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Henry VIII, Wolfman

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 166 ratings · 30 reviews

Henry VIII was the best and bloodiest King ever to have sat on the throne of England. This fast-paced, exciting, gory, inventive and just plain gross retelling of his reign will bring to light the real man behind the myth. When it came to his size, Henry VIII was known for being larger-than-life, with a fearsome temper and bloodthirsty reputation to match; more beast than...more

Paperback, 406 pages

Published July 8th 2010 by Hodder

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Aug 17, 2012 Misfit marked it as will-never-read

Shelves: monster-mash

Just spotted this up at Net Galley. I am passing...

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2012 Tina Rath rated it 4 of 5 stars

The title pretty well says it all. As does the back cover: "Wolf Hall, with bite." I enjoyed Moorat's Queen Victoria, Demon Hunter, I loved Henry VIII: Wolfman (as my husband said, on glimpsing the cover "Well, that would explain a lot.") It is very clever and very funny. In Moorat's vision of Tudor England demons are real and dangerous, but they have signed a treaty - at the Field of the Cloth of Gold - with humanity. This is disturbed by the ambition of the wolfen, Arcadians, the lowest rank o...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 05, 2012 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, age-adult, historical-fiction, werewolf-books, arcs

I read this ARC via Netgalley.

When Henry VIII's first son by his wife Katherine is eaten by young werewolves and Henry himself is attacked, he begins to undergo some changes. While England battles against the Protektorate, headed by the werewolf Malchek, Henry battles his sudden lust for red meat. And when he meets the Lady Anne Boleyn, it's werewolf love at first sight. Cardinal Wolsey is determined to find a cure, while Thomas More is imprisoned under false conception that he is also a werewol...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Libby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fun-with-the-middle-ages

This could have been a better book and I would like to have read it. As it is, I'll have to give it points for ingenuity, but deduct some stars for its flaws. A simplified summary might run thus:Henry the carefree lover of wine, women and song, leaves the real work of ruling his realm to Cardinal Wolsey, who weaseled his wiles into a treaty between France, the Papacy, England and the Demons at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. (Minus the demons,this is very close to what happened in the real world...more This could have been a better book and I would like to have read it. As it is, I'll have to give it points for ingenuity, but deduct some stars for its flaws. A simplified summary might run thus:Henry the carefree lover of wine, women and song, leaves the real work of ruling his realm to Cardinal Wolsey, who weaseled his wiles into a treaty between France, the Papacy, England and the Demons at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. (Minus the demons,this is very close to what happened in the real world.)
Wolsey miscalculates and orders an attack on a rebel wolfen. In retaliation, the wolfen attack the palace. The king's new-born son is killed and Henry himself is bitten. Henry vows vengeance on the wolfen, but also blames Wolsey. When Henry turns furry and fangy, he is both terrified and exhilarated. His wolf self loves the hunt, the kill, the blood and raw human flesh. His human self is less enthused, but increasingly irritable and impulsive. Against the backdrop of politicking and back-stabbing, rebellion and the sweating sickness, Henry meets Anne Boleyn and bites her. Much running in the moonlight ensues. Anne is a catastrophe in silk slippers for Wolsey, again, not too different from the history we know. Henry declares himself head of the Church of England and marries Anne. He is mad about her in wolf form, but soon tires of her as his wife. His roving eye settles on Jane Seymour who is a Papal agent. What the?!? Yes, you read it and I wrote it. In this book, Jane Seymour, the mild, demure, butter wouldn't melt in my mouth gentle maiden, is a feisty, spunky, energetic Amazon with a sword. Oh yeah! Not so much like the real world, no, no, no! This is about where I got off the bus. I lost my will to believe at that point. This is really sorta sad because there is promise in some of the plot. Henry VIII truly did display a change in his demeanor and behavior in early middle age. He did pull the reins of power into his own hands. He did become nasty mean and pig stubborn. Unfortunately the wheels are falling off now. I mean, St. Thomas More as a werewolf? Oh puhlease!
Aside from some ridiculous miscasting of characters,(such as Jane and St. Tom) there are also some irritating writing habits. Sophomoric jokes and puns litter the pages, in a truly tiresome way. I became so annoyed by the writing style that ---SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!---I was happy when he ate the queen.(less)

