Talulla Rising

De: Glen Duncan

Narrado por: Penelope Rawlins

When I change I change fast. The moon drags the whatever-it-is up from the earth and it goes through me with crazy wriggling impatience . . . I’m twisted, torn, churned, throttled—then rushed through a blind chicane into ludicrous power . . . A heel settles. A last canine hurries through. A shoulder blade pops. The woman is a werewolf.

The woman is Talulla Demetriou.
She’s grieving for her werewolf lover, Jake, whose violent death has left her alone with her own sublime monstrousness. On the run, pursued by the hunters of WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena), she must find a place to give birth to Jake’s child in secret.
The birth, under a full moon at a remote Alaska lodge, leaves Talulla ravaged, but with her infant son in her arms she believes the worst is over—until the windows crash in, and she discovers that the worst has only just begun . . .
What follows throws Talulla into a race against time to save both herself and her child as she faces down the new, psychotic leader of WOCOP, a cabal of blood-drinking religious fanatics, and (rumor has it) the oldest living vampire.
Harnessing the same audacious imagination and dark humor, the same depths of horror and sympathy, the same full-tilt narrative energy with which he crafted his acclaimed novel The Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan now gives us a heroine like no other, the definitive twenty-first-century female of the species.

Every bit as good as “The Last Werewolf”

If you can’t take gore-splashed horror; don’t go here.
If you can, and if you appreciate it delivered in stylistic prose and with a large of psychological self-examination, then go for it. “Talulla Rising” is every bit as good as “The Last Werewolf”.

No fairy tale monsters here

What made the experience of listening to Talulla Rising the most enjoyable?

Action and character development

Who was your favorite character and why?

Talulla herself, who grows and develops embracing her personal faults and strengths as she continues forward

What three words best describe Penelope Rawlins’s voice?

not my favorite

Who was the most memorable character of Talulla Rising and why?

Mystery surrounding Marco pricks at the memory

Any additional comments?

How could the monsters be portrayed so clearly without the language, personal desires and actions that some of the previous listeners complain of? We are listening to philosophic ruminations of a monster, after all. This novel is not represented as a fairy tale or a story to make us imagine ourselves transformed. I certainly cringed at some passages but enjoyed the story too much to be sidetracked. I was more disappointed with the faulty pronunciation of certain words. I got used to the reader and have no problem dealing with issues of accents and such when the story is superior.

Werewolves Rising

Would you consider the audio edition of Talulla Rising to be better than the print version?

Hard question, but yes, I think so.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tululla, of course, followed by Madeline and then Cloquet

What does Penelope Rawlins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her young, vibrant voice makes her more of a contrast than I thought when I read the book. At first I was a bit put off by her voice, but after a while I came to appreciate the contrast of her voice to her ominous potential as a werewolf.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

not sure, but it would be best not to make this a film until the prequel was made.

Any additional comments?

I look forward to a sequel of this book, the adventures of Zoey and Lorcan.

Literary force applied judiciously, and shockingly

I've listened to The Last Werewolf (the prior book in this series) more than once - the prose is often of a quality that invites reflection, like one may indulge in a particularly fine food.

Talulla Rising is similar, though with a main character who is, naturally since she's much younger, is somewhat less refined in speech and depth of experience - but also less bogged down by the past, and more ruled by the immediacy of her situation. Not yet weighed down by a lifetime or two worth of being a monster, she's, as of yet, free to experience life with new eyes.

It does lead to a different tone at times - it is naturally far less cynical than the prior novel, as bitterness has not had the time to develop. The inevitability of bad things is still present, as it was in the first - and the daunting nature of the world is still there, naturally. Simply expect young Talulla, along with most of the other characters, to grapple without the benefits or burdens of experience alike.

Some may struggle with the vulgarity of the subject matter itself, but it's ultimately delivered with very finely crafted words - just don't expect to be shielded from the nature of the subject matter.

In fact, that someone capable of this sort of verbal depth, combined with a lack of shyness, applies himself to matters often glossed over and given a sparkly, superficial Twilight sort of way, it's utterly enthralling. Some will come looking for junk food, which goes down easy, gives a sugary thrill, feeds a sort of unthinking addiction, so forth. This book, like it's predecessor, feeds more particular and complex tastes - some will love it, and others will reject it outright. But that's where this particular series will inevitably reside - a sharp flavor, which will reward those who can appreciate it.

A few final notes -

The voice actor's style grew on me in time, though the accent for Talulla herself can be a little uneven. A learned Queens style, which only becomes very evident in a few words, a little too evident. Forgivable, though, just overly noticeable.

It's really delightful to have multiple strong female leads - and it's touched on, but not overstressed.

There are certain avenues I really crave to hear more of - but I think I'll need to wait for the next book. The possibilities are clearly there for it, by the end.

Oh I'm So Disappointed!

I really (pause) really (pause) wanted to like this book. I absolutely adored "The Last Werewolf". Everything I loved in that book is absent in this one. The tale is told from the perspective of an oversexed, barely adult narrator. She whines about pretty much everything. She is annoyingly introspective, without much experience to look back on.

I didn't much enjoy Penelope Rawlins performance - though I don't think the author gave her much to work with. There is nothing like the lyrical prose of the first book. I trudged on to the end of this work, hoping against hope that something interesting would emerge. Alas, I did not uncover any gems.

This, my friends, is a dud.