I've been reading The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky

[conuly]

It mostly seems to be set in Not Bronze Age Europe, as seen by the fact that all the shapeshifters but one turn into animals you find scattered throughout Afro-Eurasia - horses, aurochs (okay, nobody shapeshifts into one, but they exist and so do domestic cattle), lions, tigers... and also coyotes.

That one misplaced detail wouldn't be so irritating* if there was also a tribe of shifter kangaroos or koalas. I'm just saying.

Oddly, nobody seems to shapeshift into any form of insect or other invertebrate. I say "oddly" because I didn't know he could write books without sapient invertebrates. Well, there's always the fanfic.

* I'm sure most readers consider this small potatoes, but then, most readers probably consider actual potatoes small potatoes when reading books set in Not Pre-Columbian Europe.

Comments

[heron61]

Oddly, nobody seems to shapeshift into any form of insect or other invertebrate. I say "oddly" because I didn't know he could write books without sapient invertebrates.

No kidding, I kept expecting insect shifters to show up.

[conuly]

They must be there, he just didn't write about them. TO THE FANFIC!

[schneefink]

Do you mean "The Tiger and the Wolf"?

Now I too want a tribe of shifter kangaroos.

[conuly]

Yeah, maybe.

[jack]

Huh. It seems like intermediate size canines often occupy a similar niche, coyote, jackal, dingo, etc. He could just have said jackal.

I'm sure there'll be insects later :)

[conuly]

I'm sure there'll be insects later :)

One can only hope.

Though it's possible it's a mass issue? All shifted species we've seen thus far appear to be about the same mass or larger than humans. Insects are much smaller.

[heron61]

As a side-note, I found that book and its sequel rather odd, since it looks a whole lot like the prehistory of the RPG Werewolf: The Apocalypse - each of the shifter tribes is pretty much exactly like they are in the RPG, complete with the crocodile shifters having a dinosaur form. You could make it a licensed novel merely by changing a few names - absolutely no other alternations would be necessary.

[archangelbeth]

This suggests, to my suspicious mind, that it was a spec W:TA book... (Or maybe started life as W:TA fanfic and someone noticed, "If I just change a few things, I could have fun writing this AND make money!"*)

(*Honestly, as the meme goes: Life Goals.)

[jessie_c]

Coyote is a trickster, so it's no surprise that he shows up where he's not expected...

[conuly]

I guess.