Blacktail by Scott Hawkins is a 288 page standalone novel to be published on September 1st, 2026 by Crown Publishing.
Genre
Fantasy, Horror
Description
A wolf sets out on an epic journey of revenge in this one-of-a-kind dark fantasy—the long-awaited second novel from the author of The Library at Mount Char.
The wolf Blacktail is faithful to his Forest God, but in these times, faith is not enough. His world is besieged by men. Soon his territory will be overrun, and then there will be nowhere left to go. When his mate, a house dog, is killed, Blacktail rebels. He invades the house of her owners, seeking vengeance.
Blacktail’s fury catches the notice of an ancient and terrible feline witch, who makes an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race responsible for the death of his family and for the destruction of the natural world, altogether? To do so, Blacktail must find and wake the Forest God. Only He might stand against the plague of men. Blacktail knows that his north woods are dwindling to nothing. He sees no other choice.
As Blacktail journeys farther from his wild home and deeper into the world of man, he encounters strangers—animal, mortal, and otherworldly—who, for their own reasons, want to help Blacktail rid the world of humans. Along the way, it becomes clear that he is more than just a wolf. The Forest God is sleeping, yes. But what will be the price of waking him?
Opening Line
Guile snapped to her feet at the sound of gunshots.
My Thoughts
The long-awaited second novel from the author of The Library at Mount Char (an all-time favorite of mine) is as brilliant as it is bloody and brutal.
From such a beginning, all things are possible.
This dark fantasy story, featuring only animals POVs, describes one (half)wolf’s epic journey into cosmic horror territory. In these pages, nature craves revenge against humankind for generations of cruelties and abuses that have left the world in an imbalance. The God of Reason may have granted humans dominion over the birds and beasts, but the gods of the natural world that predate Him surely have something to say about that. If only the most powerful among them, the Forest God, god of the hunt, hadn’t been slumbering and unseen for ages.
“When the god of men went forth to slaughter the gods of beasts, was this not a hunt? It is difficult to kill a thing when the very attempt is an act of worship toward it.”
Perhaps Blacktail might be the one to finally find and wake Him.
“But love died in this one long ago. Now all that’s left in him is judgment.”
This emotional and harrowing fable is so good, but also so hard to read. Readers be warned that it contains a whole heck of a lot of violence by and against animals. But if you can stomach that knowing that it’s not gratuitous here, know that those of you who remarked, “Good for her!” at the end of Stephen King’s Carrie will have a similar reaction to this vengeance tale.
“The secret,” she said, “is that there is no secret. Everyone suffers. Some choose to surrender, and some do not. The nature of your courage, the degree of it…these are entirely up to you.”
One criticism I have is that this story did take a while to really get going, but then things escalate REAL quick!
This was not an easy book to read due to the subject matter, but it was so worth it. I imagine I will find myself thinking about it for some time. Should Hawkins write more novels in the future, he has officially become an autobuy author for me!
Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
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Jessica Crawford 