Wildcat by J.P. Harker: Review and exclusive author Q&A

J.P. Harker was kind enough to send me a copy of his book Wildcat in order for me to provide a review! As always, despite receiving this book for free, my review is completely honest and all in my own words!

I am absolutely stunned after reading this book and I'm so so excited to write this review! Now, this is a big book (550 pages) and I was a little nervous starting! But before I knew it I was 100 pages in…300 pages in….and suddenly on the last chapter! 😱 The story was so fast-paced and I was so connected to the characters that I just gobbled up the story!

I was immediately grabbed by Rhia. Harker has achieved a beautiful contrast in Rhia and other female characters from their tough warrior side to their tender and almost giggly girly side. 💜 This gave a really realistic feeling to the characters and created an assault course of emotions! I laughed, cried, chewed on my nails and screamed at the book! Rhia also represents the epitome of resilience and healing, written absolutely stunningly! Through experiences such as miscarriage and rape, we see Rhia really struggle to hold herself together but she consistently pushes herself and this makes for such a beautiful, yet heart-wreching story.

Whilst adopting a ‘Game of Thrones’ types vibe, Wildcat had very Viking and Ancient Celt feeling. However, contrary to other books featuring such civilizations, Wildcat provides a refreshing portrayal. Tribal-based relationships were built on love and respect rather than portraying the characters as purely brutal barbarians. I adored watching Gaian characters learning such values from the tribes and the elements of cultural appreciation. For any movie fans, the book reminded me a little of Apocolypto and 10,000 BC with the tribal to more developed society.

Harker has shown a talent for world-building and has built a complex and intricate world. However, at no point did I feel confused and the continuation was done so well. The book is set over a long period of time but characters were kept consistent and past and present match up in all aspects. Along with the brilliant plot and world, the writing style was amazing. The author built such vivid descriptions without being waffly and as a result, this book is totally submerging! I have high hopes for Book Two - Leaping Wolf, and will be reading it asap!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I personally had not heard about The Caledon Saga prior to James sending me an email and I feel this is the case for many others. I'm genuinely shocked that Wildcat isn't a best seller in the high fantasy genre! So, in an attempt to spread the word, I have asked James some questions to give you a little taste of the books he writes!

Rhia is probably one of my favourite ever book characters and she represents so many important key strengths in female characters. What made you decide on a female protagonist and how did you build Rhia’s character?

Wow, that’s some high praise!

I wish I could give some deep meaningful reason for having a female protagonist, but the fact is a bit more mundane; one of the first images I had when planning this was of a Celtic warband ambushing a Roman patrol (as seen in Wildcat before the first battle at Nantwyn), and in my head they were led by a black-haired woman. From there I started thinking on who she was and where she’d go next, and from there Rhianwyn was born.

A big part of building Rhia was based on the old Samurai proverb ‘fall down seven times stand up eight’. A lot of heroes just shrug off trauma, and I wanted to show a character being repeatedly knocked down and put through hell, and the hard work and willpower involved in getting back up. Though she’s a very competent fighter she’s also physically very short and slight, and I wanted to show that her real strength was her spirit.

We all love an author who isn’t afraid to kill off key characters – have you ever struggled to kill characters you particularly liked or do these ends come naturally?

Oh I struggle with them all the time; I’ve really hated having to kill some characters. There’s one near the end of Wildcat that I really didn’t want to see go, and at least three others later on in the series where writing the death scene was really hard. But alas, it has to be done.

As is the nature of big fantasy books, the world you have created is complex and vast. How do you keep up this world, ensuring that information is consistent?

It helps to be quite close to real history, so that the ‘feel’ is easy to keep hold of. I do love worldbuilding, and I have endless notes on my various worlds that will probably never make it into the novels (I recently created a strategy board game based on the Caledon books, and at least half the places and armies are never seen in the main series, but I still have a huge amount of notes on them).

I keep files on characters, tribes, nations, gods, rituals, armies etc etc, so that whenever I need to check something, I have the info. I’m also lucky that my main beta reader has a great memory for book trivia, and will pick me up on it if anything slips through the net.

You made a board game for this?

I did indeed – my friends and I love things like Risk and DnD, so I decided to make a game based on my own map and tribes. Started out as lots of cardboard and paper at home, and I’ve now made an online version on Roll 20 (a LONG way from being ready for public consumption, but anyone who wants to help with the playtesting, just drop me a line on social media).

Wildcat is set across a tribal and ‘civilised’ setting – what can we expect to see in terms of setting in the other books in the series?

Setting-wise, the next book focuses more on inter-tribal relationships now that the Caledon is being formed, with the Gaians taking a back seat in that story as the Lurian tribes try to figure out how to function in this new world. Book 3 brings the Gaians back to the fore a bit, with a lot more city life, as well as introducing another culture, based on the early Saxons. Book 4 introduces a fourth culture, based on ancient Egypt/Persia, who send representatives to Gaian cities to deal with the Empire, and provide another example of a non-Gaian people trying to deal with them.

