Cover Image: Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves

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Member Reviews

This was a fun story! Once we got past the initial 25% or so, the story really gripped me. I love a good survivalist story, and following Sena as she tried to keep herself alive while also opening herself up to care about others really spoke to me. The author didn't pull any punches - there are consequences that last, and I really appreciate this. I'll read from the author again in the future!

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Running from someone she stole from, Sena ends up accidentally hiding inside a feral wolf’s cage. She’s caught by the den boss, Kalba, so he makes a deal with her that she’ll pay her debt by healing the wolf. The wolf’s name is Iska. Kalba named his prized fighting wolf after Sena’s mom. This irritates her horribly. She agrees to help heal Iska but she gets sidetracked more than once with trying to steal enough to pay her way off the ice planet. After a few misadventures, Sena ends up with a racing team that’s planning scientific studies of the exocarbon that the planet is known for. Sena is angry with herself because she vowed that she would never race. She learns how much she can truly handle and how teamwork helps tremendously with problem solving. I enjoyed this read, even through Sena’s pessimism and stubbornness. A wonderful mix of dystopian, science fiction and adventure awaits readers who want to plunge into another world, 5 stars!

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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a terrifying adventure through a deadly, frozen tundra all for the chance to mine a rare and precious metal for the wealth it promises. But only if you survive.

Sena, a young pickpocket struggling to survive on a cut-throat planet, can't seem to catch a break. The first two-fifths of the novel felt a bit slow as I watched Sena fail to get what she wants again and again. I'm a sucker for a flawed character who learns from her misjudgement and failings and I could tell that Sena would have an incredible journey.

So many others have talked about the worldbuilding in this novel, and I can't help but rave about it. This small, ice-covered planet carries a unique and complex ecosystem of flora and fauna, each one designed to kill and destroy. It's the perfect place to set a sled-dog race that feels so much like a fictional Iditarod (a sled-dog race that takes place in Alaska every year. It's gruelling and a test of every bit of their strength, though they don't face quite as many extra dangers like cat-beasts and giant bears).

Overall, I loved this novel and I've found myself thinking back to it more than once since finishing it. I know that it's a perfect standalone novel if that's the plan, but I desperately want to see more stories that take place on this frozen world. I hope everyone gives Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves a chance!

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Fast paced and engaging! This book is the perfect combination of science fiction and survival. I've already shared it during book talks with students and they're so excited to read it.

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I thought the first half was slow to get into but the second half was a fast read. So much happened in the second half. I really enjoyed learning who the characters were and the harsh world they lived in. The race didn’t happen until about 50% in but when it did it made me think of Baltio. That is one of my favorite animated movies and reading this made me want to rewatch that movie. I did enjoy this book but not as much as I wanted to. I really thought this was just ok. The end made me feel like there could be a sequel and if there is I might pick it up.

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Meg Long wrote a very special book. The story of a girl who has given up on connection and the wolf who shows her the way back—through the tundra—to a future she could not have imagined. The teen protagonist in this story has a lot of loss and danger to handle as the story develops. Perfect for readers who enjoy found family, fast pacing, high stakes action, and animals who choose their people. It’s so good!

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4/5

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is Meg Long’s debut novel. It features dog/wolf sledding, sci-fi, action, adventure, survival and you guessed it, snow. And lots of it.

The story follows 17 year old Sena. A girl tired of being alone and fighting for every scrap she can get just to leave the ice-cold planet Tundar she calls home. With every scheme Sena gets closer to saving enough money to leave, but when she’s caught by the planet’s mob boss, she must use all her wits to survive all by herself… though maybe she doesn’t have to do it alone.

Look. I liked the premise. I read the synopsis and I was like “yes! Balto plus angry teen girl? I’m in!” I’m just sad it took about 1/3 of the book for the synopsis to even be relevant in the story.

So it started slow, oh well, that’s fine, most books do. This book also has a LOT of exposition at the beginning. Though it does take some time, Long does explain a lot of how the universe works and Sena’s background and everything.

What I did love about this book - and why I’m giving it a higher rating than what I was planning - is that once the action part got going, it went and Did. Not. Stop. Meg Long went HARD during the last 1/3 of the book. Also, the women???? Strong, bad-ass queens. I would die for them all. Even the animal ones.

Here’s where I’m torn though. The ending was so open that I was shocked. Threads were not just left open, they were straight up dropped and left to drift in space for eternity. So, if there is a sequel or companion book, then I will gladly keep my rating at a 4 and GLADLY read any book from this (hopefully) series But if this ends up being a stand-alone then I’ll have to lower my rating because just too many threads were tossed away.

