I thought I heard a rythmic clanking while reading Wolf'-Own: Koan, and finally realized it sounded exactly like a roller coaster cranking to the top of a steep hill. The ride stilled for a moment, allowing the readers to catch a breath and build anticipation, and thenWolf's-own: Incendiary. Freefall, rumbling down the hill, slowing minutely, then plunging again, heart alternately lurching between throat and stomach. Wow! What a ride. Drama, angst galore (my drug of choice!), action, adventure, [...]

See my awesome interview with Carole Cummings at The Armchair Reader.Review posted at The Armchair Reader.**This review contains spoilers for the first three books -- Ghost, Weregild and Koan**Well… wow.This book and the ending to this epic story was very satisfying! The grunt work we had to pull in Koan finally came through in this book, as well as the turmoil the characters had to go through. Not only did I feel like this second chapter (Koan and Incendiary) was necessary to the story after [...]

5 HeartsFirst published at MM Good Book Reviewsmmgoodbookreviews.wordpressThis story picks up where Koan left off, so obviously you need to read the entire series and yes, I am being serious. This is not a series that can be picked up in the middle. Fen finds himself in the middle of the biggest fight for his life and sanity than anything that has come before (honestly, everything before will look like a slight headache and a bit of an itch). Malick is still gone, people are after Fen either to [...]

This review can also be found on my blog: A Match Made in HeavenI really enjoyed this series, although I still never fully understood what was going on. The world building was too sloppy and the story too vast for me to grasp. There was endless mythology that was not given proper introduction. I think this series would benefit from some massive editing. The writing and grammar is fine, but it needs some serious restructuring. Although I absolutely adore the characters, especially Fen. Fen absolu [...]

I decided to give this 3 stars though, as the second and third volume, I would correctly rate this 2.5 stars.There was just so much angst and hurt and suffering for Jacin. I sometimes felt it was forced just to elicit from the reader as much compassion as possible. There were so many available, less painful solutions to any number of the predicaments Fen found himself in, and yet the author chose the most brutal one every time. And while I was pretty drawn to the plot, the way the characters act [...]

Super short review will write more once I reread everything.The reader's endurance pays off big time in the final installment. I won't talk about all the explanations, the motivations, the battles. I'll just say that Fen finally becomes what I hoped for him throughout the series, although under his own brand of batshit. XD In fact, all of the characters have grown into/become what they needed to be, including Malick, Joori, Morin and Shig. I was very satisfied at the end, although I realized tha [...]

I'm always anxious when I start to get towards the end of a series of books such as these; hoping that the ending will be satisfying and well thought out. Incendiary is the 4th and final book of a series I have grown to absolutely adore and I was very happy with the conclusion.Thanks Carole, for such beautifully written books. They are truly amazing and I feel there is still a lot more life in these characters yet.

4.5 I can finally sleep tonight

This is a review for the entire Wolf's Own Series :1.GhostCarole Cummings builds a world similar to feudal Japan where Gods behave just as treacherously as men, an immortal lives in the attic of a brothel and works as a part-time assassin together with a band of misfits, divine beings plot against each other, people with magic are oppressed and enslaved and throws in a main character who is not only Untouchable but going slowly insane in addition to being a dangerous assassin with a mission on h [...]

Synopsis:Fen Jacin-rei finds himself again on the run after discovering the reality of what he is and why the gods won t let him go. His one source of support, Kamen Malick, is suddenly unavailable, and now hounded and chased by ghosts who want to drive him into insanity and keep him there, Fen will have to face life all alone.Or maybe not. Old enemies and new allies seek to control Fen, now known as Kamen s Untouchable. It s going to take everything Fen s got to figure out who he can trust and [...]

Since I consider ‘Wolf’s Own – Koan’ and ‘Wolf’s Own – Incendiary’ to be one book, this review applies to both. Again, as always, Carole’s prose is delicious. The woman can turn a phrase and paint a picture with words. And she can also create extremely complex, deep, and tortured characters. This continues the story of Jacin, the tragic and tortured hero, and Malick, the demi-god who loves him, and the family that has formed around both of them. And these two books drag us even [...]

Masterpiece Or at least pretty damn close This series made use of the whole emotional spectrum, seems like, and managed to pull those very same emotions out of its reader. Yes, it was frustrating; when Jacin just wouldn't get it through his bloody skull or when the riddles just seemed to build upon more riddles – especially those of a character's own making, sometimes frustration was just there because the story seemed to move so slow you wanted to skip a page or two to get where you wanted to [...]

What a conclusion to the series!Like Malick, the author just never lets up! This book was like a roller-coaster without any downs in the plot, only twists, turns and up, up, up! The tension was nearly unbearable, each scene was so intense, so emotional A fantastic series, truly.Please, Carole, write some more!

