The Sight by David Clements-Davies (author of
Firebringer), is a xenofictional novel about
wolves and psychic powers. It is often dismissed as "
Firebringer with wolves" — the two stories share a universe and several plot similarities, but
The Sight is a good novel on its own. It can be said that the novel is a spiritual sequel to
Firebringer.
A sequel has also been written:
Fell. It focuses on the titular character as he goes on his own personal quest revolving around the Sight and another child, similar to the relationship between Larka and human-baby Bran.
This novel provides examples of:
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Larka dies, but appears as a heavenly figure to Kar at the end of the story.
- Animal Talk: Aside from the obvious Translation Convention, the wolves also have their own language called varg. Examples include:
- Dragga - Alpha Male
- Drappa - Alpha Female
- Sikla - Omega
- Lera - Prey animals
- Anyone Can Die
- Arc Words: The Sight.
- Back from the Dead: But only for about a chapter, thanks to Morgra performing the Summoning Howl.
- Becoming the Mask: Fell is brainwashed into becoming Wolfbane for Morgra.
- Beta Couple: Kaz and Kipcha. It's also kind of a literal example, as Kaz was a Beta in Huttser's pack.
- Big Bad: Morgra.
- Big Badass Bird of Prey: Skart, of course.
- Bittersweet Ending: With borderline Tear Jerker status....
- Blessed with Suck: While the Sight is often seen as an extraordinary gift, Larka is shown throughout the book to resent it half the time, especially when she can't hunt without feeling her prey's pain as she kills it.
- Blind Seer: Tsinga
- Brainwashed: Morgra does this to Fell after she rescues him from the icy river.
- Break the Cutie: Poor Larka.
- Butt Monkey: Poor Bran couldn't catch a break.
- Captain Ersatz: Larka has several similarities to Rannoch of Firebringer.
- Cool Old Lady: Brassa.
- Disney Death: Fell.
- The Dragon: Fell becomes this for Morgra for a brief time as a secret weapon against Larka.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Not exactly the trope, but a literal example: Guess how Larka and Morgra die.
- Dwindling Party
- Evil Versus Evil: On one side of the Balkar/Rebel conflict is Morga, the Big Bad, who is insane. On the other side of the conflict is Slavka, a mix of General Ripper and Well-Intentioned Extremist...who is also insane. Slavka has the chance to get better at the end. Morga does not.
- Family Unfriendly Death: And how....
- Fantasy Pantheon: Most notably, Tor and Fenris.
- And also Sita, who is the Jesus-equivalent for the wolves.
- Can't forget Wolfbane, who, in contrast to Sita, was the equivalent of Satan.
- The Hero Dies
- Heroic BSOD: Larka experiences one after she witnesses her entire family and pack die one by one as a result of the prophecy surrounding her.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Larka.
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- Infant Immortality: Baby Bran. How many babies can go through what he did?
- Horribly, horribly averted in the case of Kipcha's unborn pups, though....
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One
- Jerkass: Fell is this to Kar at the beginning of the book when Larka starts giving Kar attention.
- Kill 'Em All: Not quite, but it comes very f*cking close.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Slavka forces Huttser and Palla into this as a fight to the death.
- Loads and Loads of Characters: Wait until the first part of the book is over....
- Lovable Coward: Kar starts out as this.
- And then there's Bran the Omega.
- Love Interest: Kar is this for Larka, and vice-versa.
- Mismatched Eyes: Sort of. Fell has yellow eyes like most wolves, but he has a sliver of green in his right eye. This is considered to be lucky by wolves.
- Mythology Gag: Several Shoutouts to Firebringer, since they are set in the same universe. Rannoch is mentioned as having the Sight, and the varg word Lera was also used in Firebringer.
- The Messiah: Larka.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Had the pack welcomed Morgra she wouldn't have become an antagonist.
- Prophecy Twist: It works in the heroes' favor, though, in a rare good example.
- Rebel Leader: Slavka.
- Rescued From Purgatory: Sort of. Larka hadn't died when she made the trip to the Red Meadow. Kar ends up rescuing her by calling her name over and over when the dead tried keeping her there permanently.
- Sanity Slippage: Kar after he survives the fire. He gets better though, when Skop lives with him until his death from an infected wound.
- Start of Darkness: For Morgra, it was being accused of killing a cub and subsequently being banished for it. In truth she had been burying it after it was killed by another animal.
- Storming The Castle: Harja, the citadel where the climax happens.
- The Promise: Larka, Kar, and a grudging Fell formed one when they were younger, calling it "the Pact". As the end of the book comes, Kar is the one who holds onto this promise the strongest.
- Prophecies Rhyme All the Time
- Those Two Girls: Keeka and Karma.
- Title Drop
- Tonight Someone Dies
- You Can't Fight Fate: Larka knows this, too. Doesn't stop her from treading near Wangst territory for a bit, though.
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