Harper,+Chase

Blog 1 __9/30/11__ For the novel I will be reading, I decided on Journeys to the Heartland by William Horwood. I've had my eye on this novel for some time now and I finally ordered a copy from the local book shop. I decided to read it because it seems very similar to my favorite book of all time, The Sight, and in what I have already read, it seems that it is. In the part of the book that I already read, it explains how the broken pack of wolves, whom are the main focus of the novel, are currently running and hiding from a rival pack as well as human's who fear wolves and kill them in the Carpathian mountains of present day Russia. It also spends a large amount of pages explaining what is basically the religion that these wolves follow. What I see happening further in the story is plenty of conflict between this smaller pack, the Bukovian wolves, and the larger, more powerful one, the Magyar's. The Mennen (Humans) will also most likely have plenty of influence on the story. So far I'm enjoying this book a lot and a I cant wait to continue reading it.

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Also, a fun fact I discovered, the author of this book also wrote two sequels to the book that will be BHS's spring play, the Wind in the Willows, however the original story was wrote in 1908, and the sequels were much more recent. I had no knowledge of this while selecting the book, so it came as an interesting surprise to me//.//=====

Blog 2 __10/7/11__ In the first 80 pages of Journeys to the Heartland, a lot has happened to start setting up the main plot of the story. Most of these pages told the story of the mythology of the European wolves, as the wolves of the Bukov pack howled the stories of the gods Wulf and Wulfin, of their fall to mortality and the coming of the dark millennium in which the fallen god Wulf must regain his wisdom and return as a god, or the fall of all wolves will be upon them. The tale goes on to tell the story of the Wolves of Time, wolves dedicated to the service of Wulf and his Heartland around Wulfrock, Wulf's original birthplace. When the howling of the tales is finished, the oldest wolf, Zcale, tells his children about the events surrounding their birth, and how the most powerful of his children, Tervicz, must go out on his own journey to the heartland, as few others than the wolves of the Bukov pack know the way through the evil Magyar pack's territory to the Heartland.

Tervicz, so far, seems to be the main focus of the story. He is the son of Zcale, the oldest wolf in the surviving Bukov pack, and brother of Szaba, his sister, as well as Kubrat, his brother. Together this small group makes up what is left of the Bukovs, their mother killed recently by a traitor to the pack that wiped them out. Tervicz is Zcale's strongest son. Seeing as Szaba is female and Kubrat is somewhat physically disabled, Tervicz is the only one fit to lead once Zcale is gone, and his time runs short. Zcale's faith in his son to be a confident leader was wavering, but Tervicz proved himself to his father when he insisted on taking up the traditional howl, even with many enemys nearby to hear them. Shortly after this, however, Tervicz was sent out by his father to go on the journey he was destined to take on, and even though it was a painful seperation, Tervicz had the strength to go forth. He is a young and powerful wolf, and he is both smart and confident. While the initial part of the book doesn't give many hints to his feelings and personality, there is obviously still plenty more to learn about Tervicz.

As for my current feelings about this book, I'm loving it. The mythology is intriguing, and the story of conflict between wolf and man and even wolf against wolf, told from the wolves themselves, is also just as interesting to be reading. I don't have any real complaints about the book itself, all I have is one worry. This book is long, dang it! 607 pages that I have to have done in 5 weeks? And I'm only on page 80? It's no secret that I read slow! I don't know why this is, maybe I'm just lacking practice, or maybe I visualize to much, but I can only read a page every 2 minutes. That's over 3 straight hours just for a hundred pages, and with things such as play practice going on, I don't have the time! This worries me greatly, as I know I have to have it done on time, but I'm terrible at having books done by a certain point. I wish I could finish this book at my leisure, and not let something I love turn into a chore that makes me groan in disgust at the mere thought of it.

Is there anyone else worried about completing their book on time? Or did everyone choose easier books than me? Sheesh, even the individual Lord of the Rings books are hundreds of pages shorter than mine!

Blog 3 __10/16/11__ In the 70 pages I read this week, the other wolves that are in this story begin to have their stories told. All the wolves in the next few chapters are other wolves who are being summoned to the Heartland as Tervicz is. From the Scandinavian wolf Klimt, to the Spanish wolf Aragon, wolves from all over Europe begin their journey toward the heartland.

