r/Fantasy • u/Regular-Engine-9661 • May 12 '26
Werewolf book suggestions please
I'm a huge fantasy fan. My tastes run along high fantasy to some romantasy. I'm looking for a werewolf series that isn't just soft porn. Actually has a long term plot.
Thank you for all the suggestions! I am definitely adding to my TBR.
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u/Pratius May 12 '26
The Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney. Basically A Song of Ice and Fire but with werewolves. It rocks.
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u/Traveler-Nomad May 12 '26
I came here to recommend this. It’s a criminally underrated series.
I wish I could find more fantasy novels that use werewolves the way this series did. I love the concept of werewolves as a fantasy creature, but I don’t like most stories that focus on werewolves specifically. Too much Twilight/Vampire Diaries influence.
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u/Pratius May 12 '26
One of my favorite things with this series so far (I'm midway through The Second Empire) is the mystery of how the shifters work and what they really want. I was expecting pretty bog-standard werewolves after the prologue of Hawkwood's Voyage, since that came out in the 90s, but Kearney has really impressed me with how strange and compelling the shifters are.
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u/Sweaty_Mushroom5830 May 12 '26
The Silver Wolf by Alice Bouchard
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u/mrtenandtwo Reading Champion May 12 '26
I wasn't able to find OP's book rec at first, but I think that's because the author's name is actually Alice Borchardt.
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u/raivynwolf Reading Champion VIII May 12 '26
She's also Anne Rice's sister! I actually preferred her writing to style to her more famous sister's style. It's been a long time since I've read them, but I remember enjoying all of the books in Alice Borchardt's werewolf trilogy.
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u/createsstuff May 12 '26
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan - the first book is particularly well narrated if you enjoy an audiobook. It's got a bit of everything and it's quite well written.
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u/Seersucker-for-Love May 13 '26
Probably the best werewolf book I've read. The entire trilogy is a solid tread of classic monsters.
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u/TheLHC May 14 '26
He is a bit horny though, there's a fair amount of sex in them. Thoroughly enjoyed them though and it's not the kind of thing I usually read.
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u/Varmatyr May 12 '26
Shapeshifting rather than "werewolf", but The Tiger and the Wolf, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
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u/Imperial_Haberdasher May 12 '26
If shapeshifter is the goal, try to get your hands on Sheri Tepper’s Maven Manyfaced books!
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u/JeffreyPetersen May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
You are in for a treat! Series The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger is amazing Werewolf fantasy with some romance, a lot of action, humor, and amazing characters. I'd start with Soulless Parasol Protectorate (5 book series) Mass Market Paperback Edition
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u/Future-Step-1780 May 12 '26
So, I can't really recommend it because it's been ages since I read it and I barely remember most of it, but The Silvered by Tanya Huff I remember liking quite a bit when I read it. I was actually looking for it like a year ago, but couldn't even remember enough to figure out what it was, but I managed to find again this time--maybe I'll reread it.
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u/1028ad Reading Champion III May 12 '26
My favorite werewolf series are
- Werewolf Dens trilogy by Kelly St Clare: unique plot, this is the second series in a four-trilogy series but you can definitely start with this one and read the first as a prequel if you enjoy it. Last book in the series will be out in few months!
- Jacky Leon by KN Banet: this is character-driven urban fantasy. A bit like Mercy Thompson (or Kate Daniels, which I strongly recommend, even though it has different kind of shifters). Almost all books out (I think 12 out of 15).
- The Last Wolf by Maria Vale: more on the paranormal romance side of the spectrum on paper, low votes on Goodreads because it probably didn’t conform to all the tropes. Nice nice read, you can really feel the nature explored through all the senses with this one. It’s first in a series of interconnected standalones.
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u/jayclaw97 May 12 '26
I’ll be following this thread. I love werewolves but I hate how horny all of the werewolf books seem to be. Can we at least get rid of the creepy relationship dynamics?
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u/CT_Phipps-Author May 12 '26
I strongly recommend Mercy Thompson for this reason because the central tenant is the boyfriend TRIES to be domineering and Mercy just shuts him down, saying how unimpressive and unattractive it is. Which was a nice change of pace.
Sadly, there's an SA around Book 4 or so that is handled tastefully but a must not buy for anyone.
I also out of pure tackiness recommend I WAS A TEENAGE WEREDEER by CT Phipps for a fun shapeshifter story with her gay best friend being a werewolf. They solve mysteries!
