When There Are Wolves Again

by E.J. Swift

The extraordinary speculative novel of past, present and future, by the Clarke Award-shortlisted author of THE CORAL BONES.

Decades from now, two women sit around a fire on Beltane, May Eve, 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, born on the day of the Chornobyl explosion, visits the plant in 2021 to film its feral dog population, and encounters the wilded Exclusion Zone - and a wolf-dog.

Over half a century, their journeys take them from London to Balmoral to Somerset, through protests, family rifts, and personal tragedy. Lucy's path leads to the fight to restore Britain's depleted natural habitats and bring back 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.

Genres: Science Fiction

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 9, 2025

About the author

E. J. Swift is the author of The Osiris Project trilogy, a speculative fiction series set in a world radically altered by climate change, comprising Osiris, Cataveiro and Tamaruq. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies from Salt Publishing, NewCon Press and Jurassic London, including The Best British Fantasy (Salt Publishing, 2013 and 2014).

Swift was shortlisted for a 2013 BSFA Award in the Short Fiction category for her story “Saga’s Children” (The Lowest Heaven, Jurassic) and was longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award for “The Spiders of Stockholm” (Irregularity, Jurassic).

Reviews

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

When There Are Wolves is a wonderful novel. Quite possibly the most hopeful "dystopian" novel I've ever read.

Split between two narrators -Hannah, the wildlife filmmaker and Lucy, a girl/young woman who cares deeply about the environment. The novel follows the changes in the UK from 2020 to 2070 beginning with Lucy telling her story to Hester.

This is not a political novel - no PMs, Presidents or parties are mentioned/blamed. This novel focuses on the lives of those affected by global warming, land use changes, fights for keeping the status quo and fights for change.

EJ Swift has drawn on many sources to pull together an engaging story about one possible outcome of climate change. We cannot know what will happen in ten or twenty or fifty years but EJ Swift has written a story that focuses on two human responses (along with that of their families) to what may happen.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was, thankfully, a very optimistic novel, which restricts, quite rigidly, to the UK and to two women. And it's all the better for it in my opinion.

Highly recommended.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.

[rachel x]

For fans of Bradley's Clade? I'm in

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a powerful book! I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This novel spans decades, following two characters. We have a young girl who is inspired into environmental activism by her grandparents, and a documentary filmmaker whose life is punctuated by the dogs she keeps, descended from a half wolf she rescues from Chornobyl.

The novel covers really important subjects, we look at issues we’ve already seen, and then environmental and social issues that we may face in the near future. The novel balances broad scale with the local impact too. Lucy is particularly concerned with the birds in her gran’s garden but then we also see political action, loss of habitat and species. There’s a lot of rage at what the characters and the world have to face in this story. It’s frightening how they have to battle not only the huge environmental issues, but also the violence and cruelty from other humans.

I feel largely positive about this book. The author made a couple of unusual choices in the writing construction. One is that the second perspective is written in second person. I didn’t mind this, it actually worked in this book and felt relevant to the recounting of that characters story. However this book was also written without speech marks. This was quite jarring and I found myself pulled out of the narrative flow to try and discern what was and wasn’t speech. This was a shame as it made the story feel stop/start in places which affected my immersion in the book. I’m sure these choices will be received well from a literary perspective for doing something unusual, however the lack of speech marks did affect my enjoyment of the book. Without this issue this would have been an easy five stars for the power of the book and the exploration of the content and how invested in felt in these characters.

[Sophie Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hooked on the fact it's set on Beltane so of course I had to read it! This is a very thought-provoking story that tells the tale of two women who reflect on their lives around a beltane fire many years in the future.
It follows their lives throughout the timelines - it's dual POV as well as has time jumping through chapters.

The story touches on climate change, the pandemic and Chernobyl disaster and outlines how they both dream of a time when there are wolves again, it's very speculative and insightful. I really enjoyed the concept of this book however I did prefer reading Lucy's perspective simply because Hester's is told in a sort of third person style using 'you do this' or 'you thought that' i just can't connect with stories like that unfortunately so it was a bit of a drag when I was reading Hester.

