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Juliet Marillier's Wolfskin is a story of loss and love, ambition and hope, suffering and redemption. And despite all that high-falutin' stuff, it's a great read. Like her previous books (The Sevenwaters Trilogy), Wolfskin is beautifully written. But she has found her voice with Wolfskin, showing a greater command of suspense and the ability to keep the story moving forward.

It's a darker novel than the others. A Wolfskin is a warrior beyond measure, a berserker who enters battle as the embodiment of his god Thor. To pass the initiation and become a Wolfskin, a man must be strong and fierce, skilled with weapons and without, and above all faithful to his god and his patron. Wolfskins live for battle and expect to last about five years before embracing a glorious death in combat.

Eyvind, the Little Ox, is the youngest Wolfskin in memory. His courage and prowess during the annual viking earn him the respect of his peers and leaders. He has a mistress and a strong kinship with the other Wolfskins. It is his life's dream realized, and he is content.

Until his blood brother Somerled manipulates him into a journey Eyvind never wanted to take. Reluctantly, Eyvind boards the ship to the Light Isles, where he is torn between the truth he has always believed and the truth he can no longer deny. The compassion that has always blinded him to Somerled's less savory characteristics can no longer shelter him.

I'm struck by Marillier's connection to the natural world. It's obviously a deep and thoughtful relationship, rendered in imagery that manages to be neither forced nor obvious. I came away from the story feeling like I'd been to the Light Isles myself. For a reader who prefers action to description and story to landscape, that's saying something.

The relationship that develops between Eyvind and Nessa, princess and priestess of the Isles, is as familiar and human as any real-life romance. The balance of the real and the fantastic places puts Wolfskin firmly among the best of its genre.

Freelance writer Regina Lynn Preciado lives in her truck but maintains a household in Los Angeles. Find out what else she's reading in her book blog.