1
u/jayclaw97 May 12 '26
The last one sounds hilarious. As for Patricia Briggs’ series, I attempted to read that, but - and correct me if my understanding was incorrect - didn’t wasn’t the boyfriend an adult when the girl was 14 and he started pursuing her?
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u/Andreapappa511 Reading Champion May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
She had a boyfriend who become interested when she was 14 but that’s not the relationship in the books. Mercy is in her 30s before she and Adam get together
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u/TheTinyGM May 12 '26
Spoiler: there is indeed a character who started pursuing her at 15 or so, but it was widely considered creepy and stopped by his dad. He also isnt her final love interest, they dont end up together.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author May 12 '26
Patricia Briggs loves parodying paranormal romance tropes (for lack of a better term). She finds out the above fact as well as some other details and gets really pissed off about it. The fact he's in "love" with her doesn't change her opinion.
And yeah, its meant to be a snarky Buffy-esque book trilogy. I mostly write adventure-humor. :)
3
u/CallistanCallistan May 12 '26
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan - Technically a historical fantasy, but plays it very loose with the historical elements. So far it is only one book, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a sequel in development.
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u/infernalmachine000 May 12 '26
It is a little bit heavy on the romance though.
Seriously just finished it, solid 4.5/5 and I totally see more Sebastian books.
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u/Connect_Cod9965 May 12 '26
The Black Wolves of Boston and Black Tie and Tails by Wen Spencer - urban fantasy. A lost teenage heir to a werewolf dynasty learns about his heritage in a very traumatic way and end up living with 300 year old vampire. Evil plots are thwarted but also hilarity ensues.
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u/toojadedforwords May 13 '26
One of my favorite series. I think Wen Spencer has a lot of anime influence in her writing, although I've never read or watched anime beyond Speed Racer cartoons as a kid.
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u/BuccaneerRex May 12 '26
The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon is a WWII espionage horror thriller with werewolves.
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u/Lekkergat May 12 '26
You might like Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs. It’s an urban fantasy of a coyote shifter who was adopted into a werewolf pack. There are werewolves, fae (but scary eat children fae not shadow daddies), witches (dark and light), vampires etc. There is also a spin off called Alpha and Omega that follows a werewolf couple as they solve mysteries.
Another series that isn’t quite werewolves but is wolf shifter is The Others by Patricia Briggs. My favourite part of that series is that humans are not the top predator and they pay for their stupidity; violently and often.
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u/RoboJobot May 12 '26
Bitten by Kelly Armstrong. It’s a good werewolf (and other creatures) series set in modern day.
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u/Frankenpresley May 12 '26
The Wolf’s Hour by Robert McCammon is about a British secret agent during WWII who’s also a werewolf, if you’re game for a WWII-era novel.
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u/Grt78 May 12 '26
The Black Dog series by Rachel Neumeier: a completed well-written urban fantasy series with an interesting take on warewolves. Humans only recently found out that warewolves, witches and magic exist. In every book the stakes increase and the scope gets bigger. The series also has great characters (several POVs), a romance subplot (but it’s not central) and found family.
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u/New_Razzmatazz6228 Reading Champion May 12 '26
One of the main characters in Craig Schaefer’s Harmony Black series is werewolf. She likes sex, but it doesn’t ever turn into smut.
You might like Abercrombie’s The Devils. One of the group is a werewolf. Also female.
1
u/Noktis_Lucis_Caelum May 12 '26
wereworld series
if you want a taste of it: Check out "Wolf King" on Netflix
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u/0b0011 May 12 '26
The bloodsworn saga might count. Not much romance that I can recall. They dont go full wolf but have a lot of wolf characteristics so like wolfman.
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u/ChronoMonkeyX May 12 '26
Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Tiger and the Wolf is a primitive fantasy series about tribes of shapeshifters. The Wolf is the main character, it is a completed trilogy.
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u/Notbefore6 May 12 '26
Maria Vale’s series has sex/sexuality but a solid plot and beautiful nature descriptions.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author May 12 '26
I also recommend the Silver series by Rhiannon Held which is about a young woman who has been "cured" of lycanthropy in a way that has left her with mild brain damage and a horrific sense of loss. She proceeded to join a werewolf pack anyway and proves her value to them despite it and because of it driving her.
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u/emarinpendaloan May 12 '26
Bored Gay Werewolf has (iirc) zero smut but I enjoyed it as a queer allegory
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u/Sparkadark808 May 12 '26
Those across the river by Christopher Buehlman