Finally, we get the solution to all the mysterious goings-on. Reality and Imagination intersect once more, but, I was happy to see, at the end it all gets explained and resolved.A truly epic series, these books challenged my ability to hold on (patiently or otherwise) to find out what was the real story. My confusion, unfortunately, stood in the way of real enjoyment, but the language used and the concepts presented were interesting enough to keep me reading. That certainly says something!

Best Ending Ever! I really wanted to savor this readI wanted to draw it out all weekend but Mal and the guys wouldn't let me. Soggestions for follow ups (or things I would wish for if I was sitting on Santa's lapd disturbingly, if you spell check Santa one of your options is Satan? Really?) Ummm, let's see a book for Samin and a book for Shig and a book for Morin and a book for Joori and a book for

It pains me to give this only three stars. The writing is beautiful and I bow down to the mind from which this complex world/story sprang. But ultimately, this felt a bit like work to get through. I didn't have the patience to follow everything and the pain & suffering went on for the entire series with really no relief. I do, however, look forward to whatever comes next from Ms. Cummings.

In the last book we finally get all the answers as to what's been going on all along. Which was fantastic and I loved it, but now I need to go back and re-read the entire series to see what I missed in the first place!Like that's gonna be a hardship.Highly recommended series.

4.5 Stars. That's was a beautiful ending. What a way to go :)

I wanna kill some darlings for this author, far too much storyline in the head of one of the main characters. As soon as the storyline runs in the real world of the book it is tight and adventurous.

Before I get to the actual reviews, how cool are these titles? After I reviewed the second book (Weregild), I realized we never learned what the title meant. I thought it was some made-up, fictional word from the story. But nope! "Weregild, also known as man price, was a value placed on every being and piece of property." -- what's the value of a human? Which was a theme of the story! Same thing with Koan, at first I thought it was a word made up for the story (since there were a number of those [...]

A decent story that ultimately resolves the series to a reasonable point. It can get too full of itself though in esoteric plots and metaphysical meanings. Those drag down the story because they are not explained in simple enough terms to make sense. Ultimately, the reader has to simply take some parts on faith, accept they are completely incomprehensible and continue on with the story hoping the lost parts don't end up being particularly important.

A touch more world building in the early part of the series, give me a better idea about the gods for example, and a more resolved ending would have pushed this to a 5. The ending made me think there should be more books here.

Hands down one of the best series I've ever read. I adored all of these characters and this love story. Gahhh! Will definitely be rereading in the future.

** This review is word-for-word as the review for the Wolf's Own Bundle **POV: 3rd, multi-POVStar rating: ★★★☆☆Sadly, again we have an ending that is not really an ending. There's clearly more to come, much more, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Honestly, right now, I kind of wish I'd stopped at the end of book 2 and never read any further. Because, although I love the moments where Morin got his big part and Malick and Fen's quiet moments together, these last two books in the s [...]

4.5

I loved this series. Carole Cummings excels at depicting tortured characters, and the reader becomes completely immersed in her world. As the fourth book in the series, Incendiary does not disappoint. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates well written, complex characters, engrossing worlds, and engaging action.

Loved this book! Missing Malick and Fen already. Incediary was a really complex story,confusing at times, which made me have to re read sections to understand what was happening. The story moved at a rollcoaster pace and Fen suffers a crazy heartbreaking amount. But the moments of stilness and intimacy between Malick and Fen were what made the Wolf's Own series so special for me. The connection between these guys was just so beautiful. Good Job Carole. A great end to a super seriesI do hope you [...]

Incendiary for me felt better than Koan. There was again more action, the pace was faster.I hated and loved to finally read the ending. Hated because I didn't want the book to end, loved it because most issues get finally resolved. Even though it is a true ending, it leaves the possibility for more books to come. All in all this series was stunning. It has been a long time since I have been this captivated by a book. All four of them were finished far too fast because I just could not put them d [...]

I think this is the best book of the series so far. It started a little slow, but seriously picked up about 1/3 of the way through it. The world is great, the characters are interesting, the voices are all very distinct personalities and don't all blend together. Fen Jacin's instanity is very well written. I'll definitely be reading this series again in the future.Again, this series is not a romance as far as a typical romance goes, it's more fantasy with a romantic theme in it.

This review is for the entire series because, to me, it all wove together into one overarching storyline. I loved the world Carole Cummings built and the characters who populated it. Her writing was lush and descriptive. The story was told through several points of view, which I thought rounded it out well. I stayed up too late several nights to find out what happened next. Would definitely read more given the chance!