What do you think?
Rate this book
Wulfgard: Knightfall
This is the 2015 edition of Knightfall . The 2024 revision is not yet available.
Sir Tom Drake is a knight of the Achaean frontier city of Illikon. Together with his close friends and fellow soldiers, he wants only to protect his city and its people from any who would threaten them.
But the Achaean Empire to which they swear loyalty is always seeking out new conflicts that put his city in danger. When Sir Scaevius, Left Hand of the Emperor, arrives in Illikon to recruit Sir Drake to help fight the massing barbarian alliance to the North, Drake has no choice but to obey. But he does not obey without protest, and soon he finds himself fighting not only the barbarians, but his own superiors as well.
Meanwhile, strange things begin happening to him. He suffers blackouts, and at night he is plagued by terrifying nightmares. Even worse, he finds himself being stalked by horrific monsters ... werewolves.
Hated by his superiors, hunted by beasts and assassins, Tom Drake must fight for his home, his life, and even his mind. The events that are about to unfold will change his life, and the world, forever.
Sir Tom Drake is a knight of the Achaean frontier city of Illikon. Together with his close friends and fellow soldiers, he wants only to protect his city and its people from any who would threaten them.
But the Achaean Empire to which they swear loyalty is always seeking out new conflicts that put his city in danger. When Sir Scaevius, Left Hand of the Emperor, arrives in Illikon to recruit Sir Drake to help fight the massing barbarian alliance to the North, Drake has no choice but to obey. But he does not obey without protest, and soon he finds himself fighting not only the barbarians, but his own superiors as well.
Meanwhile, strange things begin happening to him. He suffers blackouts, and at night he is plagued by terrifying nightmares. Even worse, he finds himself being stalked by horrific monsters ... werewolves.
Hated by his superiors, hunted by beasts and assassins, Tom Drake must fight for his home, his life, and even his mind. The events that are about to unfold will change his life, and the world, forever.
554 pages, Paperback
Published November 6, 2015
6 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 11, 2025
4,5⭐️ actually
First of all, let me just say that this is an absolute masterpiece!!! I was already expecting something good, but this novel was beyond every single expectation, even the best ones.
Important to point out: this is not one of those thirsty werewolf romance books. This is an adventure mystery with scary af werewolves. No thirsty fetish here. If you're looking for these, move along.
This book is: high fantasy (the best kind), adventure, mystery
The story centers around Tom Drake, knight and heir to a noble house. His kingdom is at the brink of war with their northern enemies, but, worse than that, Tom begins to slip into strange and dangerous behaviours, his sanity is not all there sometimes, and he's constantly haunted by nightmares that feel oddly real. He's about to fight in a war both with external and internal enemies.
So about the worldbuilding:
I'm openly more into low fantasy than high fantasy, and that's why I was pleasantly surprised to see that this novel is a high fantasy that feels like low fantasy. It's what I could call 80s fantasy. Classical fantasy. Old school fantasy. High fantasy of the highest quality.
The politics here make sense, so do the societal organization, the names are biult on a linguistic basis that make them both familiar and easy to pronounce, the pantheons are just the same ones of the real world, there are no random and unnecessary "trope subversions", and most importantly: how good it feels to read a novel written by someone who knows how armours work! How castles and medieval warfare works!
A P P L A U S E
This is one of those rare instances where a high fantasy novel is more historically accurate than some so called historical fiction books out there. Amazing battles with actual war tactics! Siege engines! The epicness of those 4-hour-long movies of the 20th century.
You can easily trace back the inspiration for each kingdom, ethnic group, culture, traditions... because it's all inspired by real world history. Genius. Brilliant.
It feels real, feels familiar, and feels surprisingly cozy.
Not to mention that this novel solves the overexposition problem of so many high fantasy books in the industry with a simple trick: a glossary and a list of characters. That's it! Solved! And we get to dive straight into action.
Something intriguing in Wulfgard's worldbuilding is the concept of demons. While there are some associations with the Zoroastrian understanding of Ahriman, and they make sense within the context of the world, I for one have a bit of a hard time morally conceiving such a concept as presented here.
Also, I'm pretty sure the author is not a polytheist, but as a polytheist myself I have to say: the portrayal of a polytheistic mindset in the various societies here is very good. She really put herself on the shoes of a variety of pre-Christian cultures and managed to get a very good glimpse into how polytheists really see the world. It's not a perfect picture, sure. But it's more than the vast majority of fantasy authors manage. Rare thing in fiction.
