I'll cut to the quick explaining why this will be a brief review: Novels are meant to be read and enjoyed, not hounded down like a game book. Adventure modules are not novels, novels are not gaming material.
Okay, so this "novel" violates that last bit, but I'm trying to make a point: this isn't a roleplaying supplement that you can pick through to get any game worthy "rules" from, it's a story, take it for what it is.
Much akin to the first volume of this series, this book is halved in a "good" part and a "not-so-good" part. Given that each author has a set number of pages to fill with their vision of the story, this really isn't surprising.
It seems in the first half, Bowen gets the characters and plot just right to actually make me continue reading, no small feat given the series poorly structured, piecemeal approach.
In "Silent Striders," I felt like I could care about the characters and not be let down by forced plotting (from the overarching series). In the character of Mephi Faster-Than-Death (the titular Strider character), we find an empathy that is lacking in the "novels" second half.
Fleming, while noticeably better here than in "Shadow Lords," comes-off as a bit of "this character goes here, does this" for the most part of his section, its not until the end of his part that we can begin feeling for his characters.
Fleming seems to let the forced narrative in more visibly than Bowen, but that's probably more my observation as Bowen had his glaring plot point moments as well.
The book, overall, was good and the slow parts of the story made the action bits worthwhile, even better than in the series beginning. Though little was done in way of character development, it still makes for a nice read--providing that you're a Werewolf fan.
I enjoyed seeing the werewolf characters move beyond contemplation and into the action, even if some of the plot is forced by series considerations--making this reader want to smack the series editor because when it happens, it jars the narrative that the author is just getting in tune with.
