The Wolf and His King, the debut adult novel from YA author Finn Longman, has been acquired by Gollancz as part of a six-figure deal for three books, as announced today, in The Bookseller and BookBrunch.
The Wolf and His King is a spellbinding queer retelling of the 12th-century story ‘Bisclavret’ from medievalist Finn Longman.
Bisclavret is cursed: to live his life in exile, denied his inheritance by an accident of birth; to take a wolf’s shape involuntarily, losing himself in the process; to lie to everybody he meets. And yet he has always dreamed of knighthood, of brotherhood and belonging. When the old king dies suddenly, Bisclavret makes his way to the court to seek his inheritance and swear fealty to the new king. But it’s more than his father’s lands that the king offers him, and suddenly the life that seemed like an impossible fantasy is catapulted within his grasp.
Pitched as Madeline Miller meets Angela Carter, Bethan Morgan (editorial director at Gollancz) said: “A radically empowering remix of the quintessential medieval werewolf romance, this book has the quiet intensity of all my favourite folkloric fantasy, steeped in the texture and tenor of its source material and rendered with a precision of language and wordsmith’s eye for detail that feels intimate and timeless, transporting you to a fireside. I studied Old and Middle English with a side serving of Old Norse and all things Celtic so stepping into Finn’s worlds has been nothing short of sheer delight. The Wolf and His King is going to absolutely electrify readers next year, swift as summer lightning.”
Finn’s agent Jessica Hare commented: “I am over the moon that Bethan jumped at the chance to publish Finn’s debut adult novel, The Wolf and His King – with two standalones to follow – and that more readers will be lucky enough to experience the singular joy of reading Finn’s breathtaking writing. Werewolves and gay yearning: what’s not to love?”
As reported in The Bookseller, Finn added: “It’s a cliché, perhaps, to say that this is the book of my heart – but The Wolf and His King really is. With its roots deep in my academic research, this story encompasses so many parts of myself, touching on ideas of disability, queerness, peace, grief and affection. And yearning. Can’t forget the yearning. It’s fantastic to have the chance to work with Bethan, who understood what I was trying to do with this book from the very first chance conversation we had about it, and I’m grateful to Jessica for not batting an eye when I kept making this book stranger and more medieval.”
The Wolf and His King will publish in Spring 2025, followed by two standalone novels in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
