Point of View

The novel is written from the limited perspective of Fletcher Wulf. As the novel opens, he is a 15-year-old boy who lives an unremarkable life in a small village called Pelt. Fletcher is hunting in dangerous woods in the opening scene and fears being locked out of the village gates for the night. The fact that he is responsible for hunting for food and thinks about the value of the deer he kills – including the price the antlers and the hide will bring – makes it clear that he is mature in many ways. This seems typical for this time and place, and Fletcher does not seem to be a remarkable teenager. He seems happy in his life, though he has questions about his past. He was left at the gates of Pelt when he was an infant and was raised by the village's blacksmith. The...