Wolf of Withervale

I was drawn to Wolf of Withervale because I’ve been looking for good Epic Fantasy with Gay leads for a while. I’ve found bundles of romantasy, some more experimental stuff, but precious little in the classic older style … but gay. And Wolf of Withervale was exactly that. Massive world about to be thrust into turmoil, magical relics of ancient civilizations, young kid finding himself in the limelight through merest chance. It’s got a lot of what epic fantasy looks for, and it filled the itch I’d been looking for.

Elevator Pitch:
Lago’s life changes forever when he is entrusted with a wolf mask. He forgets about it for years only for the wider world to come knocking. He and his closest friend seek shelter in one of the massive, ancient, and mysterious domes that dot the world. And across the continent, the drums of war are pounding. Magical connections with animals, shapeshifting, and romance (including while shifted) are all major parts of this story.

What Worked for Me
This book nailed the feel of epic fantasy without feeling like something completely derivative of what came before. It’s referential, engages with tropes, and involves a character with an object of intense historic magical power and has a lot of what people loved about 90s epic fantasy. Yet it doesn’t feel like ‘just another Tolkien knock off’. It simultaneously felt nostalgic for those who love the good old days of epic fantasy while also invoking some really modern worldbuilding and writing trends. The world’s magical secrets center around different groupings of animals, which pulled me in despite some initial hesitations. Who knew that antelopes could be so scary?

And it’s also a delightfully queer read. I really appreciated that this book went beyond simply giving a gay lead, but acknowledged queer culture and history throughout. Bathhouses, not so tongue in cheek references to modern gay terms, sex-positive dynamics are all featured in wonderful ways. And while the shapeshifting into anthropomorphic animals in a romantic context wasn’t quite my speed, it too has a place in this book and felt natural to the story being told.

What Didn’t Work for Me
I think my biggest issue with the story was around pacing. The first part of the book is painfully slow for events to truly get started. And while there’s some essential backstory happening there, I think there was a lot that could have been trimmed out or folded into flashbacks scenes later. Once the book got into its rhythm I quite enjoyed it. There was a tonal shift near the end to take a detour into romance, but it felt natural and featured the best written character in the book (I should note that the romance does not seem to be a focus of book 2 based on what happens in book 1).

I think that if the writing craft were tightened up to embracing more faced paced plot and a ‘slow drip’ approach to worldbuilding instead of large info-dumps, this series could become really good. There’s glimmers of greatness here, and the flashaway chapters to other characters (usually villains) are almost universally excellent, making me think the author would be suited to using this type of technique more. As it stands now, it’s a solidly good read with lots of upwards potential.

In Conclusion: a gay epic fantasy featuring anthropomorphic animal transformations

• Characters – 4
• Worldbuilding – 4
• Craft – 3
• Themes – 3
• Enjoyment – 4