Star Wolf (Songs of Star & Winter, #1) by L.A. Frederick

Star Wolf: A Space Opera Fantasy by L.A. Frederick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Frederick’s universe, Earth is basically a prison planet: a place where all the other animal planets send their miscreants after stripping them of their sentience, their ability to walk upright and talk. When man outgrows its one world, he also outgrows his usefulness, and the Council of Worlds votes to have General Winter Tiger from the planet, Tigris, destroy Earth and all its inhabitants: clueless humans and animals alike.

Unknown to the Council, Winter Tiger and his followers have already implemented a number of plans furthering their final goal of universal dominance. Rather than destroy Earth in the manner he’d been commanded, Winter Tiger secretly brings his planet’s most magnificent spacecraft, Darkchurch, out of hiding and vaporizes the Earth using an AWB – Atomic World Bomb – both of which had supposedly been outlawed and collected after the end of the Apex War 20 years prior. But then other planets begin to disappear, destroyed without a trace.

Back at the Council of Worlds, Star Wolf, first-in-line to the throne of his father and the Wolf planet, Lupus, disbelieves the report presented by Winter Tiger that the five planets were destroyed by a Space Kraken. But when the head of the mythical beast is examined and certified as real by council members, Star and all of Lupus are banished from council membership and protection. Shamed by his father’s disgust of his actions, Star Wolf and his close friends, Sky and River, and his older advisor, Ash Wolf, set out to assemble a team of the greatest warriors alive to prove Winter Tiger’s deception and foil his plans to take over the universe.

Star Wolf is the first book in the new science fiction series, Song of Star & Winter, by author L.A. Frederick. Not only did I enjoy the story itself but also the author’s characters following the traits we think of associated with the different species, such as the wolves’ rigid, pack society and behavior, the brash and bold bear, Kodiak, and the wily and wise Night Badger. Readers are treated to a close-up view of several animal societies and their planets during the course of the story – not just predators and not only young animals like Star Wolf but a variety of different aged creatures.

There is quite a bit of drama and excitement as Star Wolf and Winter Tiger clash and some heartbreak in the father-son relationship of Sun Wolf and his son, Star. There is constant action and even a hint of romance.

I recommend this book for SciFi readers that like series stories and don’t mind resolutions that take more than one book for completion. I’ll definitely be looking for the next book, Winter Tiger, coming out later this month (June 2020.)

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