Though none of the wolves have met each other yet, I suspect they soon will and will join to form a new pack on their way to the Heartland. All these wolves have suffered much pain and loss. For example, Klimt's entire pack was killed when they ate a poisoned deer corpse, forcing Klimt out on his own. Even worse, soon afterwords Klimt found a mate of his own and started a family, but his mate and all his cubs were murdered by a human hunter! All the anger inside Klimt made him break ancient wolf law and attack the hunter, killing him and his dogs, and in doing so, sparking a chase as a band of humans tried to hunt down and kill the 'Savage' wolf. Similarly, most of the other wolves have lost family of some kind before their quest, and they must now journey forth on their own to whatever awaits them in the Heartland.

I'm looking to seeing what the wolves will do when they come together for the first time, and I'm also excited to see what conflicts arise with the Magyar wolf pack when they encounter the journeying wolves. Also curious, in one of the chapters a spirit-like 'Mann' was encountered by one of the wolves, and his description was very cryptic and mysterious. I want to find out if this was a normal human that just seemed like a spirit, or if there really will be some kind of god like being following these wolves in their quest.

Blog 4 __10/22/11__ Another 40 pages this week, and we're continuing to hear the stories of the Wolves of Time as they begin their journeys. I read about the wolf Aragon rising up and becoming someone new as he hears the call to the heartland. It was in this part that he said one of the cooler lines in the book. "I am Aragon. I am. Remember me!" At first sight this line wouldn't look important or different at all, but the rest of the chapter brings out its meaning. Most of his life he chose to just hide and pretend to be weak, even pretending that he had a limp in one of his legs. Because of this limp, all of the pack except for his mother referred to him as 'Limper' and never his real name. No one would think twice about him. Until he heard that call, and he rose up against everyone to finally reveal the leader that had been hiding inside him the whole time. After he did so, he was gone, to leave the pack in awe of this, and to make sure that they would ALWAYS remember him.

In the next chapter I read, the story of the previous ruler of all Russian wolves is told. He is also being called to the heartland, but before doing so, he organizes a group of wolves from his old pack to attack a human zoo in Tula, Russia. His sister and other wolves are being kept there in horrible conditions, and they have been for years. So before this former leader sets off on an adventure on his own, he leads one more group on a mission to save members of his pack. What I wonder is, if he joins up with the other groups on their way to the Heartland, is he going to naturally try to lead them? And might that cause problems among them?

Blog 5 __10/29/11__ This week I progressed another 50 pages into the story, managing to make it to page 200! Woo! Anyway, in this part of the story, we finish learning of the journeys to the heartland which are starting, and we now see some of the wolves meeting each other on the way. At one point Aragon heard a howling, just before another wolf came flying down a river. He jumped in just in time to save the wolf from drowning. Afterwords, the wolf he saved told him he was journeying to the same destination, but before they continued he showed him his own homeland. This is the place where he saw the 'Mann' mentioned in blog 3. After staying there a while, they once again set off, but together.

Another pair was made when Elhana, a former Ledrene (or the female mate of the pack leader) managed to stumble upon her own lost father while on her own journey. It turned out that her father, Ambato, had set out to make the same journey many years beforehand, but he couldn't find it in himself to cross a certain plain which was beyond the mountains of their homeland. So, the two set out across it together, and attempted to journey through a dark and polluted European city. This story described what we would see as a normal, lively city like it was an apocalyptic wasteland, filled with giant metal monsters and ruins. We would see it as construction vehicles doing everyday work, but they saw it and described it as terrifying beasts, piling mounds of pollution somewhere then disappearing til the next day, which, really, is a pretty accurate description from the point of view of someone clueless to everyday human life.

Reading about human life from these wolves point of view makes me think about things. What if we were constantly caught under the shadow of some race that was alien to us? Never knowing exactly what they are or how they think, because they mostly ignore us and we just learn to hide from them. What if we were hunted down and killed like animals anytime they found us? Would we respond to things in the same way these wolves do? Would we see their techniques as destructive and terrifying? Or could we actually learn from them and even coexist with them? Which makes me wonder if any of the wolves in this story will learn to coexist with humans. Hmmm.... I have an interesting thought train going here. Also, half this paragraph is made of questions. Looks like somebody is gonna have a fun time commenting on this, assuming they get down this far. If you have reached this point in my fifth little book essay, congratulations, you have one hell of an amazing attention span!

