The Wolf and His King Review
Last updated: 12 minutes ago
The Wolf and His King
By Finn Longman
Reviewed By Oren Raynes
Book 27 of 2026
The Writing
This was my first experience with Finn Longman and it was not disappointing! I don't know if this was Longman's normal writing style or not, but he changed narrative perspective depending on the narrator. It was so weird at first but by the end of it, I absolutely loved the choices he made to tell the story. Longman was using "you" narration in the king's perspective and "he" narration in Bisclavret's perspective. In hindsight, this may have been an attempt to suggest the king saw himself as not he/him or maybe saw himself as the royal you but in the moment of reading the book, it made his perspective feel deeply personal. Whereas reading from Biclavret's perspective felt like he was an outsider, which of course he was, being that he was exiled from the court and his wolf kept him from being fully human. There was even a third perspective; The Wolf. This perspective was really neat; Longman made the wolf seem very alien and weird by removing punctuation, sentence structure, and cohesive thoughts.
Longman did a fantastic job of separating the three POV's. I would love to read more from this author, this writing really felt like a masterclass of our time.
Note: I read this one mostly as an audiobook and I have to say that the narrator, Mark Meadows, also did a fantastic job. Meadows made the wolf shine in his narration, with the low-key growling and the rapid shifts in subtle emotion. I am definitely going to try and get more audiobooks by this narrator. He is up there with Jeff Hays for narration skill.
The Story
Note: Minor spoilers
Bisclavret is a garulf (werewolf) and son of one of the King's knights. His father died a month before Bisclavret was born which meant that he did not get to inherit his father's lands and knighthood, thus becoming an exile. His mother kept Bisclavret from returning to court and claiming his father's inheritance because of the wolf inside him. Throughout the story, Bisclavret reclaims his father's inheritance, and marries. But he also struggles with staying human and feeling like he belongs or deserves what has come to him. And then he does lose himself to the wolf for years.
The King has returned from being sent away by his father, who is also now dead. He returns to his kingdom and assumes the throne, probably a bit too young to do so. He constantly proves that he is and wants to be a peaceful and loving king, but he seems like he suffers from depression. When he sees Bisclavret, he pretty much falls in love with him and helps to restore Bisclavret's lands and title. The King also tries to keep Bisclavret on the castle grounds so that they can be near each other. When Bisclavret goes missing, the King falls into a horrible depression and then throws himself into his work to avoid thinking about it.
The Original
This is a modernization of Bisclavret by Marie de France. It is a very short poem that I definitely recommend reading beforehand. It does spoil the main premise of the book but the book follows really closely to the poem but also (obviously) adds a LOT to the story. The characters are far more developed and have their own stories and relationships. Even the region has story elements adding war to the king's considerations and personal development.
The Takeaway
I recommend reading this one. It's one of the best werewolf stories I have read in a while and the author is very skilled.
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