tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post114702740456127449..comments2023-08-10T16:06:35.452+01:00Comments on Scholar's Blog: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Joan AikenMichelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15888298679182871669noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147193588388336952006-05-09T17:53:00.000+01:002006-05-09T17:53:00.000+01:00Thanks for the info. mwt. And no, Hallie, I'm not ...Thanks for the info. mwt. And no, Hallie, I'm not put off - I'll just read them piecemeal, in and around the various other books that I want to read and review; I may not review all of the Aiken books here, but I will read them all !Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888298679182871669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147192401679348572006-05-09T17:33:00.000+01:002006-05-09T17:33:00.000+01:00The stories in this series interleave with one ano...The stories in this series interleave with one another. Simon the Goose Boy from Wolves of Willoughby Chase, is the main character in Black Hearts in Battersea. Dido Twite, who is a minor character in Black Hearts, is the main character in Nightbirds on Nantucket and subsequent books. I always thought the place to stop reading was The Cuckoo Tree. The Stolen Lake was written later and slipped into the narrative flow between Nightbirds and Cuckoo. None of the later books really rocked me. Midnight is a Place, however shares no characters with Wolves, unless they are very minor ones, or with the other books. It is probably included in a listing of the series because it is set in Blastburn, where Bonnie and Sylvia were incarcerated in the workhouse/school. Midnight is a retelling--more intense, and darker--of the Wolves story. Privileged children cast from their rightful home and making their way in the world. I loved it. Where Wolves is written for the younger reader, Midnight is for a more mature one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147160676068109752006-05-09T08:44:00.000+01:002006-05-09T08:44:00.000+01:00That's very strange! I went back and checked all ...That's very strange! I went back and checked all the books just now, and not all have a list of the James III/Wolves Chronicles series, but not one of those that do includes <I>The Whispering Mountain</I> or <I>Midnight Is a Place</I> in it. Nor does JA include either in her Author's Notes on the out-of-chronological order books. Possibly some publisher trying to hitch the non-series ones in to boost sales? Anyway, as long as you weren't put off by all the books you <I>have</I> to read to follow the series! Glad you liked BHiB more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147149058743658412006-05-09T05:30:00.000+01:002006-05-09T05:30:00.000+01:00Thanks for the information Hallie, however, both M...Thanks for the information Hallie, however, both <I>Midnight is a Place</I> and <I>The Whispering Mountain</I> are listed as part of the "Wolves" series in more than one list at which I looked. Since I brought both of the home from the library at the weekend, I may as well read them anyway ! <BR/><BR/>I enjoyed BHiB more than WoWC !Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888298679182871669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147119712037320902006-05-08T21:21:00.000+01:002006-05-08T21:21:00.000+01:00Neither Midnight is a Place nor The Whispering Mou...Neither <I>Midnight is a Place</I> nor <I>The Whispering Mountain</I> is part of the series, actually. <BR/><BR/>I read and loved the first few (all that were published then) in the series as a child, and then revisited and finished it with my daughters, and don't think <I>Wolves</I> is up to the standard of the others. Or at least most of the others - a few of the later books are weaker. But <I>The Cuckoo Tree</I> and <I>Dido and Pa</I> are two of the very best, IMO. Some of the later ones are quite dark, but never excessively so, I think. Dido (the main character you'll have met in BHiB) isn't in a couple of the later books, but reappears in the last two. And the alternative history gets more wildly inventive as the books go on. Wonderful stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147063383747129542006-05-08T05:43:00.000+01:002006-05-08T05:43:00.000+01:00I thought the alternative history was interesting ...I thought the alternative history was interesting in WWC - and the characters were reasonably interesting, but I was disappointed with the ending of it - the fact that Bonnie's parents survived the shipwreck and turned up in the nick of time was rather lame, I felt.<BR/><BR/>I've just started BHiB so I'll see how I get on with the rest of the series...Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888298679182871669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147049727841166302006-05-08T01:55:00.000+01:002006-05-08T01:55:00.000+01:00This was one of my favorite books as a child. I r...This was one of my favorite books as a child. I read it again and again, but I never made any progress into the rest of the series. I wonder how many people enjoyed this book so much that like me they were disappointed in the rest. That's why I tend to talk about it as a stand-alone title.Tashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12808701582504544509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162585.post-1147046533271730012006-05-08T01:02:00.000+01:002006-05-08T01:02:00.000+01:00I adore WWC, and Blackhearts in Battersea possibly...I adore WWC, and <I>Blackhearts in Battersea</I> possibly even more. The link (I think they mean) in the series is Dido Twite, who is introduced in BB. I wouldn't worry, though, about trying to get through the whole series as (at least imho) not many of the others are up to the standard of the first two or three. I wasn't aware that <I>Midnight is a Place</I> was part of the series, unless the characters are loosely connected - that's the only other one I would _highly_ recommend reading. It's a lot darker than the others, even more Dickensian, but very very good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com