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Feb 07, 2012 Redfox5 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: england, fiction, historical-fiction, humor, horror, werewolves, tudors

My faith in mash ups had already been restored after reading 'I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas'. Was this book going to disappoint or make me laugh? It was the latter :) This book is silly. Really silly. But thats all part of it's charm. The only Tudors book where I've liked Wolsey, mainly becuase of the colourful language A.E Moorat had him use. I also liked Jane Seymour, she was made out to be a cute little blonde pixie (she wouldn't like me saying that!) who kicked some wolf arse. A...more

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Feb 19, 2011 Eric Orchard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

A fun, outrageous tale of an alternate 16th Century England where royalty and the Vatican negotiate treaties with demonkind and all sorts of nasty creatures scheme and lurk in the shadows. I think there a lot of great things about this book, though I think you will be disappointed if you're expecting some sort of enlightenment about the Tudors or that part of history, the monsters seem to be the point.

I think the thing that drags the book down a bit is the bad jokes, black humour that, for me,...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 21, 2011 Wicked ♥ (Wickedly Bookish Reviews) aka Bat-Jess rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, arc-or-galley, dark-fantasy, fall-reads, historical-fiction, horror, mythology-inspired, netgalley, stand-alone, supernatural, weres, demons

Reviewed for Wickedly Bookish Reviews
http://wickedlybookish.blogspot.com/

2.5 stars

Henry VIII is at the height of his reign and he's hungry like the wolf...

King Henry VIII is infamous for his ability to go through wives like dirty underwear with his fickle attentions and desire for a male heir. This book tells a tale untold until now.Henry's Europe is characterized as a land balancing precariously between human and demon kind. The Vatican acknowledges the existence of demons and even promotes the...more Reviewed for Wickedly Bookish Reviews
http://wickedlybookish.blogspot.com/

2.5 stars

Henry VIII is at the height of his reign and he's hungry like the wolf...

King Henry VIII is infamous for his ability to go through wives like dirty underwear with his fickle attentions and desire for a male heir. This book tells a tale untold until now.Henry's Europe is characterized as a land balancing precariously between human and demon kind. The Vatican acknowledges the existence of demons and even promotes their existence because, "..frightened people are more likely to attend church." Seriously, that's what they're going with. The Protektorate is an organization overseen by the Vatican that attempts to keep the demons in check to an extent, but in all honesty is pretty useless. Henry contracts lycanthropy and spends most of the book loping through England at night tearing into peasants with his great big teeth and hiding random body parts in his closet.

The title says it all, really I think readers will find an enormous lack of direction and misplaced humor. There are definitely some funny parts, but there are fairly few truly laughable moments. It is easy to see where the author tries to get a twisted laugh out of his reader and fails completely leading to much head shaking and exasperated sighing. I am a huge fan of dark humor, horror, and novel ideas. However in this case I just didn't like it. I think it is mostly because I have been incredibly spoiled by Christopher Moore and his fantastic books that mix dark humor, horror, and quirkiness superbly while still offering the reader an emotionally charged plot. His stories make you question just how fucked up your sense of humor actually is one minute and then show you that no matter how dark it gets, there is always heart at the center of it. I guess what I'm trying to say is there is a method to Mr. Moore's madness, whereas Henry VIII: Wolfman is just mad.

The pages of this book are soaked with blood and guts. I can get into that for zombies and the like, but when it comes to cracking jokes during the graphic slaughtering of children, I tend to be revolted. At one point, wolfman Henry digs up the grave of a recently deceased child, pulls of its head and limbs, and buries his snout in the gaping neck hole to feast. This is all after sinking his teeth into the ample breasts of the dead child's mother and ripping them off of her while she screams in agony. I am in no way debating morals here, I have read and enjoyed many a blood fest with novels like Z.A. Recht's Plague of the Dead and darkly humorous tales like Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job. If you can write your gore and humor with a satisfying storyline I commend you, it just doesn't happen here.