I really, REALLY hope there is a sequel though! I’m fully invested in this world Long has created and I am willing to go on a journey with her.

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While this debut has an interesting premise--like Call of the Wild meets Firefly--I lost interest in the narrative. The main character made reckless choices and the plot felt incredibly repetitive in the first 20% of the novel (main character steals, gets caught, is chased, sulks, repeat). Then when the main character isn't busy being painfully bad at thieving, the book packs in so much exposition the pacing suffered. Ultimately, I wasn't interested in continuing.

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Oh my, this is one wild ride. It starts out moving fast and never looks back. Tundar is a cold, hard planet with few choices and Sena wants off it. But there aren't many ways to earn the money for a ticket, so she supplements her earnings with some pocket pickings, which can get a girl in trouble, and does she get in trouble. Big time. This is the classic story of One Thing Leading Into Another and somehow loner Sena has appropriated what appear to be scientist friends, a fighting wolf carrying her dead mother's name and they all are joined on a deadly race she swore she would never participate in. How'd that happen?
This is a rip-roaring good adventure with well-drawn, believable characters and world-building. The planet is harsh, and its native inhabitants even nastier than the human baddies. This race makes the Iditarod look like kid's stuff. And there's always the opposing team willing to kill you if the locals don't.... The race itself is only a small part of the story, the grand climax as it were. There's lots of Sena getting in and out of trouble, getting to know the scientists, and more importantly, she and the reader getting to know Iska, the wolf, a really splendid character unto herself. The whole story, the people and the setting are more complex than the blurb lets on, and makes for a very rewarding reading experience. Highly recommended.

And for those of you who don't care how many humans are killed as long as the dog/wolf/animal lives:
SPOILER ALERT

YES, Iska is still there at the end of the book. This book is safe to read. Whew!

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This was a great sci-fi/fantasy novel, it was right up my alley! I loved the author’s writing style and our main character Sena! An amazing read and I highly recommend it!

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This cover is so gorgeous, I just had to read it. Though I have some mixed feelings about this read it was an interesting read.

The book had a real slow start for me. It has a creative world. I had to hang in there though cause I did feel that the book ended better then expected. As a debut book the author is off to a good start. Im a huge fantasy reader but I have never been a huge fan of Sci-fi read. This book has some Sci-fi feels but it was done in a way that made it more enjoyable. However I do wish that I got more out of it as there were parts where I felt disconnected from the character but I found myself entranced by the world and the wolves. The authors way of writing is a little jagged but for a debut I feel that the next book has a lot of promise.

A frozen planet with wolves this YA fantasy can check a lot of boxes for readers. In the darkness we push for the light. This story is fighting to live. Some scenes can be a little more graphic than others but overall it is still YA.

In short:
Did I like it? It wasn't to bad.
Would I recommend it? Possibly.
Would I read more by this author? I'll keep a look out.

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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves was an engrossing debut novel. Sena only wants one thing, to get off the frozen planet she calls home and to get away from the sled race that claimed her mothers lives years before. When she angers the local gangster she is forced to join the race and run for her life.

My one major complaint about this one is that I wish more of the book would have included the race. It takes over half of the book to reach the race and that is when I really started to enjoy it. The author does a good job at world building but some of it seemed repetitive in some sections. I loved the found family part of the story and once the race started I could not put this one down!

Overall this is a strong debut novel and I look forward to what she writes in the future.

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3.5 stars. A nice story of strength, survival, friendship, and families made. I didn’t like Sena at first, but once she starts to see the wolf as something more than just an animal, the story got way better for me. I really liked the young scientist guy and was bummed at what happened to him :( It was nice seeing the friendship start and develop between Sena and Remi, proving to Sena that it’s not all give and take- some people are actually nice and not just out for themselves.

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I liked this dystopian, young adult novel. The plot is well thought out. The book is well written and wonderfully detailed. Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is told from the main character’s perspective with an indifferent tone as if the story were occurring to another person. So, unfortunately, this is not the book for me. I was unable to fully get into it. Perhaps, this book best suits younger readers than me. Nonetheless, I’m most interested in reading Meg Long’s next novel!


Thank you to Netgalley, Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, and Meg Long for this beautiful book in exchange for an honest review.

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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves took me a long time to get into, but by the end I was sucked in and very eager to see what was going to happen with everyone.

