Mister Redick is trying to kill me. He’s determined to do me in. Me, personally. This novel was written solely to murder me.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy is a highly ambitious novel indeed. It twists and turns more times than a deformed pretzel. It’s got more plots than a library and just when you think you know what’s going on, you’re proved wrong. By the end, I’m still uncertain if I know what’s going on.

Simply put, the story focusses on Pazel Pathkendle – a tarboy who soon finds himself on an ancient and legendary ship, the Chathrand. Pazel is thrust into the middle of a plot which will either see peace between two empires, or the outbreak of war and the possible destruction of one, if not both, empires. It’s an intriguing premise, and one which is made more epic by the intricate relationships between the many characters aboard the mighty ship. Mister Redick leaves no stone unturned in search of new characters which will add more depths to the knotted conspiracies which haunt the shadows of the ship.

Pazel’s central contact in the book is Thasha, daughter of the Emperor’s ambassador. She seems the driving force behind the novel’s search for justice, with Pazel merely concerned for her safety and that of the ship than for any sense of justice, it seems. His story is made more interesting by a lack of motive, I feel. He is the child of a traitor turned smuggler, and his own country was destroyed by the empire Thasha is struggling to save. His few encounters with Thasha’s father bordered on the hilarious – one time I fell about in fits of laughter as her father put aside the boy’s sometime cheeky responses to him as being merely the result of his “first encounter” with a man from the “rescue” of Pazel’s city. Pazel responds in the negative, pointing out his first encounter was actually with the man who beat him senseless because he wanted to rape Pazel’s mother and daughter but could not find them…

It was a sarcastic, yet scathing, comment on war, I think, and one which further muddies Pazel’s motivation. While I feel this isn’t very well-explored by Mister Redick, I am hoping he does so in the next book.

Which brings me to why I believe Mister Redick is trying to kill me.

He has written this novel – so broad and intricate in scope – and then he’s suddenly stopped mid-stride and said “to be continued” on me. There’s no notice on the front of the cover that this is part of a series, so I was bitterly disappointed. Now I have to wait for the next one! I do so hate that. I see, though, that it’s due next year. Happy days.

The final chapters of this book were a little of a let-down, so in a way I’m glad there’s a sequel. I’m hoping it will flesh it out. I wasn’t overly convinced what happened. i understand the reasoning, of course, but perhaps it was a little too subtle for a dolt like me…

In any case, I really am waiting for the sequel. There’s so much going on that you do want to find out what happens. It’s got me hooked.

God help me, though, if it’s a trilogy…