I won't lie though, the reading experience wasn't entirely unenjoyable. The text is well written and for all its sillyness keeps your reading at a brisk pace. I was brought to tears laughing at two different parts because of how absolutely ridiculous they were. That was honestly the thing that kept me reading, the twisted desire to see what crazy thing the author would come up with next. After all my criticisms for this book I did have the pleasure of reading the best irreverent death scene ever. I almost feel like bearing with the rest of the book is worth it just to read the death by fat ass scene. Don't have a cushion to smother your poor suffering patient with? Have the fattest man in the room sit on his face. Genius. I honestly mean that.

So Wicked reader, are you confused? Are you wondering right now "Did she like it or not?" The only answer I can give you is this. I didn't enjoy the story so much as I enjoyed the way it fucked with my head. I'm giving it 2.5 stars because of the butt death scene and because this book made me really think about what I liked in a book and how far someone can mess with historical accuracy before I stop taking it seriously. And that brings me to my final advice about this book. Don't take it seriously, enjoy the insane, twisted ride it takes you on. If you are not into the darker side of fiction, this is probably not the book for you. However if you enjoy a good mind fuck now and then, I suggest you give Henry VIII: Wolfman a read. And then tell me what you thought because I am dying to discuss this book with someone. (less)

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Nov 20, 2011 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-books

I have seen these books out for awhile and i finally decided to read one. Basically it is the story of Henry the 8th but with mythical creatures. The author did a superb job of weaving the mythical creatures into Henry's well known life. The only thing i didn't like was the language. I didn't mind the gory scenes, and i normally don't mind swearing in books but the way it was put in this book made it seem like the author was trying too hard. Otherwise, it was a great book.

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Aug 25, 2012 Redsteve rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, supernatural, history, british-isles, tudor, renaissance, horror, alternate-history

Cute. Colossally cheesy. An imaginative conceit (might actually qualify as "secret history" rather than "alternate history". History not as horrible as I expected from the first few pages, but god knows, not great. Modern language throughout the book put in for humor rather annoying - for a really good example of anachronistic language done well for comedic effect, read Fraser's The Pyrates.

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Apr 08, 2011 Nerine Dorman rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book loses focus very early on due to its over-large cast of characters and omniscient third person point of view. Gore-splattered pages offer readers a black, humorous alternative history. My overall feeling is that this is the kind of novel you'll take on holiday with you or give to your teen brother for a birthday present.

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Nov 16, 2012 Charity rated it 1 of 5 stars

I'm up for anything, so I thought I'd give this a read. I quit a chapter in a half in, after reading the grisly details of Henry dismembering and eating animals and then gruesomely chomping down on his wife and skimming other portions of the book. Disgusting. Unless you like wanton descriptions of gore, stay away.

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Sep 30, 2010 Guy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-language, fiction

Yet another mash-up of history/literature and demons. This one was written so quickly it has a lot of little errors of history and a fair number of typos, but it must be said that it moves along fast and is perfect for airplanes or trains or the beach. I found the gore and bodies being torn apart a bit much, but we're dealing with werewolves, after all. The characterizations of familiar historical figures are always witty and in some cases really clever: Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas More make very...more

1 like · like · see review

Andrew Hi Guy,

Thanks for the review and I'm pleased you liked the bits you liked. I'm disappointed about the historical inaccuracies, though. You couldn't gi...more
Aug 29, 2010 01:49am

Guy Andrew,

I'm sorry to be so slow to respond. I never really thought anyone was paying attention. Enough time has elapsed that I have forgotten the detai...more
Sep 30, 2010 10:52pm

Andrew Guy,

Not to worry, I just wanted to get an idea of what *sort* of inaccuracy we were talking about really. I guess the fact that they have slipped your...more
Oct 01, 2010 02:30am

Dec 14, 2011 Nick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Entertaining, clever, funny.
Narrator shifts too much, occasionally being a very unimportant character who disappears after one scene. Why are minor characters sometimes narrators when a few major ones aren't? But still, fun.