Hester is the filmmaker who returns to the Chernobyl site in 2021 to document the feral dog population and Lucy loves birds and her story starts during the pandemic in 2020 and grows to fighting for rewilding efforts in the UK.

Overall the story is interesting and full of thought.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Effective compelling story telling about a possible future. By the end I really loved this

In full
This is the recollections of two women who are involved with the environment generally mainly in the UK. It covers their memories over a period of about 50 years and, in the main, are about things that haven't happened yet! If you are happy about that then you have a treat in store to my mind.

It's Beltane in 2070. Lucy and Hester are exchanging memories of their lives. The book gives us these stories and alternates between the two characters. Lucy starts with her memories of 2020 (she was 6) and the period of Covid lockdowns when she was "shipped off" to her grandparents. It's fair to say she liked her grandfather better than her grandmother but it really did make me smile. Hester's story starts at Chornobyl (Chernobyl) in 2020. She is a wildlife/environmental film maker and older than Lucy. She is working in the exclusion zone with the dogs there and was born at the time of the accident. She is fascinated by the idea of a wolf dog.

The two of them go on to offer their memories of things that have not yet happened and I'm not going to spoil the treat by saying what they are. I found the ideas they came up with fascinating. In general they involved wildlife, the countryside and rewilding. Personally I found none of them extreme or unbelievable and the author refers to where some of the ideas originated from at the end.

While the writing style is a little quirky (and differs for each of the characters) to me it felt real. There's a powerful immediacy to the story telling as far as I am concerned. Often the stories were very moving and hit the spot for me. I guess I marginally preferred Lucy's stories however some of Hester's were very powerful indeed. I'm not sure I've been aware of the concept of "speculative fiction" before however this really appealed to me and kept me reading throughout. 4.5/5 however very happily rounded up for both the approach and the stories.

Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of two British women over the next forty years or so, taking in climate change, eco-activism, rewilding and pandemics. It takes the form of pair of separate narratives that brush up against each other and overlap here and there as each chapter hops us forward a few years. Swift does a great job of keeping us up to date with these women’s personal lives and relationships over the decades while also sketching the political and social changes happening. She never flinches from the scale of the catastrophe facing us, but crucially offers hope and solutions instead of wallowing in doom. It’s tempting to read this as a smaller scale, more intimate, version of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry For The Future, but that isn’t necessary - it’s a more than good enough book to stand on its own. Plus it has some excellent dogs* in it. I really liked this one.

[Suki J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars.

We follow two characters from the outbreak of COVID over a 50 year period as the UK struggles with climate and ecological changes. One, Lucy, is an activist, and the other, Hester, is a nature documentary film-maker.
At times this felt pretty close to home, with rising temperatures, flooding and the rise of a far right party. What I loved is how an effort is made by the characters in the book to reverse the devastating effects of climate change and loss of native animals.
I finished reading this book with a feeling of hope, and that can't be underestimated.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

New author discovered! With thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books, I already want this and The Coral Bones on my shelf.

WTAWA begins in covid times and, whilst I used to avoid virus plots, Swift combines these scenes with a nostalgic sense of childhood. As we jump through the years, we begin to see the toll our lifestyle is taking on Earth, and what Lucy and Hester do to fight for its wildlife.

I also really liked how Swift laid her chapters out, but I’ve seen that it draws some readers out (so you’ll just have to try it and see)! One character narrates in first person, whilst the other narrates in second, giving the impression that we’re sat around the fire too. We journey right up until the night they’re talking together, and I thought it was lovely to see what COULD be.

[Stacey Bookerworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

When There Are Wolves Again by E.J.Swift is one of the finest pieces of speculative fiction I have ever read.

Read more of our review: https://www.bookerworm.com/reviews/92...