But though THE WOLFEN is more of a straight thriller based on what I term a "cosmological myth"-- that is, a myth dealing with forces of nature-- the book deserves accolades for the creativity of is concept: a species of wolf that evolves alongside human beings, with its own form of intelligence and enhanced powers of speed and sensory detection.
For reasons Streiber does not make entirely clear, in primitive times the Wolfen (as they are dubbed late in the novel by a human character) fixate on human beings as their prey. Even in their developmental phase, the Wolfen don't usually make direct war upon humans, but follow the pattern of other predator-animals, usually hunting and devouring the weakest or sickliest members of a given tribe. Because of the Wolfen's great speed and superior senses, they can keep clear of humans so that they become the stuff of legend, i.e., werewolves. But as human beings begin to congregate in large cities as a rule, the Wolfen insinuate themselves into those domains, again keeping a low profile by only slaying those who are feeble or marginal in some way.
The wolf-creatures make a fatal error in killing two healthy police officers, however, for this event triggers an investigation by a pair of New York detective, fifty-something George Wilson and his younger female partner Becky Neff. While Wilson and Neff fit the bill of "the mismatched partners" in some ways, both have a level of courage and resourcefulness that threatens to expose the Wolfen's existence to human scrutiny. Streiber is skillful enough in building tension and internal conflicts that the Wadleigh film, different though it is, borrowed a fair number of crucial scenes from Streiber.
WOLFEN's outstanding accomplishment, though, is his conception of the titular menace. Though as I said Streiber doesn't supply a rationale as to why Wolfen chose to prey on humans, he articulates the habits of an intelligent predator-species with great thoroughness. The creatures don't talk, but they have formed a complex set of signs and gestures to communicate. They have a rough ethical system-- the one named Wolfen, the Old Father, finds it burdensome to slay any humans who are young and healthy-- but their priority is always the survival of the pack over the individual. Streiber expands upon the "werewolf" mythology by suggesting that in medieval times the Wolfen allied themselves with rogue humans, who were later mythologized as crude vampires. But the nature of their biological relationship to their genetic forbears, real wolves, is highlighted in a scene (told from Wolfen-view) that make clear that they feel toward their lupine fellows as humans feel toward apes.
Though Streiber briefly centers upon a handful of support-characters, Wilson and Neff provide the novel with its best variety of character-moments. Though Neff is married to another cop of appropriate years, Wilson becomes infatuated with his partner, and she becomes aware of his feeling during their battles with the monsters. The novel finishes up without entirely resolving the romantic thread, though the fate of Neff's husband seems to improve Wilson's chances. (At least by the end Wilson's doing better than his Wolfen-counterpart, the Old Father.) There's also no full resolution to the potential for a human-Wolfen war by the time the book wraps up, though the detectives at least succeed in providing their species with a fighting-chance. And when one thinks about how lame a WOLFEN sequel would have been, that's all to the good.
No comments:
Post a Comment