Part of what took me so long to dive into this book was the set up. It starts off slow and takes a long time to build up. Despite it starting slow, I still felt like I was kinda thrown into the story and playing catch up for a while. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense and I wish I could explain it better, but it was confusing for a while.

As the plot got going a little more, I feel that helped a lot. The author was very descriptive about the cold and violence that was going on that did seem to bring the world and the characters to life a little bit.

Once it picked up at the end, I didn't have an okay time, but nothing in this one particularly stood out to me.

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I enjoyed this book so much, it also brought back some nostalgic moments for me. This might sound weird but when I was younger maybe 12 years old, I wanted to have a sled team of all wolves! I kid you not, I wanted to live in Alaska in the woods with a pack of wolves.

This book gave me my 12 year old dream in a small way, Seña’s story is a sad one and I felt for her. She is a morally gray character! She steals to survive and she only cares about herself and how she is going to get herself out of this hell scape. There is a boy that seems to have feelings for her and maybe she could care for him but she can’t bring herself to go down that road because caring gets you now where in this world. And his purpose to her is only to help her survive.

Of course things change, and I love books that change our characters from potential villains to people we care about. And that is what happened with Seña for me. She wants off this world thinking she has nothing left, but when her stealing catches up to her and she gets the attention of her mother’s evil boss. She is not given much of a choice but to work for him to fix up his fighting wolf. This would be her potential way off this world, but we all know a true villain never stays true to their word.

Things pick up so quick, it is never a dull moment, seña knows how to survive this world. She does it everyday, she’s trying to stay away from this mad man and find a way out when she finds another way out by working for a scientist. This is where we start seeing the change, so stay under the radar with the wolve she stole training these green scientist on how to survive this world all while there is a target on her back every turn she makes.

More enemies then friends but true friends then enemies. This book was so good. I really enjoy this one, definite five star read! And the wolf, I loved her!!!

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Sena just wants to leave her frozen planet and live somewhere else. She has no interest to get involved with wolves or racing because that's what took her mothers from her. Things don't go as planned and Sena ends up rescuing a wolf named Iska. They adventure together, as each saves the other from the danger that lies ahead. I was more into the story at the beginning than towards the end. The bond between Sena and Iska was strong and I enjoyed reading how their relationship developed. The reveal of what happened to Sena's mothers was quick and not enough details given.

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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is about a girl living alone on a frozen planet that befriends a wolf and must complete this insane race to try and earn enough money to leave the planet.

I wanted to like this book but I had a hard time getting into it.

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Everything about this book was wild in the best way possible. Our main character is so interesting, and I loved the lack of romance in this book. Sena's connection with her wolf was delightful, and although the writing in this came off a bit amatuerish at times, overall I think it's well worth the read.

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**4.5 Stars**
So, I did not realize that this was a science fiction novel when I started reading, I just had a vague sense of the synopsis being about snow and wolves and sledding so color me surprised when I began the book to find out that it is set on a far off frozen planet in outer space where people come to mine for a crazy valuable resource. This is best described as science fiction had a baby with Call of the Wild but with a female teen protagonist. All of that being said, I really enjoyed this story. The story was gritty and dangerous and exciting, it was very easy to forget that this was supposed to be another planet because my brain kept putting the story into like Alaska here on earth no problem. To be fair though, I am a complete sucker for books with or about animals, especially when the animal is such a huge part of the story- which, spoiler, this one is! I spent a majority of the book holding my breath hoping that my new favorite alien wolf was going to survive the book, not even caring about the side human characters. Yes, I have my priorities.

Maybe this is petty of me but I dropped my stars from 5 to 4.5 due to how much repetition there was about the death of the main character's moms. Sure, it was sad she became an orphan (which took place years before the book began) and their deaths caused her to stay away from basically everything the book is about (racing, caring for the wolves, making connections with other humans, life in general for the most part) but at least the first half the book the main character thought about their deaths (in almost the same wording/manner) and used the deaths to avoid something at least once a chapter and by the end of the book I didn't want to hear about either of her mother's anymore. Call me insensitive, but I picked up on her grief within the first two times of it being brought up and did not need to continuously discuss it. That aside, I loved the action and overall plot of the book as well as her relationship with my new favorite wolf.

The story has a solid ending that I am completely happy with- but the author also left open a tiny crack in the door in case there might be a sequel, which I will be completely down for! There was zero romance in the book but still it had 2 of the best relationships that I have read recently and I love the story even more for not having a romance- not everything has to be romantic to be love or support and this was a great example of girls having each other's backs.

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