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  1. Hi, Greg! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Re the pack structure in Briggs’ world: I don’t like it, and I’m really tired of the incorrect assumption that females aren’t as sturdy as males, and that’s why there are so many more male than female werewolves.

    However, as you note, the female protagonists effectively stand outside the pack hierarchy. In Mercy’s case, that made her story enjoyable for me to read — especially since her adventures are not tied entirely up in the pack and its issues with hierarchy.

    I’m going to be very curious to see how Briggs handles issues of hierarchy in the following books, however, now that Mercy’s going to be the alpha’s mate. In one of the earlier books she mentioned once that if she were part of a pack she’d likely be the first feminist there. I do hope Briggs puts her heroine’s metaphorical money where her mouth is. :)

  2. For that matter, what is this peculiar obsession with only males leading shapeshifter packs? Not only is that demonstrably nonsense in our own world, but were I a female in one of those packs, I’d be downright insulted by the clear insinuation that female status is achieved only by a metaphorical “sleeping up the corporate ladder.”

    Agreeing with this whole heartedly, it makes me wonder how you feel about the weres in the world of Patricia Briggs (the home of Mercedes Thompson, and the Alpha and Omega series), considering you’ve said that you enjoyed those books more or less.

    In both cases, the protagonists are female, and they themselves are outside the pack order for various reasons, but the pack itself, as the author clearly demonstrates, is still highly patriarchal. And women do only derive power from their mate (save for the protagonists). Is the rest of the story good enough that it doesn’t cause mental dissonance? Because this would seem to be another opportunity to write a story without that frustrating trope, again, as you suggest above.

    Very curious to hear your thoughts.

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