Product Description

Claidi is eager to reunite with her fiancé Argul-but when she finally reaches his camp, she finds that someone has been spreading ugly lies about her, and Argul is nowhere to be found. Undaunted, Claidi sets out to search for him. Her quest brings her to the icy threshold of a tower, and within it she encounters another shadow from her past-a powerful woman Claidi believes is her mother. But the truth is far more complicated, and Claidi once again finds herself at the dark center of conspiracy and intrigue. Claidi's third journal will hold readers to the very last page.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #140478 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of the Claidi Journals will welcome Wolf Queen by Tanith Lee. In the trilogy's final installment, Claidi's search for Argul leads her to a woman whom she thinks may be her mother.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10-This third installment in the series begins with Claidi in an airship attempting to return to the Hulta and her betrothed, Argul. She finds that he has left, and that everyone believes her to be a deserter and a traitor. She is devastated but determined to find Argul and plead her case. In chasing him, she encounters the inhabitants of the Raven Tower and a woman she believes to be her mother. All is not as it seems, however, and Claidi must decide whom to trust in order to survive. For the most part, the book stands on its own, and readers will be able to follow the story line without too much difficulty. There are only a few points of confusion and Lee tries to alleviate them with brief explanations of what occurred in the previous books. However, readers may find it hard to care much about Claidi, who comes across as a little whiny and rather immature. She seems to drift from one situation to another, relying on others to care for and rescue her. Female characters found in Tamora Pierce's "Alanna" series (Random) are strong willed, opinionated, and need no one to rescue them; they're more entertaining and much easier to empathize with in comparison. Purchase decisions depend on the popularity of the first two books in the series.
Saleena L. Davidson, South Brunswick Public Library, Monmouth Junction, NJ
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Following Wolf Tower (2000) and Wolf Star (2001), this conclusion to the Claidi Journals trilogy finds the intrepid Claidi aboard the sky-ship Star, in search of her beloved Argul, who has disappeared believing that Claidi willingly fled on their wedding day. When the Star's powers fail, Claidi continues her quest on the ground, following Argul's tracks into icy northern realms. She discovers that she has been lured there by the people of the Raven Tower, and once again finds herself the victim of Tower machinations that threaten her independence. The complex relationships and Tower power struggles are spelled out as the still feisty Claidi stands up for herself and comes into her real powers. Claidi's occasional use of modern terminology, such as twerp, is a little off-putting, but readers enthralled by her previous adventures will enjoy this rousing finish. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Absorbing, Awesome, and Addicting (in a good way)!!!!!!
This book is awesome. I recommend it. But you should read Wolf Tower and Wolf Star first or you won't understand the story. It's amazing how Argul can disguise as Jelly and all that the ending is awesome. I can't wait to read the next book, Wolf Wing.

"And It's All Because of a Lie..."
"Wolf Queen" (or "Queen of Wolves" in some publications) is the third of four books in the Claidi quartet, a series of books that are told in diary-form by the young heroine Claidi and her travels throughout a fantasy land. In the previous instalments "Wolf Tower" and "Wolf Star" she has escaped slavery, destroyed a corrupt system, found her true love, been kept prisoner in a moving castle and escaped once more in a controllable star. Throughout all of these amazing adventures, Claidi has kept a record in her book, and untangled much of the mystery surrounding her birth and destiny.

Now all she wants to do is be reunited with her beloved Argul, and has used the floating star/tower Yinyay to track down the Hulta people, of which Argul is leader. But when she finally finds them, she is met only with mistrust and anger: in her absence Argul was told that she ran off with a former acquaintance Nemian and no longer wants to marry him. Now he has left the Hulta people, and Claidi is not going to get any help from them due to her perceived betrayal. Determined to track him down, Claidi follows his trail northwards, occasionally joined by the elusive and infuriating Jelly.

Finally she reaches the Winterlands, and the fifth exiled tower of the City - the Raven Tower. Here she grasps several more answers to what has befallen her, as well as meeting the spoilt Winter Raven and Twilight Star, the woman she's been told is her mother.

The story is becoming more and more complicated, with Tanith Lee contradicting herself or twisting character motivations or previously established plot-facts. Characters have several aliases, have lied about past deeds and go about in disguise, making it immensely difficult to keep track of who's who and what is exactly going on. Furthermore, the big revelation about Claidi's past and the designs of those calling the shots aren't really all that imaginative - it is simply personal gratitude and family squabbles that drives these characters - nothing particularly deep or important.

As well as this, Lee has lost the knack of writing in diary-form, something that made the previous books so appealing and realistic. For instance, at one stage, when Claidi is giving a fake name, she writes:

"'Pattoo,' I un-cleverly blurted, picking the name of a friend from my slave-maid days."

The problem is that if you have read the other books, you already know precisely who Pattoo is - so why would Claidi repeat this fact in her diary? The passage is obviously for the benefit of those who have not read the previous books (or need a reminder of who the character is) and therefore comes as written by Tanith Lee to the reader, not as Claidi to her journal. It lends a sense of falseness to the words that are meant to be a private and consistent diary-entry.
At other points Tanith Lee slips into writing in present-tense rather than past-tense, such as "Rushing through the avenue. He is around the next turn before I can get there. I mustn't loose him." Such urgency in the writing is lost when we realise that Claidi can't possibly be writing and chasing after Argul at the same time.

Despite all this, readers who have made their way through the previous books won't want to give up now. There are more fascinating and beautiful landscapes, including a snow-covered tower in the shape of a raven head, and small titbits of intrigue and detail that create a rich world to explore. Lee's writing and language remains clear, descriptive and involving, and her quest of self-discovery is interesting enough to continue with into the forth and final book: "Wolf Wing".

Great book!
This is a great addition to any library! This book answers all the questions you have about Claidi, her name, her family, the rings, the towers, and Argul. Journey as her only constant companion to strange new places and meeting sinister new characters. Any fan of The Claidi Journals will love this new adventure. THE BEST CLAIDI BOOK THUS FAR!