*SPOILERS* The story follows a husky-wolf mix named Kazan, who has led 3 years of his life as a sled dog, being abused by men. One day he finds a nice owner and goes with him and his daughter to the forest, where he gets reunited with his abusive owner. Out of fear, Kazan runs away and goes into the forest. There, he meets a wolf pack, and quickly grows attached to one paticular female: Grey Wolf/She Wolf. They both run away from the pack and start their own life in the wild. Kazan finds a new lovely human family that lives in the forest, but he keeps going back to the wild, where his partner She Wolf lives. One day, he and She Wolf have pups. But when Kazan is on his way to his humans, he hears She-Wolf screaming and goes back to their den, only to find the pups killed and Grey Wolf badly scarred, blinded for life. From there on, the story simply follows the lives of Kazan and Grey Wolf. The two of them grow really attached to one another, because She Wolf can't do anything without Kazan being there go guide her, and Kazan can make good use of her excellent sense of smell. There are many small conflitcs, Kazan returns to humans a few times, but he keeps returning to She Wolf in the end, always answering to the call of the wild, and his partner. They have another son, named Baree, who later got his own spinoff book. *SPOILERS OVER*A small review:KAZAN is a book that is delightful and really easy to read. The first chapter was a kind of hard to get into for me, but I have that with every new book I read, so I quickly got used to it. I expected the book to be a lot like Jack London's THE CALL OF THE WILD and WHITE FANG, two by far more famous books.And, I'm not gonna lie, it is written a lot like those books. KAZAN was released about 10 years after WHITE FANG. Maybe it's inspired by it, maybe not. I honestly don't care. While a lot is written the same way (the conflict between staying with humans or running into the wild, dog fights, sled pulling.), it still has a unique feel to it. While short, the book keeps having you invested. The thing I like the most is that, while WHITE FANG and CALLL OF THE WILD mainly focus on the protagonist's struggle to live around humans, KAZAN spends the majory of the book in the wild, and, this may just be my taste, but I love books focussing on that. Sure, the struggle with humans is there in KAZAN, but it's very downplayed, mainly because he is already 3-4 years old when the book starts. Overall, the book is nice, really draws you in and is recommendable for every dog/wolf lover, or just a fan of a nice adventure book about the wild. Especially if you loved CALL OF THE WILD and WHITE FANG, this is a big recommendation I can give you. It's not expensive, get this book for yourself!
Kazan is a dog of the Canadian north woods, 3/4 husky and 1/4 wolf. He has been cruelly treated by the men in his life, and when he meets the wife of his new owner, Kazan learns for the first time the power of love. But he is not going to be allowed to live happily ever after with his new boss and his new love. Fate arranges adventures for him that left me holding my breath, almost afraid to find out what would happen next. And every time I expected Kazan's life to settle down, there was Fate again, poking his nose in and complicating everything.This is an intense story set in the real world of Nature. You will feel you are in the great North woods in blizzards, forest fires, starvation times, fighting for your life against...well, nearly every other creature you meet. Will you ever experience again the Power of Love? You must head north into the woods with Kazan to learn the answer to that question.
What do You think about Kazan (2006)?
Kazan, part dog and part wolf lives in the Canadian wilderness. The story is interestingly told from Kazan's point of view. Kazan encounters cruel owners and a human family he wants to protect. He is soon torn between the human family and Gray Wolf, his loyal mate. There are hardships as their pups are killed and Gray Wolf is blinded. She becomes dependent upon Kazan but aids him with her heightened sense of smell. Kazan is a touching story of wilderness life, hardships of the north country and the a mixed breed whose loyalty is torn between his mate and humans.
—Kathie
For fans of Jack LondonAlthough definitely derivative of Jack London's wild dog books, Call of the Wild and White Fang, this is an excellent novel. The writing is consistently strong without resorting to archaic and/or complicated language and Curwood achieves a level of personification and pathos for his canine protagonist that betters either dog in London's two books (especially White Fang who is a difficult character to love). Furthermore, the author seems far more knowledgeable about animal behavior and wilderness in general, thereby adding a level of realism to the story that is largely missing from London's adventure books. Themes of loyalty, fidelity and love in the animal kingdom are explored and the story is very touching. Call of the Wild defined the genre and boasts the universal theme, but this is the better novel.
—Andy Dennis