About the plot:
There are actually a number of plotlines interscecting in the story. The war, Tom's troubles, political ploys... and they're all woven together in a very natural way. Like, it's all going on at the same time, and not isolated from each other. All the plot points were thought thoroughtly and realistically, which adds credibility to the story. The war and its developments don't have crazy stakes, they have realistically dooming stakes. They're not trying to save the world, just one kingdom, which is already hard enough. It's not some glorious or handsome feat to go into battle, it's really life or death. The dangers aren't something that some deus ex-machina can solve, they're both grounded and real. And for as grand and epic as the battles are, they're still pretty realistic when it comes to its consequences. Even the one-on-one fights usually end with character development of some sort.
But, and the slowburn lovers will probably like this one, romance is sloooowwwww
I mean it. It's not bad, it's just slow. It's endearing, actually. But I'm a "love at first sight" girlie, and while Tom's very much a "love at first sight" guy too, romance develops in snail speed. I'm a helpless romantic, I love a good romance, and while romance is not the focus of this novel, I'd have loved some more cute moments. There's banter and flirting, and it's stuff like that boat scene that I'd like to have seen more. More moments in which we can feel the bond being formed between the characters in a romantic way. Hopefully in the next book we get more of this intimacy.
The characters:
Here we have another rare feat that the author managed to pull off: all the characters count. All of them. They are all relevant and solid, even the background ones.
We have friendship (true friendship!), we have ribbing, we have nuanced motivations, the characters upbringing are reflected in their personality, the way they talk and go about their life. They feel like real people.
Tom's change through the book is very well developed. We don't just see his arc happening, it's almost like we're in his mind as loses it. He's got the best friends in the whole world, really, and their relationship is very much what you would expect of old friends. There are levels of complexity in his relationship with other characters that are adressed in a natural way too, like with his sisters or his foster father. No one is just bad or just good.
Except Scaevius. I really hope to see his head on a pike in the next book.
But back to the good characters, there's also Kye. Another complex character with a particularly interesting development arc. He's that kind of character I can't wait to get to know more of, but also I'm sure I'll be heartbroken when I do. He's clearly already undergone some development, as he's one of those characters with a heavy baggage. The type who is kind because he knows the worst of the world.
Kye is baby 🥺
I've read Wulfgard: The Demon's Fang , a short story focused on Kye, alongside Knightfall and also highly recommend. 10/10 development.
And the narrative:
Immersive, detailed, 100% show and... telling? No telling, just mysteries and an indirect way of pointing some important plot point to the reader. You get vivid descriptions of the places, events, feelings, armours and weapons! Also I like how even a more formal way to say something sounds natural in the context of the story. Most times I see characters speaking in a formal tone it feels forced and fake, but here this formality is well merged with the context.
Not to mention that we have many things happening at the same time, with different characters, which makes for a very dymamic story.
So to sum it up:
This book should be the most hyped book out there, it's already running for book of the year in my little book list. Best book of the year so far. A treasure, a gem among the indies. The NY book bros should be begging Maegan to publish with them. Wulfgard deserves so much more recognition!
And now that I finished, what do I do with my life? How an I supposed to wait for the next?? I need more right now 😭
First of all, let me just say that this is an absolute masterpiece!!! I was already expecting something good, but this novel was beyond every single expectation, even the best ones.
Important to point out: this is not one of those thirsty werewolf romance books. This is an adventure mystery with scary af werewolves. No thirsty fetish here. If you're looking for these, move along.
This book is: high fantasy (the best kind), adventure, mystery
The story centers around Tom Drake, knight and heir to a noble house. His kingdom is at the brink of war with their northern enemies, but, worse than that, Tom begins to slip into strange and dangerous behaviours, his sanity is not all there sometimes, and he's constantly haunted by nightmares that feel oddly real. He's about to fight in a war both with external and internal enemies.
So about the worldbuilding:
I'm openly more into low fantasy than high fantasy, and that's why I was pleasantly surprised to see that this novel is a high fantasy that feels like low fantasy. It's what I could call 80s fantasy. Classical fantasy. Old school fantasy. High fantasy of the highest quality.
The politics here make sense, so do the societal organization, the names are biult on a linguistic basis that make them both familiar and easy to pronounce, the pantheons are just the same ones of the real world, there are no random and unnecessary "trope subversions", and most importantly: how good it feels to read a novel written by someone who knows how armours work! How castles and medieval warfare works!
