Available Formats
The Wolf and His King: A spellbinding queer fantasy retelling of the quintessential medieval werewolf romance
By (Author) Finn Longman
Orion Publishing Co
Gollancz
25th November 2025
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Epic fantasy / heroic fantasy
Paperback
368
Width 153mm, Height 234mm
Step into the resplendent courts and forests of The Wolf and His King, the luscious adult fantasy debut from medievalist and YA author Finn Longman...
Bisclavret is cursed: to live his life in exile; to take a wolf's shape involuntarily; to lie to everybody he meets. And yet he has always dreamed of knighthood, of brotherhood and belonging. When the old king dies unexpectedly, Bisclavret travels to the royal court to seek his rightful inheritance and swear fealty to the new king. It's here that he discovers the mysterious young warrior now wearing the crown is willing to offer him far more than just his father's lands, and suddenly the life that seemed like an impossible fantasy is catapulted within his grasp. But can someone who is hardly a man ever truly be a knightThe king is lonely: recently returned to court from an exile of his own to inherit a crown he never wanted. And yet he's fascinated by his newest knight, a man who carries secrets along with his sword, and fascination quickly turns to longing. When Bisclavret is seemingly killed by a wolf, the weight of the king's grief almost destroys him. He swears to have his vengeance, but at the height of the hunt he encounters an animal that seems too intelligent to be the violent beast he seeks. One might even say it has the mind of a man...Enthralling... A compulsive debut * THE GUARDIAN on THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN *
Immersive * THE IRISH TIMES on THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN *
Grips you from the first page until the very last * Benjamin Dean, award-winning author of THE KING IS DEAD on THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN *
Sharp and layered, with a bright beating heart * Rory Power, author of WILDER GIRLS on THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN *
An electrifying debut! * Chelsea Pitcher, author of THIS LIE WILL KILL YOU on THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN *
An utterly addictive story. I told myself "just one more chapter" well into the night * Emily Suvada, author of THIS MORTAL COIL on THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN *
Finn Longman is an author and medievalist, originally from London. They write young adult and adult fiction, with a particular interest in genre-bending stories about identity, friendship, and monstrosity - of the metaphorical or the literal sort. They've spent most of their adult life alternating between working in libraries and studying for increasingly niche degrees in medieval literature, and can usually be found in the vicinity of a pile of books. Finn is currently a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, researching friendship and affection in the late Ulster Cycle. Finn's debut YA novel, The Butterfly Assassin, and its sequels are published by Simon & Schuster.