Are you currently working on any other books? Can you give us any sneak peeks of any works in progress?

I am indeed working on other books. Book 5 of the Caledon Saga, some short stories set in the same world, the second of my Camelot books (Lancelot), and a new series that I’ve set in a more medieval-type fantasy world.

Here’s a little taster from one of my many WIPs, working title; ‘Quiet Thunder’:

Prologue

A watchman who spent his time warming his hands was just asking for an opened throat. Randen approached the fire slowly, his mud-blackened blade held low and ready, and fought to hold back his grin. These damned Gaians had always been so confident, so damned arrogant, and now they were going to pay for it. The young Seirian made no sound as he crept in closer, all but invisible in the darkness of the night. Like his father, Randen had sworn not to grow his beard until the Gaian city fell, so he had covered his whole face in river mud, and soaked his golden hair until it hung dark and lank onto his shoulders. He’d have preferred to wear warpaint of course, to draw the eyes of the gods and strike terror in his foes, but now was a time for practicality. Besides, Taran knows who I am; he will look down on me and smile on what I do tonight.

Leu was shining full in the sky above them, but the woodland canopy was thick enough to block out most of her silvery light. The Gaians before him would have struggled to see Randen even had they been watchful men. Tonight, with their faces to the fire, the lazy fools were making themselves night-blind. The tribesman’s eyes stayed fixed ahead as he moved closer, slow and steady and silent in the dark. Two of the Gaians were awake, talking quietly with steaming tin cups in their hands, while the other five men of the patrol lay snoring beneath their cloaks. Randen felt contempt mix in with his hate. The legionaries were out here for one reason and one reason only: to watch over the Estua for men like him trying to cross. And they don’t even take the trouble to stray from their cosy fire. The complacent dogs just sat and chattered in their queer foreign tongue, simply begging for a Seirian to walk up there and bleed them like stuck pigs. When Randen spotted movement from the other side of the fire he knew the time had come, and he struck without making a sound.

He wrapped one arm around the Gaian’s chin and hauled back hard, clamping the soldier’s mouth shut and stretching out his neck. The Seirian bared his teeth as the muddy blade ripped through soft Gaian flesh, sending the invader’s blood spraying out to sizzle in the fire. Across from him, Balor’s bone-handled knife opened the other Gaian’s throat, and the big man held the bastard fast as his life bled out of him. Randen did the same as he looked over at his war-leader. It was hard not to stare at him in admiration.

Balor, the Black Hound, was to most warriors as a wolf was to a kitten. Though Randen himself was tall and strong, Balor stood half a head taller than him and was built all of dense bone and lean muscle. His hair and beard were black as night, and braided through with countless rings; some iron, some silver, some gold. Though he’d muddied his face like the others, Randen knew that beneath the filth, Balor wore a Gadarim’s red tattoos across his cheek, so that Taran and the other gods would never lose sight of him in battle. Not that they ever could. Balor was practically a god himself; handsome, strong and terrible, he was the mightiest man Randen had ever known. The greatest warrior of a warlike tribe.

The giant nodded his approval at Randen, and beckoned at the trees with the hand which held his knife. More Seiriae appeared from the woods and began butchering the sleeping Gaians. Randen had to admit, he felt a little strange as he watched them do it. He’d killed men before of course, he was a man of the Seiriae and past twenty winters old, but he had never killed like this before. Randen’s other kills had all been by day, and in open battle with rival clans; fighting sword to sword beneath the golden light of Belenos, not knifing men at night with only Silver Leu to look down on him. He thought of the sword hanging sheathed at his hip. Tonight, Havok had remained clean, and his dagger had been blackened with mud. Randen blinked and shook his head. There was no wrong in this. These damned invaders would not think twice before killing outside of battle, and besides, Balor had ordered it done; that alone was enough to convince him that it was right. Balor is of the Gadarim. If the warrior brotherhood say that this is war, then it is war.

The man himself was still holding the dying Gaian, and the big Gadarim cupped a hand under the wound. There was little blood left to catch but it was enough, and he let the body drop as he put the hand to his mouth and drank. It was too dark to see the red, but Balor’s black beard soon glistened in the flickering light. The others gathered close as their leader closed his eyes. It was well known that the blood of a fresh kill could sometimes grant visions, and the first kill of a new war would be the most sacred of all. The gods were fickle in what they gave, of course, and normally granted visions only to bloodspeakers. But Balor was the finest Gadarim in their tribe and if anyone could expect to be made an exception, it would be the mighty Black Hound.

Thank you James for joining me in this Q&A and I'm now even more excited to read book two in the Caledon Saga - Leaping Wolf!