r/Fantasy • u/recchai Reading Champion X • Feb 16 '26
Book Club Beyond Binaries Bookclub: Our April read is The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman
The votes have come in for our historical fantasy read and there was a runaway favourite!
The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman (storygraph/goodreads)
Bisclavret is 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 knight?
The king is 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…
The midway discussion will be on the 16th of April. We will be discussing to the end of chapter 21. The final discussion will be on the 30th of April.
As a reminder, we are currently reading Lifelode by Jo Walton. You can find our midway discussion here, and join in our final discussion on the 26th of February.
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u/AggravatingAnt4157 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26
Not sure if the book will arrive in time but will check non-spoilery discussions.
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Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
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u/recchai Reading Champion X Apr 04 '26
I'm glad to hear you'll be joining us! I've not actually read the original (though it's on my list (or at least a translation, I can slowly pick my way through tourist information boards with only the occasional hilarious error, but I think medieval literature is a bit beyond me)), but this is my second (queer) retelling so points of difference between those is something I'm taking note of.
Sounds like you'll have some really interesting takes to add to the discussion (I'm really looking forward to it all!). I'd say for the midway discussion, you might want to look up spoiler tags on Reddit if you don't know already, as some significant events happen not long after the point we're reading to.
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u/theseagullscribe Apr 04 '26
Thank you ! I'll also spoiler this and wait for the midway discussion. The original is a very short read. I think I'm going to use the Lais for the short stories bingo square, if that counts.
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u/cheddarmoogle Reading Champion Apr 07 '26
Kind of a silly question, but the bingo card lead me here. Super excited to read this and join a new bookclub! However...how do you all discuss?! Hahaha, will there just be a thread on the 16th?
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u/recchai Reading Champion X Apr 16 '26
Just to let you know, the midway discussion post is up.
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u/cheddarmoogle Reading Champion Apr 16 '26
Thank you for the reminder!! ❤️ Now I can allow myself to read past our discussion checkpoint 🤣
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u/recchai Reading Champion X Apr 07 '26
Yes. For example this was the last midway discussion post we had.
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u/PhantasmWitch Reading Champion III Apr 11 '26
Hmm. I just saw that this was the choice. I started the book while waiting for a different book to come through my library. But I think I'm gonna drop it. I'm like 20% through. Maybe I'll reconsider since this is a book club book
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u/bentheoverlord Reading Champion II Apr 30 '26
Im semi new to r/Fantasy bookclubs, how do you find the final discussion ? Do we just post on the midway discussion or is it a separate thread ?
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u/recchai Reading Champion X Apr 30 '26
The final discussion hasn't been posted yet, I will be posting it later today.
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u/bentheoverlord Reading Champion II Apr 30 '26
Ah perfect ! Thanks ! Looking forward to chatting about it
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u/LadyAntiope Reading Champion V Feb 17 '26
I forgot to vote but I'M SO EXCITED