A slow start, but I was hooked by the time Training started.

My initial impression was that it was hard to get into (slow going at first, with lots of characters and a *lot* of detail of the landscape). Once I became involved in the story and found myself caring about the characters - about the time Training started - I found it an engaging and rewarding read.

This book has the perfect blend of adventure and character development. There are some rather adult themes in the book (abuse, loyalty to an abuser out of fear, death and pain) - but they enhance the story and are skillfully written.

All of the characters were wonderfully developed. In many fantasy novels with such an extensive list of characters, some will be well developed and others will be one-dimensional. Not so in this case. Even those characters with relatively small roles to play have very distinct personalities, and most experience emotional growth during the story.

Corto and Renard and Sev were fleshed out very slowly, and their personalities given time to change and evolve over the course of the novel. Hobo was fantastic as comic relief and a loveable character. Munk seemed one-sided at first and then developed a wonderful dry sense of humor. He ended up really fantastic.

It's not just the characters that are so well developed - the entire world, the religions, the language, the customs and history - it's all there. Everything has been so very well thought out that it just feels... real.

There is a lot of darkness in this book. There is cruelty, and abuse, and pain, and injuring (and killing)! .... So much darkness. Which I honestly did not expect. And it gave it so much more depth, and made it so much more believable and real. And then there is so much kindness and witty, funny things to counter it. Which is good, because otherwise I wouldn't have come away feeling particularly good about it I think. ( )

Awesome book. Thank you so much! ( )

'The Animal Guild' is the story of one person's journey from self-imposed isolation and a debilitating fear of loss, to the discovery that the joys of friendship and love outweigh the risks. The fact that the person is a dog is just the charming detail that makes this story a delight to read!

Corto is a little cairn terrier with a big ego and he starts off very rigid in his thinking and gruff in his manner. But a chance meeting with a cheeky red fox named Renard starts into motion a series of exciting adventures that lead Corto to reassess his hide-bound outlook on life.

Through Corto and Renard we discover a world we mere humans never imagined existed: some animals have banded together to improve their lives, both prey and predator forming 'Guilds' and living cooperatively. As the book proceeds, we are gradually introduced to a large cast of characters, good guys we root for and bad guys we hiss. Animals live in a dangerous world and the fragility of their lives gives an edge and immediacy to their adventures. But no matter how many other characters interact with our two heroes, the main story revolves around the dog and the fox and their unlikely friendship.

The author obviously did a lot of research to make this story as realistic as possible, and I had so much fun learning things I didn't even know I didn't know! But no fears! Nothing is force-fed to the reader, all the nature facts follow along from the action of the story. The features of the natural world, the weather, and especially the plants, are very important to animals, and there is a lot of fun detail on these.

As I read the story, the quickness of the strong bonds being developed between characters at first struck me as unrealistic, until one character mentioned that she was 8 months old. Then I realized that 8 months old to a small mammal is the equivalent of a teenager in human terms! Most small and medium sized animals simply don't live as long as humans. A month in animal-time probably equals about a year for a human. Also, they don't move through a 24 hour time period like humans: they don't sleep all night for 8 hours at a stretch, they take naps when they're tired and then are up and active again in just a few hours, whether the sun is up or not. So it's like their 'days' cycle much faster than human days. They may not live long, but they live fast and pack a lot of activity into their short time on this earth.

I thought that the animals' relationship to the human world was handled very well. No cloying cutesy-ness like you'll find in some children's books, yet humans are not ignored by any means.

The main problem I had with this book was that I had a hard time keeping the names and species of the many characters straight. Nevertheless, the background of the Animal Guild world is rich, fascinating and fully realized, and we only caught the briefest glimpse of it in this book, the first of what looks like a really fun series-in-the-making.

All in all, I really liked the story, and am quite impressed by this beginning author. She told a good, solid story; events and personalities all guided the reader along a smooth path to a conclusion that was both moving and satisfying.

This book is aimed at young adult readers, but I (an adult not young by any definition!) greatly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone of any age! ( )

I found this book refreshingly different because it is not your typical fantasy. The characters are animals, not humans, and while they have all the same foibles and shortcomings of humans, they bring the additional strengths and quirks of their particular species; this leads to some great action and adventures. Also, the "magic" found in this book is more "down to earth" and animal-centered than the magical elements you see in so many other fantasies. In The Animal Guild, it is the magic of the animal gods who may (or may not) choose to visit our world. There are a lot of characters to remember, so it was a bit hard at first to get into the story, but there is a glossary that is very helpful. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and am excited to read more in the series--I need to know what happens next to Corto and Renard! Note to author: Please hurry up and upload the next book! ( )