through the day.
One great thing Tamora Pierce has done in The Immortals is develop Daine’s wild magic in a realistic way in terms of time. It makes sense that she’d be able to join with another wolf much quicker and that her healing powers are far more proficient. They’re not perfect, obviously, but she’s improved a great deal. It’s realistic because we’ve seen Daine use her wild magic more than ever. We’ve experienced her practicing it!
I must also state that I love Tamora Pierce’s writing whenever she is narrating from the point of view of an animal. It’s so satisfying to read!
As difficult as it is to read because I don’t like an upset Daine, I’m also satisfied that the text is addressing Daine’s guilt for what’s happened to the wolves. At the same time, I’m glad Cloud is there to set some sense into Daine. She cannot continue to blame herself for something she had no control over.
“For a moment she thought there was something longer and hairier where her nose should be, but when she touched her face, it was gone, if it had even existed.” NO STOP IT.Â
“â€¦rubbing the tip of her itchy nose until it was pink. Coarse, dark hairs fell off it into her lap. Where had they come from?” WHAT BOOK AM I READING, AND HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE. Like, okay, can this even happen in this fictional world? WHY IS SHE EXPERIENCING THIS?
So, I think there’s a logical reason Daine has such weird and slightly prophetic dreams: her wild magic does not go away when she sleeps.
Oh god, that poor squirrel! I have so much respect for Daine since she took time to save that creatures life, despite that she didn’t need to. But I just realized that it’s never answered why a Stormwing did this. Damn.
I was already set on edge by all the weird metamorphosis shit that this chapter hinted at, and then Kitten began shrieking, and then that thing crawled out of a dip in the ground and what the fuck is going on?!?!?! In an instant, this book became terrifying. I couldn’t tell what this creature was from the description, and now I realize that was intentional. How would I be able to guess?
Then I became worried that one of the pups would get seriously hurt or killed, and that would inspire Frostfur to do something drastic, and then this book would continue to spiral out of control. Then Kitten attacked, and I thought perhaps she might get hurt, but then THE IMMORTAL PICKED UP DAINE AND JESUS WHAT IS THIS FUCKING BOOK.
See, this is why I love what this chapter does. Having one immortal come after Daine was suspenseful enough. But Pierce dispatches the first immortal WITH A SECOND ONE THAT WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. Oh, and it’s a basilisk who can talk in Daine’s mind, and this is just fucking unreal. What has this book done to my life?
Tkaa rules, y’all. I can’t wait to see more of him. He’s basically this world’s more benevolent version of an Observer, right??? He’s just there to learn.
“They track thieves in all realms, divine, mortal, or dead, and will guard a thing until the end of time.” The people of Dunlath brought forth a fucking COLDFANG to track down thieves. Okay, those mages must have breached the Divine realms. How else is this possible?
My god, my heart lept when Tkaa called kitten his “cousin.” Oh my god, THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE.
SO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN??? How is the pack going to react to a fucking basilisk showing up at camp? Or two their pups getting injured? And won’t the humans eventually find their immortal TURNED TO STONE? Y’all, I feel 1000000% unprepared for this book, and it’s so exciting. WHAT.