Blog 6 __11/6/11__ Due to just plain a lack of reading time this week, I could only manage a simple 20 pages. However, a lot can happen in one chapter of this book, so I should have enough to make a semi-decent blog. This chapter followed Klimt, the wolf from Scandinavia, as he moved through what he calls the 'Mennen Deadlands' which is an area that humans once used but they no longer occupy. While here, he finds an abandoned mineshaft and enters it, seeking shelter. While doing so, he eventually discovers that he was not the only one to do so, as he sees the skeleton of a wolf at the bottom of a pit. A pit he very nearly fell straight into. Another thing he notices, though, is that there is a second skeleton there. Not wolf, but a human one, below the wolf. Was the wolf trying to help the human? Or did it jump down there to see the skeleton, then couldn't get back out? Either way, the sight got Klimt to say a prayer for both the wolf AND the man, surprising himself in doing so, since wolves are supposed to be such great enemies of men.

Before he left the mine, Klimt noticed the scent of another wolf. He assumed however, that it was the scent of the dead one. Later on, long past the mines, he heard a howl and followed it, and as he did, he scented the same wolf again, meaning it WASN'T the dead one he had smelled in the cave. Following the sound of howling and dogs, he came across the other wolf, trapped against a tree by dogs and hunters. Klimt fought to protect the wolf, and they both managed to get away. After they were safe, the other wolf introduced himself. It was Tervicz, the first of the Wolves of Time in the book, whom we haven't seen in almost 200 pages! Even though they are unaware of each others intentions, the pair begins to travel together, bringing the chapter to a close.

So, the last few chapters have focused on the wolves starting to pair up. I see this as an indication that they all might group together soon, and continue on the journey together. However, all the wolves have managed to get out of deadly situations by some luck so far, and not all books are 'Yay happy ending nobody died', so I wonder... Will the story lose a wolf or two soon? If so, who is it that would be killed off? It's always around this point in books that the first death takes place, at least by my experience. After all, something tragic has to spur the story forward, doesn't it? Something like that sure saves it from being monotonous, alright. It'll be interesting to see if this story follows through with that structure.

Blogs 7-8 __11/20/11__ Alright, so, first off, I'd like to apologize for missing the blog last week. I had a busy week and then I was at UNI Friday and Saturday, so I just didn't get any time to read or blog. Such things happen sometimes. Now, onto this week's blog! This week I read 35 pages, which had some surprising content in them. The first little bit of it was just two of the wolves getting to know each other as they began to travel on with each other, however it got more interesting while they were resting in an abandoned quarry. It was here that they were suddenly attacked by the Magyar pack. This is the first appearance of the Magyar's since the beginning of the book, the pack which took over the heartland and now guards it selfishly from any other wolves. They only barely managed to escape the attackers without getting killed, but before they left, they made it a point to announce their defiant intent to enter the heartland.

In the next chapter, Ambato and Elhana return, nearing the heartland as well. They enter a human city at one point and take refuge in a sewer, but while they are there, something happens that brings up questions. They were laying in the sewer, speaking of things, when suddenly, they heard gunshots. Lots of gunshots, followed by yelling and the sound of machines. They were in the middle of a war. Now, they referred to this city as 'Munchen' which might debase my ideas of this book taking place in modern times, and might actually place it in the early to mid 20th century. After a little research, I found that Munchen is the native name for Munich, the third largest city in Germany. Now, it's possible the author could have just made up a war in modern days, but it's more likely that this book is referring to World War 2, which Munich was involved in, however if there were any fights other than air raids in the city, I do not know, but it's quite possible.That changes the whole way I've been looking at the book, as I thought it to be in the current time period this whole time.

Lastly, I finished my reading this week with Elhana and Ambato moving on and eventually encountering the Magyar wolves for themselves. It's here that we meet the leader of the Magyar's, a wolf called Hassler. He claims that he wants the old wolf Ambato killed, and he wants to take Elhana for his own sexual pleasures, even though he does have a mate already. Elhana refuses to have this, but Hassler simply laughs at their denial before he leaves with this wolves. Later on, however, Elhana and Ambato get trapped by a dozen Magyar wolves, Hassler not amoung them. They were given the order to kill Ambato and take Elhana... But they plan on killing them both. The chapter cuts off here, leaving a cliffhanger. Gah, I hate cliffhangers! I suppose I'll wrap this blog up here then. Im nearing halfway done with this book, which is what I was hoping for, as pathetic as it is. I just cant read fast, and I cant read often either. It's unfortunate, but I know I'll finish the book as soon as I can... Probably sometime in Spring, heh. Anyway, farewell for this week, and see you on the final blog!