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Jul 23, 2011 Elizabeth Moffat added it · review of another edition

I thought I would enjoy this book much more than I did I'm afraid. It was funny in points and just the right amount of "gruesome" but I found myself getting bored and just waiting for the end.

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Aug 06, 2011 Emily added it

not as good as Queen Victoria, but lots of silly blood and gore!

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Jul 30, 2010 Alex marked it as to-read

Shelves: tudors

Okay I HAVE to read this, for the sole reason that it looks RIDICULOUS.

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Dec 08, 2011 Barry Rosenberg rated it 2 of 5 stars

I thought the general idea was good but it didn't read all that well.

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Oct 19, 2011 Melissa Caldwell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought this was a very cool read. It had just enough history and fantasy mixed to be slightly addictive, and also very funny in some parts.

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Apr 06, 2013 Angelo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Blood-filled, all decapitation, gore-ified, historic story. Still, did I enjoy it as I hoped it would? Maybe not.

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Feb 12, 2011 Thalia rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: tudor

Apparently my funny bone is broken...or this book is absolute rubbish. Any self respecting Tudorphile will cringe from start to finish reading this. Perhaps fans of paranormal would have a better go of it. I think if the author could have somewhat represented the timeframe he set out to capture with ANY sort of compitance it might have upped the rating...might....maybe not, I don't think anything could save this. It was ridiculous, un-funny and boring...did I mention ridiculous?

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Jan 15, 2011 Jo rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, horror, tudors, urban-fantasy

Totally messes with history and just not that interesting.

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Oct 29, 2011 Jen rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Werewolf lovers

Shelves: action, anthro, battle, dark, death, drama, fantasy, fun, furry, humour, mature, parody, political, relationships, romance, supernatural, violent, werewolves

Quite enjoyable. Certainly not the best written book in the world, but if you look beyond it's issues, it's quite a fun read. :)

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May 04, 2012 Greg rated it 3 of 5 stars

A fun mash-up read. It might help to understand the characters better if you are familiar with the story of the Tudors (which I was not) but not necessary. There was not so much detail as to lull the reader into a historical slumber and there was plenty of action. Though I enjoyed this book Queen Elizabeth: Demon Hunter, in my opinion, was better.

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Feb 09, 2013 Elizabeth(The Book Whisperer) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Funny and clever! I loved it.

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Jun 23, 2012 Gerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

great read but a little bloody

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May 06, 2013 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Amusing.

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Oct 21, 2011 ZaBeth rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: source-lib, _-_try_again-someday, _g-paranormal, _g-romance, r-goodreads, series_1off-read

As I was reading this at 2am last night I just decided suddenly that this is too bloody for me to read. I just wasn't enjoying the torture and violence and I have the power to put the book down. Maybe I'll finish it someday. But not now. Fast reading though.

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Mar 02, 2013 Amy Sue marked it as to-read

Review to come. Suffering from Vertigo, so I will have to type it up later.

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Nov 18, 2012 Ian Turvey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Excellent level of story and humour, highly entertaining

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Aug 19, 2011 Sabree rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-tudors

I could barely get through it. It was actually quite dull.

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About A.E. Moorat

A. E. Moorat is the pseudonym of author Andrew Holmes whose first novel, Sleb , was shortlisted for the 2002 WHSmith New Talent Award in the UK. His other novels are All Fur Coat, 64 Clarke, and Rain Dogs and Love Cats, all of them dark, funny thrillers which were critically well received in the UK, earning him comparisons with Martin Amis and Elmore Leonard, among others. His nonfiction work has...more

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