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Lycanthia
Even in today's world there are corners where past evils still cast their terror-haunted shadows. When the young man, Christian, came to his inheritance, a once grand mansion in just such a remote corner of France, he knew only that there was some sort of alternate claim to that ancient building and its lands. Even as the villagers acknowledged him as lord of the manor, there came two from the forest to stake out their interest. And with them came fear and desire, terror and love ... a combination which could be irresistible, and also fatal.
235 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1981
10 people are currently reading
443 people want to read
About the author
Tanith Lee
615 books1,972 followersTanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 13, 2017
this is a tale of an insanely self-absorbed little twit of a pianist who returns to his recently re-acquired ancestral chateau. he's apparently dying and all he wants is a place to run to and hide, one where he can do his slow dance with death while moodily contemplating his sad life with all of the poisonous self-loathing typical to a Tanith Lee "hero". fortunately for him, he gets a new lease on life due to a pair of threatening yet strangely life-affirming were-cousins. unfortunately, some predictably ignorant peasants decide to get inbetween our sexy goth trio and their Lifelong Happiness At Last. damn, peasants are a real drag! especially if you are self-absorbed twit/pianist.
the above description does a profound disservice to this intriguing and rather gorgeously written bit of fantasia set in semi-modern times. but i couldn't restrain myself from the snark - it was almost like i wanted to have some petty revenge on the confounding and infuriating hero. i'll try to do better later in the review.
but first, a shout-out to Tanith Lee. now this is one of those authors who holds a special place in many fantasy-lovers minds. some love her for all of the boundaries she seemed comfortable in ignoring, the ruthlessness, the vivid imagination, the perversity, the srange sexual situations, the often lush prose, her chameleonic ability to write in many different genres. others loathe her for her often self-annhiliatingly passive heroines and her despicable heroes, prose that moves beyond purple into ultraviolet, a cold-blooded disdain in providing happiness for either her characters or her readers, etc. i understand the divisiveness, but i fall squarely into the former camp - at least when i was much younger. Tanith Lee & Jack Vance & Michael Moorcock & Roger Zelazny were my go-to fantasy and scifi authors for a long while, until i gave up on fantasy for a shameful period of at least 10 years or so. but i'm back to my favorite genre and plan on catching up with all of my old favorites, to see if the magic is still there.
i'm glad i started off my Tanith Lee rediscovery by reading Lycanthia. this is a slim story and i read it all in one evening. it is a bewitching one as well. i was entranced from beginning to end because it has literally everything my blackened little unheart wants in my fantasy... Weird Ambiguity, a ton of it. Characterization that does not attempt to pull the reader's heartstrings and protagonists that are often stunningly unsympathetic and capable of doing terribly wrong things. Luscious, almost overripe prose, with frequent bits of dry gallows humor and sardonic self-awareness. Monstrous things that are not eye-rolling or corny. Cruelty & Tragedy & Despair that is not facile or there to check off boxes on the Gothic List of Necessary Things, but is carefully layered within the narrative and the characterization. a winding but not confusing plotline. a gothic atmosphere of mystery and potential violence.
"Atmosphere"... Lee knows how to create it! her descriptions of the sinister forest, the eerie little village, the off-kilter and enigmatic supporting characters, and especially the chateau itself... wonderfully baroque detail-porn that i totally ate up. the whole rich stew is swooningly romantic - not so much because of romance between the characters (although there is a feverish yet childlike version of that), but rather because of the swooningly romantic atmosphere. a classic kind of "Romantic" - of the Byron, Shelley, and Shelley school.
the central theme of the novel is fascinating: the idea of Self-Aborption and its impact, how it ruins any attempt to truly understand one's surroundings, the people in those surroundings, the context of an entire place. Lycanthia's aristocratic asshole of a hero, and what befalls him and his lovers, is a perfect encapsulation of the deleterious effect of such a trait. some may howl at the moon and live only to consume life, like beasts - and those around them can tremble with fear or anger or even lust; others may howl and rage only at themselves and their lot in life - and those around them can find themselves betrayed by that all-consuming narcissism, destroyed by that terminal inability to connect with anything outside of themselves.
the above description does a profound disservice to this intriguing and rather gorgeously written bit of fantasia set in semi-modern times. but i couldn't restrain myself from the snark - it was almost like i wanted to have some petty revenge on the confounding and infuriating hero. i'll try to do better later in the review.
but first, a shout-out to Tanith Lee. now this is one of those authors who holds a special place in many fantasy-lovers minds. some love her for all of the boundaries she seemed comfortable in ignoring, the ruthlessness, the vivid imagination, the perversity, the srange sexual situations, the often lush prose, her chameleonic ability to write in many different genres. others loathe her for her often self-annhiliatingly passive heroines and her despicable heroes, prose that moves beyond purple into ultraviolet, a cold-blooded disdain in providing happiness for either her characters or her readers, etc. i understand the divisiveness, but i fall squarely into the former camp - at least when i was much younger. Tanith Lee & Jack Vance & Michael Moorcock & Roger Zelazny were my go-to fantasy and scifi authors for a long while, until i gave up on fantasy for a shameful period of at least 10 years or so. but i'm back to my favorite genre and plan on catching up with all of my old favorites, to see if the magic is still there.