A P P L A U S E
This is one of those rare instances where a high fantasy novel is more historically accurate than some so called historical fiction books out there. Amazing battles with actual war tactics! Siege engines! The epicness of those 4-hour-long movies of the 20th century.
You can easily trace back the inspiration for each kingdom, ethnic group, culture, traditions... because it's all inspired by real world history. Genius. Brilliant.
It feels real, feels familiar, and feels surprisingly cozy.
Not to mention that this novel solves the overexposition problem of so many high fantasy books in the industry with a simple trick: a glossary and a list of characters. That's it! Solved! And we get to dive straight into action.
Something intriguing in Wulfgard's worldbuilding is the concept of demons. While there are some associations with the Zoroastrian understanding of Ahriman, and they make sense within the context of the world, I for one have a bit of a hard time morally conceiving such a concept as presented here.
Also, I'm pretty sure the author is not a polytheist, but as a polytheist myself I have to say: the portrayal of a polytheistic mindset in the various societies here is very good. She really put herself on the shoes of a variety of pre-Christian cultures and managed to get a very good glimpse into how polytheists really see the world. It's not a perfect picture, sure. But it's more than the vast majority of fantasy authors manage. Rare thing in fiction.
About the plot:
There are actually a number of plotlines interscecting in the story. The war, Tom's troubles, political ploys... and they're all woven together in a very natural way. Like, it's all going on at the same time, and not isolated from each other. All the plot points were thought thoroughtly and realistically, which adds credibility to the story. The war and its developments don't have crazy stakes, they have realistically dooming stakes. They're not trying to save the world, just one kingdom, which is already hard enough. It's not some glorious or handsome feat to go into battle, it's really life or death. The dangers aren't something that some deus ex-machina can solve, they're both grounded and real. And for as grand and epic as the battles are, they're still pretty realistic when it comes to its consequences. Even the one-on-one fights usually end with character development of some sort.
But, and the slowburn lovers will probably like this one, romance is sloooowwwww
I mean it. It's not bad, it's just slow. It's endearing, actually. But I'm a "love at first sight" girlie, and while Tom's very much a "love at first sight" guy too, romance develops in snail speed. I'm a helpless romantic, I love a good romance, and while romance is not the focus of this novel, I'd have loved some more cute moments. There's banter and flirting, and it's stuff like that boat scene that I'd like to have seen more. More moments in which we can feel the bond being formed between the characters in a romantic way. Hopefully in the next book we get more of this intimacy.
The characters:
Here we have another rare feat that the author managed to pull off: all the characters count. All of them. They are all relevant and solid, even the background ones.
We have friendship (true friendship!), we have ribbing, we have nuanced motivations, the characters upbringing are reflected in their personality, the way they talk and go about their life. They feel like real people.
Tom's change through the book is very well developed. We don't just see his arc happening, it's almost like we're in his mind as loses it. He's got the best friends in the whole world, really, and their relationship is very much what you would expect of old friends. There are levels of complexity in his relationship with other characters that are adressed in a natural way too, like with his sisters or his foster father. No one is just bad or just good.
Except Scaevius. I really hope to see his head on a pike in the next book.
But back to the good characters, there's also Kye. Another complex character with a particularly interesting development arc. He's that kind of character I can't wait to get to know more of, but also I'm sure I'll be heartbroken when I do. He's clearly already undergone some development, as he's one of those characters with a heavy baggage. The type who is kind because he knows the worst of the world.
Kye is baby 🥺
I've read Wulfgard: The Demon's Fang , a short story focused on Kye, alongside Knightfall and also highly recommend. 10/10 development.
And the narrative:
Immersive, detailed, 100% show and... telling? No telling, just mysteries and an indirect way of pointing some important plot point to the reader. You get vivid descriptions of the places, events, feelings, armours and weapons! Also I like how even a more formal way to say something sounds natural in the context of the story. Most times I see characters speaking in a formal tone it feels forced and fake, but here this formality is well merged with the context.
Not to mention that we have many things happening at the same time, with different characters, which makes for a very dymamic story.
So to sum it up:
This book should be the most hyped book out there, it's already running for book of the year in my little book list. Best book of the year so far. A treasure, a gem among the indies. The NY book bros should be begging Maegan to publish with them. Wulfgard deserves so much more recognition!
And now that I finished, what do I do with my life? How an I supposed to wait for the next?? I need more right now 😭
November 21, 2019
very well written.
I enjoyed the characters even if I disagreed with them, especially if I did.
They felt like real characters. great story.
I enjoyed the characters even if I disagreed with them, especially if I did.
They felt like real characters. great story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews