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Set Sytes: WULF (Paperback, 2016, Independently published) 3 stars

Review of 'WULF' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Wulf
By Set Sytes

This unusual take on the "portal fantasy" genre sees a... Person? An unidentified man from what I assume is our Earth get soul-shifted to another, wildly different Earth in a the frame similar to the American old West. The man wakes up in the body of Jay Wulf, a killer and horndog. And then he goes off and kills price and wrestles with his libido.

This novel is weird. Not in the genre "weird" sense, but in the sense of, I'm not sure what's going on here?

There really isn't a plot, just a bunch of stuff happening. The characters don't seem to have motivation for what they do, they just kind of do it. There are all these threads (celestial robots?) that don't go anywhere or make any sense. And the ending just erases all the stuff that came before, basically.

But at the same time, there's something compelling here. There are some dazzlingly good sentences, and well written dialog. The world is interesting and hints at intense possibilities. But all of those lovely prefecture aren't out together into what I'd call a story.

I think this is could have been dynamite with a really good editor, someone who could pick out the broken bits and tighten the leftovers pieces into a running engine, but at it is, it's just some interesting stuff happening.