Blacktail by Scott Hawkins has an amazing book cover and an intriguing premise. However, it wasn’t close to the top of my list to read until a few fellow book reviewers has mentioned how incredible it was. I am now extremely glad I dove in as Blacktail is an epic journey that somehow blends Homeward Bound with dark fantasy where the story is told from the point-of-view of the animals.
The wolf Blacktail is faithful to his Forest God, but in these times, faith is not enough. His world is besieged by men. Soon his territory will be overrun, and then there will be nowhere left to go. When his mate, a house dog, is killed, Blacktail rebels. He invades the house of her owners, seeking vengeance.
Blacktail’s fury catches the notice of an ancient and terrible feline witch, who makes an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race responsible for the death of his family and for the destruction of the natural world, altogether? To do so, Blacktail must find and wake the Forest God. Only He might stand against the plague of men. Blacktail knows that his north woods are dwindling to nothing. He sees no other choice.
As Blacktail journeys farther from his wild home and deeper into the world of man, he encounters strangers—animal, mortal, and otherworldly—who, for their own reasons, want to help Blacktail rid the world of humans. Along the way, it becomes clear that he is more than just a wolf. The Forest God is sleeping, yes. But what will be the price of waking him?
I tend to stay in the horror, thriller, mystery, or comic book related genres when picking up books to read for pleasure or review. Thankful Scott Hawkins rides the line of dark fantasy and horror with Blacktail and scratches the itch for me. Telling this tale as animals was a huge draw for me as I wanted to see how this would unfold from their point-of-view, something that always makes a story interesting for me in the long run. What unfolded was an epic journey that needed to be told in this way for the impact to be felt.
Blacktail is an unsettling, moving, and revenge-driven story where animals and mystic ancient powers filled the pages. I touched on the Homeward Bound comparison at the top, and I will again, but it’s true. I kept picturing the adventure those dogs and cats took to get home and if Disney had made it darker and tossed in a fantasy component. I would say I would love this to be made into a film in a similar way, but would have to be much more moody and darker with a lack of humor.
Of course, us two-legs are seen in very good light in Blacktail. Which was the author’s intention and, at times, is hard to swallow. Blacktail takes it into his own paws at times and is a brutal showing, that is for sure. A greater view of how we treat animals a species is evident and speaks volumes on the pages of this story.
Telling the story from the view of a wolf could be risky, but also was a truly unique way to get this story to hit a bit harder. Hawkins’ choice to do this might also be the main reason some of us choose to pickup the novel in the first place. In the end, it was the correct choice and I am sitting here even more glad for it.
Blacktail is a moving, unnerving, and downright genius story told from the point-of-view of a wolf. Scott Hawkins returns with a story that will leave a last impact on anyone who chooses to pick it up. Almost as if Homeward Bound and The Lord of the Rings had a baby, in such an amazing way.
Blacktail hit bookstores everywhere on September 1, 2026 from Crown Publishing. The audiobook, narrated by MacLeod Andrews, is available via Libro.fm!
