WereWorld 1: Rise of the Wolf
Writing: 6/10 Plot: 7/10 Characters: 7/10 Creativity: 10/10
Overall: 7.5/10
A solid start!
Ah yes! Wereworld! My favorite book series. I’m finally rereading it after all these years. I’ve been dropping references to it in most of the other reviews because it’s a series that has stuck with me more than any other.
This is going to be a very biased review as I’m very fond of this series. I was initially afraid after rereading Watership Down and not enjoying that as much as I did the first time, but I thoroughly enjoyed Rise of the Wolf this second time around, despite its many flaws.
The Plot: The story takes place in a world ruled by therianthrope (aka animal shifters) known as Werelords. We follow farmboy Drew Ferran, as his life is disrupted by a monster breaking into his home and killing his mother. He turns into a monster himself, revealing himself to be the Last Gray Wolf, a species of Werelords that ruled over Highcliff before Leopold the Lion usurped the throne and slaughtered them all. Drew is chased off his family farm by his adopted father, tragically believing he killed his wife and lives out in the woods for six months until he is found by Whitley, a young scout. Drew learns of his heritage and plans to flee the country, only to be stopped by all sorts of enemies alongside friends he meets along the way.
Rise of the Wolf has a pretty standard plot. Farm boy turned reluctant hero/lost heir. It’s a very common trope in fantasy stories and this story follows the trope pretty closely. However, I’m not bothered by it that much because the book tried and succeeds to do something different with its world. The world is what keeps me entertained. The ruling class is made up of werecreatures of varying shapes and sizes. You got your standard werewolves, werebears, and werefoxes, but then we start getting really creative stuff like werestags, serpents, sharks, badgers, rats, etc. Any fish, reptile, and mammal you can think of is represented in WereWorld and it’s the coolest shit!
The Writing: This is where the story falters a lot. The writing quality is serviceable. It’s not boring and not overly flowery, but it’s not great either. A problem I had was the amount of telling and barely any showing. On some occasions, such as Drew’s time in Redmire Manor, having a summary of what happened is fine. I do not need to see every second of Drew’s day. However, Drew bonding with Hector and Whitley was not shown. We are told that he and Hector are great friends but we don’t really see them bonding until the end. Most of the time, their interactions boil down to Hector expositing to Drew about the world and what’s going on. At least, Whitley and Drew had some bonding but it was short-lived. I know from memory that Whitley and Drew truly become great friends and eventually lovers throughout the series, but Drew and Hector’s relationship remains mostly told to us even in the other books. The action scenes are exciting and gruesome. I remember being shocked by how bloody this book was, but young me loved that because yeah! They’re werecreatures! They should be shredding people! It’s awesome! I absolutely love how Jobling describes their transformations. Drew’s first transformation is brutal. The way he describes Drew’s bones popping as they shift and how much pain he’s in so visceral. I forgot about that and, personally, I like it a lot. As the book goes on he becomes better at shifting but we still get descriptions of how physical and warping the transformations are.
The Characters: See this is where my knowledge of the future books muddles my review. I know where these characters go, I know their arcs, and I know that I absolutely love their stories so it’s really hard to just focus on this book but I’ll try.
Drew is kind of… eh. He’s valiant, strong, and overall a genuinely good person that always does the right thing despite the odds. He’s not a bad person to follow but he is lacking a lot in personality. He’s just… good. That’s it. Hector is the same way, except he’s more brain than brawn. He’s a magister and dabbles in dark magic throughout the story. He is also just good. Just a good guy. We do not see enough of Whitley to get a grasp on her personality yet so I won’t speak on her, but do know she’s a major player in the series. Vega, Bergan, and Gretchen are great!
Bergan the Bear of Brackenholme is this hulking dude who blames himself for the death of Wergar the Wolf, the previous king. Upon seeing Drew and immediately noticing that he is Wergar’s son he does everything he can in his power to help. He’s noble and really cool. I like Bergan a lot and I like how he becomes a bit of a father figure to Drew.
Gretchen is a feisty Werefox who is betrothed to Prince Lucas. At first, she is the rude, snappy, spoiled rich girl that hates Drew. Drew likewise hates her, but during events in Redmire Manor, Hector’s home, he forcefully brings her along on his journey. Though she is repeatedly put in “damsel-in-distress” situations, she shows that there is more to her. She has a lot of fight in her, she’s not afraid to speak her mind, she has a lot of agency, and she genuinely cares about others and wants to do all that she can to help those suffering. I like how she and Drew become friends. Their relationship is really the only one we see grow and change as the story goes on. Love the two of them together. As a kid, I shipped them, but not so much anymore. Best platonic friends. Gretchen is great and I know she only gets better.
Vega the pirate! He shows up near the end, but what an impact he makes. I like his suave, cavalier personality. I can’t dig too much into his character due to spoilers, but do know that he’s a major player, and he’s a lot of fun. Plus, he has one of the coolest werecreature reveals in the book. I’m not going to spoil it. It’s so much fun!
The villains Lucas and Leopold are not on the page as much but they sure do leave an impact. Lucas is a spoiled, violent, and very dangerous guy. You hate him as soon as he appears. Leopold is arrogant, manipulative, terrifying, and cruel. When he goes full Lion, it’s the scariest shit. They’re not complex or anything but they work really well for this simple story.
The Worldbuilding: WEREWOLVES! AND OTHERS! I’ve said this before but I love werewolves. One of my favorite mythical beasts ever and Wereworld does not let me down! The best part about werewolves is their beastliness and great strength. All the werecreatures exhibit this. They’re huge, intimidating, terrifying, formidable, and badass! It’s awesome and we get so many different kinds. When I read this book for the first time years ago, I remember finding the idea of a wereboar and a weredeer to be stupid, but then they showed up on page and I was proven wrong. Wereboars are huge, they have large sharp tusks, and insane strength. The Stags have huge with sharp as knives antlers that can skewer people. Cool stuff. This is awesome. More, please.
I love how Jobling plays with werewolf lore. Werelords have accelerated healing, they shift on demand, they have an affinity for the moon (especially Drew, being a wolf), and they’re all deathly allergic to silver so much so that it’s banned. Another thing I like is how the Werelords “let out bits of their beast.” For example, without having to go full Wolf, Drew would heighten his sense of smell while remaining human. Gretchen would let out her claws to defend herself. Bergan would show his fangs to intimidate, etc etc. It’s such a small thing but it adds a lot of flavor to these characters. They all have beasts inside them and you’ll know it every time they’re on page. Another thing I like is how, even in their human form, they resemble their beasts somewhat. Bergan the Bear is a huge intimidating guy, Gretchen the Fox has red hair, Drew the Wolf is lean and has scruffy black hair, Leopold the Lion is a huge blonde guy, etc. Again, it adds a lot of flavor to the characters and makes them memorable.
Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf is a solid start. It’s not great and the plot is very standard, but the creativity of the world is so entertaining and fascinating that it covers up the mediocrity. I like this book a lot and, if my memory is correct, the second book Rage of Lions is way way better. I can’t wait!
Recommendation: If you like badass monsters tearing each other apart and can forgive an admittedly cliché plot, give this a shot! It’s a lot of fun!
