Front cover
"Courage does not mean having no fear. It means conquering your fear."
Kona's Song is a fantasy/xenofiction novel by Louise Searl. It tells the story of a young wolf, Kona, who has always felt different from the rest of his pack. On coming of age, he learns the truth about his history and sets off on an epic journey in search of his origins, having many adventures along the way.
Kona's Song contains examples of:
- Almost Dead Guy: Rishala.
- Alternate Animal Affection: The characters show affection by licking and nuzzling each other.
- Animal Religion: The wolves believe the world was created by the Great Spirit. He made the first wolves, Alpha-he and Alpha-she, who were the mythical "parents" of all wolves.
- Babies Ever After: The story ends with Kona and Kalani having cubs.
- Big Bad: Ragmarr. His obsessive hatred of Tashar, whom he blames for his father's death, carries over to Kona.
- Break His Heart to Save Him: Kalani tells Kona she doesn't love him in order to keep him safe from Ragmarr, her brother.
- Cool Big Sis: Shimook is this to Jareth, although they're the same age.
- Covered with Scars: Several of the wolves bear the marks of a hard life. Tashar has one eye, Ragmarr has torn ears, Dargo has a misshapen jaw caused by an injury, and Baru acquires a set of scars after an encounter with a puma.
- Creation Myth: The wolves have their own mythology involving the First Wolf.
- Defiant to the End: Baru when almost killed by the puma.
- Despair Event Horizon: Kona loses the will to live after Kalani leaves him.
- Disappeared Dad: Kona's biological father, who he goes in search of.
- Due to the Dead: The wolves have a death song that they perform to help send the deceased's soul to the next world.
- Ear Notch: Sort of. Ragmarr, the villain, has both ears in tatters.
- Enemy to All Living Things: The wolves encounter a human who is hunting elk. They are terrified, and horrified when he kills but does not eat his victim.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ragmarr hates Tashar, Kona and their pack with a passion, but loves his own family just like any other wolf.
- Fear Is the Appropriate Response: The wolves instinctively fear the human they encounter, and Neeko confirms this is the correct reaction - the human is a hunter and will kill them if he sees them.
- Feuding Families: Tashar's pack and Ragmarr's pack.
- Happily Adopted: Garrin and Annik treat Kona like their own.
- Heroic Fire Rescue: Kona runs back into a blazing forest to rescue Kalani.
- Howl of Sorrow: The wolves use different howls to express different emotions. Kona howls in misery when Kalani leaves him.
- Humans Are Bastards: The wolves are terrified when they encounter a human, and horrified to learn they kill for fun.
- Humans Are Cthulhu: The wolves know the human they encounter is not part of their world - it has an unnatural urge to kill without eating its prey, and somehow kills that prey without even touching it. It's even referred to as an alien.
- Humans Kill Wantonly: The wolves are horrified to learn that humans kill just for fun.
- Journey to Find Oneself: Kona's quest.
- Nature Is Not Nice: The life of wild animals is portrayed realistically - hunting is dangerous, for example, and several of the wolves have notable injuries or scars.
- Nature Spirit: It isn't described in detail, but the wolves believe in a Great Spirit that made the world and all the animals.
- Noble Wolf: The whole cast. Even the villain has his reasons.
- Oh, My Gods!: The wolves tend to swear by their mythical ancestors, using expressions such as "By Alpha-she's teeth and tail!"
- One True Love: Wolves are devoted to their mates, believing that they become one soul. If one of the pair dies, the other may never recover.
- Predation Is Natural: Wolves accept killing as part of their life, but are respectful of their prey. They are horrified to see the contempt with which a human treats its victim.
- Secret Relationship: Kona and Kalani, initially.
- Sibling Rivalry: The four siblings love each other, but Baru is resentful of the respect his sisters show Kona once they leave the pack.
- Sole Survivor: Kona is the sole survivor of his litter.
- Thank Your Prey: The wolves perform a special howl called the Hunt Song after they make a kill, which sends the prey's soul to the afterlife. They are horrified that the human they see kill an elk performs no such ritual, since not thanking the prey shows disrespect.
- Xenofiction: Told from the point of view of wolves.
