I love this series. I read this on the treadmill and it was perfect for losing track of time. The characters are fantastic, and the winding way the plot spills out from their different perspectives was really satisfying. It's bloody and suspenseful, and the countdown worked super well as a framing device, while still letting moments of love and family shine through the gritty bits. UGH. It is so my jam. I would read a zillion more books in this series/by this author. ( )

While still solid, the flow of this sequel just didn't pull me through. Also, my next-to-least favorite conflict is people against the company. Too close to real life these days, except the people aren't fighting. The setting was unpleasant but well invoked and the character remained the strength of the story. ( )

Here are things I look for in books

-Good queer rep
-Diverse characters who aren't tokens or stereotypes
-A well-built, carefully-thought-out world that walks that fine edge between too much info and not enough
-Characters who are friends, who have real connections with each other, who have different but equally important relationships with different characters
-No all-consuming romance
-Romance that ISN'T the usual cis straight girl-meets-boy story
-Characters acting the way real people act
-Girl characters who are allowed to be wrong, who are allowed to be messy without being condemned for it
-FOUND FAMILY
-No gratutious, Game-of-Thrones-esque torture porn violence for violence's sake. No worrying constantly about character deaths that exist only to SHOCK READERS
-An author who cares about their characters and trusts their readers


"Blood Binds the Pack" fulfills my wishlist.

"Hunger Makes the Wolf" was an amazing, amazing book filled with lovable messy characters. "Blood Binds the Pack" takes you right back to those lovable messy characters AND MAKES YOU LOVE THEM EVEN HARDER.

Hob is amazing. Mag is amazing. They are both amazing in different ways and they are presented as equal, their different strengths and skills and weaknesses presented without judgement. They are allowed to mess up and make things right. They are allowed to get angry and to be forgiven. And "Blood Binds the Pack" gives you more of an insight into secondary characters who become more important to the story--especially Anabi, who I loved so frigging hard.

My one critique is that I feel like the end leaves a lot of loose plot strands dangling but I hope that just means we're going to get another book, and another trip into Hob and Mag's world. I for one would even sit next to a Weatherman if it meant I could return, although I'd be sure NEVER to look him in the eye. ( )

I really loved Alex Well’s space punk, biker, science fantasy novel Hunger Makes the Wolf. It was truly one of a kind, involving so many different elements yet forming a seamless whole. I’m happy to say that Blood Binds the Pack is a fitting sequel.

Note before I dive into the review — this will contain spoilers for Hunger Makes the Wolf. Also, the books are best read in order and I don’t recommend reading Blood Binds the Pack first.

Hob and Mags have dealt a blow to TransRift, destroying one of their Weatherman. Of course, the next one is now bound for Tanegawa’s World along with orders from corporate HQ to throw everything they have at obtaining more of that strange blue mineral found by Mags’s father. And as always, TransRift sees the miners as tools to be used and disposed of in pursuit of the profit margin. Hob and Mags may have won the last battle, but the war is just beginning.

However, they may have some possible help. Shige’s received word that a government inspector is being sent to Tanegawa’s World for the first time ever. His orders are to make this as bad as possible for TransRift… of course, Shige’s general approach is “the ends justify the means,” so it’s questionable whether or not he’ll be helping or making things a heck of a lot worse for Hob, Mags, and the workers.

At the beginning of each chapter is a number counting down how many days until the inspector is supposed to arrive on the planet. As the number drops, tensions rise. About half way through the book, I was having serious trouble putting it down. Mags and the miners start organizing a strike and TransRift is NOT taking it well.

Labor rights is an issue threaded through the book. While science fiction takes place in the future, it of course tends to reflect the problems of our present and past. The dire future laden with corporate abuse Wells creates is hardly unimaginable (or even that original when it comes to sci-fi futures), but Wells gives it an unique flavor. For one, mercenary bikers! Hob’s biker crew is pretty great, ya’ll.

I want to reiterate how much I love Hobs and Mags. Hobs is that tough-to-the bone sort of female protagonist, no nonsense, a straight forward badass. It’d be easy for her to be a stereotypical Strong Female Character, but Wells gave her enough development to be well rounded and distinct. It helps that Hobs (and the other characters) all have such distinctive voices. Mags is a quieter sort of character but no less memorable or powerful. Something happened to her in the TransRift labs last book, and she’s beginning to experiment with her own witchiness. Also, I was totally right! Mags gets a romantic subplot with another female character. I was thinking it would happen, and I’m so glad Wells proved me correct.

I don’t think I talked about it enough in my review of the first book, but I love the strength of Hobs and Mags’s friendship. It’s undoubtedly the most important relationship in a book, which makes a nice change from the preponderance of romance being put on a pedestal about friendship. It’s unfortunate that female friendship is so rare in science fiction and fantasy, but I’m planning to recommend Hunger Makes the Wolf to counteract that.

Blood Binds the Pack is a fantastic follow up to Hunger Makes the Wolf. I think there’s room for a third book if Wells ever wants to write one, but the two books could also stand alone as a duology. Regardless, I’m going to read whatever Alex Wells writes next.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review. ( )