When There Are Wolves Again: "One Of The Best Science Fiction Novels Of 2025" The Guardian on this Breathtaking Novel of Hope
E. J. Swift
Formats & Editions
'Vivd, tremendous, unforgettable' - KIM STANLEY ROBINSON on WHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN, the extraordinary speculative novel of past, present and future, a Guardian Best Science Fiction Book of 2025.
Decades from now, two women sit beside a campfire and reflect on their life stories.
Activist Lucy's earliest memories are of living with her grandparents during the 2020 pandemic and discovering her grandmother's love of birds. Filmmaker Hester was born on the day of the Chornobyl explosion and visits the site years later to film its feral dogs in the Exclusion Zone. Here she meets Lux, the wolf dog who will give her life meaning.
Over half a century, their journeys take them from London to the Highlands to Somerset, through protests, family rifts, and personal tragedy. Lucy joins the fight to restore Britain's depleted natural habitats and revive the species who once shared the island, whilst Hester strives to give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves.
Both dream of a time when there are wolves again.
A novel of life and of hope, WHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN is perfect for fans of Clade by James Bradley, The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall, and The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Read More
Praise for When There Are Wolves Again
-
This novel is vivid. It has a great eye for canines, a great ear for human speech, and a great heart for the world, including the future world we are making. Add to that the dark but ever-fascinating Matter of Chernobyl, and the result is tremendous, unforgettable. - Kim Stanley Robinson, author of THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTUREWHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN is another of E.J. Swift's beautifully written, moving and eloquent letters to the natural world, and to the power of humanity to address the damage we inflict upon it. The Chernobyl disaster, extrapolated into a vividly realised near future world, brings two unforgettable characters into a narrative of exploration, reparation and hope. Swift gets better and better. - Adam Roberts, author of LAKE OF DARKNESSWhen There Are Wolves Again is an extraordinary novel, compassionate, urgent, and beautifully written, both intimate and sweeping in its depiction of our natural world and the two women who fight to save it. It has perfectly merged literary and speculative fiction into an instant classic - Lavie Tidhar, author of MARORConfirming EJ Swift's standing as a writer of urgent, beautifully crafted eco-fiction, her latest novel is haunted by the legacy of Chornobyl. When There Are Wolves Again suggests a new beauty might lie within our reach if we commit, as do Swift's characters, to rewilding, species reintroduction, activism of one sort or another, and a dutiful stewardship of the land. I'm left with a much-needed feeling of optimism. - Anne Charnock, author of DREAMS BEFORE THE START OF TIMEWritten with deep care and fierce hope, When There Are Wolves Again offers thoughtful answers to urgent questions about our future. It's a joy to read - effortlessly controlled and textured, moving in its details yet bold in scope - and a brilliant example of what can be done with the tools of speculative fiction - Matt Hill, author of LAMBWhen There Are Wolves Again is by turns tragic, terrifying, uplifting, poetic, vast in its ambition and devastatingly human in its scale. It carries you along in an almost dream-like state through the best and the worst of the humanity in an age of crisis, imagining a future both heartbreaking and in the end, full of urgent, soaring hope - Claire North, author of THE LAST SONG OF PENELOPEThis book is powered by a passionate love of nature and deep concern for the planet's future . . . Evocative and beautifully written, this character-driven novel also inspires as an argument for rewilding in Britain - The Guardian
Find a book you'll love, get our newsletter
© Hachette Aotearoa | New Zealand, All Rights Reserved · Site by Chook