FINAL BLOG __12/4/11__ Here we are, the final blog. Just as the title of my book was 'Journeys to the Heartland', getting this far into the blogs has been a journey as well. Even though, due to lack of reading time and slow reading speed, I was unable to get to the very end of my book, the three hundred pages I did read was about the length of books that other people read, I imagine. For this final blog, I'll describe the events and characters in the first half of Journeys to the heartland, the first quarter of the Wolves of Time book series.

This book contained all wolves for main characters. Wolves from all across Europe, from Scandinavia to Italy, Spain to Russia, wolves emerged as main characters as they began their journeys. Some of them were leaders, such as Elhana, who was the female leader of her pack before she left, and Klimt, who at one point created his own pack, before the others were killed. Others followed most of their lives, such as Aragon of Spain, who always pretended to be weak so he wouldn't ever have to step up. Or Tervicz, whom was believed to be to weak to lead by his father, until he managed to prove to his father that he could do it after all. In the end, they all turned out to be leaders in some way, just some where more powerful than others. With these wolves as main characters, the story describes the challenges that they must face as they all set out from their homelands on journeys to the heartland of wolves. From avoiding humans to navigating the natural terrain, the wolves all have to overcome unique situations in order to reach their goal.

One of the things I found interesting in this novel was the setting. Most of the book takes place in the unclaimed wilderness of Europe, but occasionally the wolves venture into human cities or even ruins. There are no actual hints at direct time period except that it's somewhere in the 20th century, since vehicles and other modern equipment are used by the humans in this book. However, with a basic understanding of history, the time period might be more clear than at first glance. At one point during the novel, the wolves witness a battle between humans. Not just between a couple, but a full scale war inside a city that I believe is Munich, Germany. This, along with other small hints throughout the book, points towards this book taking place during World War Two. The only inconsistency I might see is that I'm unaware if any large battles were actually fought in Munich. Either there might have been, or the book might make the conflict sound larger than it actually is. Either way, I find it interesting that the setting is only defined if you really look into it, and not just given to you.

One of the unfortunate weakness's about this book is that honestly, it's tedious to read. Most of the book is just wolves walking along in different places, avoiding things like rivers and steep mountains, talking to each other about the occasional thing as they go. Sometimes they spend an entire chapter just discussing the mythology of their kind. At one point I'm pretty sure they take multiple! While the book has tense and violent scenes of conflict at some points, you have to power through a lot of mush to get there. While some of that mush is important, a lot of the time it just makes you wish you could skip ahead to the next interesting part. Now I'm not saying in anyway that this is a bad novel. I love it and I'm going to be (Slowly) finishing it, but it just makes it a little harder to read sometimes. Something to keep in mind if you ever decide to try reading this book.

If I were to rate this novel on a scale of 1 to 5, I'd have to call it a 3 so far, from where I'm at in the book. The reason for this adequate rating is that while the conflicts are interesting, there's just to much mush thrown in everywhere for it to really grab your attention and hold it. My favorite book, The Sight, which was the book that made me want to read this one, did a wonderful job of only using important mush and keeping that mush spread out throughout the story, so it could keep your attention for hours on end. It was the best book I ever read. This book however, even though I truly wanted it to, couldn't live up to those expectations. While I'll still finish it, my favorite book of all time will remain The Sight.

So, this will be the conclusion to my final blog for this book. The things I liked about it and things I didn't like averaged out to make it an ok book, but not likely to go on my favorites list. Still though, if you're in need of a book about wolves and you've already read The Sight, you might consider trying this one out. You might find the mush in between more enjoyable than I did. That's my conclusion for the blog, good content but not enough of it. I hope you enjoyed reading the blogs that I did on this book, and I hope you got something worthwhile out of them. Good luck with all your own final blogs everyone, I hope they go well. Thanks for reading!