Synopsis
A twisting and apocalyptic dark fantasy novel, Blacktail is the long-awaited second novel from Scott Hawkins, the critically acclaimed author of The Library at Mount Char.
Who does your dog pray to?
Blacktail, a half-breed wolf, knows only the language of the hunt. When men kill his mate and unborn pups, he answers with total slaughter. In his violence, Blacktail draws the gaze of an ancient and terrible feline witch. She sets him on a path south – to wake the sleeping Forest God and end the plague of humankind.
As Blacktail journeys farther from his wild home and deeper into the world of man, he encounters strangers – animal, mortal, and otherworldly – who want to help him rid the world of humans. From the blood-slicked wilderness to a burning confrontation with Archangels, this is a feral odyssey of vengeance – brutal, heartbreaking and unlike anything else in fiction.
The Forest God sleeps. But what will be the price of waking him?
* * *
Praise for Scott Hawkins:
‘Utterly resistant to categorization’ – V. E. Schwab, author of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
‘Sprawling, epic . . . Unputdownable’ – Cory Doctorow, author of Walkaway
‘Funny, horrifying and original’ – Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End
‘Extravagant, beautifully imagined’ – Booklist
Details
03 September 2026
9781037417160Reviews
A mad, feral fable – this is beautiful, brutal fantasy, red in tooth and claw. Funny, heartbreaking, violent. All hail Blacktail. Down with the two-legs
A tale of lupine vengeance – at first – whose stakes escalate to degrees I never saw coming. Unexpected, blood-soaked and vividly told
Scott Hawkins’ BLACKTAIL can be described in so many ways. Strange, beautiful, surreal, brutal, fantastic, fantastical. It evokes Richard Adams at his most bloodthirsty, Tolkien at his most apocalyptic. But, above all, it’s simply transcendent. Transportive. A magnificent, bloody saga that will change the way you look at the world.
Blacktail is a journey through a universe simultaneously surreal and familiar, a tale that will leave claw marks on your brain that won't quickly fade. You simply won't read another book like it