i'm glad i started off my Tanith Lee rediscovery by reading Lycanthia. this is a slim story and i read it all in one evening. it is a bewitching one as well. i was entranced from beginning to end because it has literally everything my blackened little unheart wants in my fantasy... Weird Ambiguity, a ton of it. Characterization that does not attempt to pull the reader's heartstrings and protagonists that are often stunningly unsympathetic and capable of doing terribly wrong things. Luscious, almost overripe prose, with frequent bits of dry gallows humor and sardonic self-awareness. Monstrous things that are not eye-rolling or corny. Cruelty & Tragedy & Despair that is not facile or there to check off boxes on the Gothic List of Necessary Things, but is carefully layered within the narrative and the characterization. a winding but not confusing plotline. a gothic atmosphere of mystery and potential violence.
"Atmosphere"... Lee knows how to create it! her descriptions of the sinister forest, the eerie little village, the off-kilter and enigmatic supporting characters, and especially the chateau itself... wonderfully baroque detail-porn that i totally ate up. the whole rich stew is swooningly romantic - not so much because of romance between the characters (although there is a feverish yet childlike version of that), but rather because of the swooningly romantic atmosphere. a classic kind of "Romantic" - of the Byron, Shelley, and Shelley school.
the central theme of the novel is fascinating: the idea of Self-Aborption and its impact, how it ruins any attempt to truly understand one's surroundings, the people in those surroundings, the context of an entire place. Lycanthia's aristocratic asshole of a hero, and what befalls him and his lovers, is a perfect encapsulation of the deleterious effect of such a trait. some may howl at the moon and live only to consume life, like beasts - and those around them can tremble with fear or anger or even lust; others may howl and rage only at themselves and their lot in life - and those around them can find themselves betrayed by that all-consuming narcissism, destroyed by that terminal inability to connect with anything outside of themselves.
June 7, 2022
A comment first: The eBook version (which I read) was riddled with typos to the point of distraction, most of them obviously the result of OCR errors that had never been edited ("bad" for "had", e.g.).
Having said that, the story itself was very much up to Tanith Lee's usual standard.
One Christian Dorse has come to his ancestral mansion somewhere in the French countryside (the time? Well, maybe early 20th Century? He's met at the train station by a car); he has come here, not to put too fine a point on it, to die, suffering as he is from some unspecified lung ailment.
(And the servants who keep the estate seem to regard him as nothing so much as a nuisance; and, to be fair, Christian does seem to be a particularly abrasive sort.)
And, given the title of the book, it will come as no great surprise to learn that there are strangers in the forest, and wolves howl in the distance when the moon is full and bright; but what happens when Christian meets those strangers ... ah, therein lies the tale.
Gothic and romantic, and somebody really needs to get a copy of this into Guillermo del Toro's hands and suggest it's time for him to do an adaptation of it.
Having said that, the story itself was very much up to Tanith Lee's usual standard.
One Christian Dorse has come to his ancestral mansion somewhere in the French countryside (the time? Well, maybe early 20th Century? He's met at the train station by a car); he has come here, not to put too fine a point on it, to die, suffering as he is from some unspecified lung ailment.
(And the servants who keep the estate seem to regard him as nothing so much as a nuisance; and, to be fair, Christian does seem to be a particularly abrasive sort.)
And, given the title of the book, it will come as no great surprise to learn that there are strangers in the forest, and wolves howl in the distance when the moon is full and bright; but what happens when Christian meets those strangers ... ah, therein lies the tale.
Gothic and romantic, and somebody really needs to get a copy of this into Guillermo del Toro's hands and suggest it's time for him to do an adaptation of it.
November 8, 2013
I must admit to a deep affection for Gothic Romances, cheesiness and all. ‘Lycanthia’ is decidedly the best entry into that field I’ve encountered, with the twists that one expects from Tanith Lee elevating the book past all the clichés of the genre.
Here, in a 19th-century French (?) setting, the hapless (?) protagonist is a young man, Christian Dorse. Finding himself the unexpected heir to an ancestral manor house, he betakes himself to languish in his new property. Languishing is what he aims for – Christian believes himself to be an invalid (although it’s not quite clear if he is), and is a self-centered, not very likable individual. All he wants to do is to be left alone, to play the piano, and to feel sorry for himself.
However, his house, with its strange servants, the insular village nearby, and – most of all – the neighboring woods, seem to harbor sinister secrets. It’s not clear if Christian’s destiny is to fulfill a traditional role in a way of life he has never known, or if he will be shunned as an outsider.
He meets a strange couple, outcast from the village, and seemingly helpless to resist, falls into a web of supernatural depravity (or is it natural, beautiful love?). Christian is spurred to become more than he was – to re-examine what in life is truly meaningful. But will he succeed in breaking from the mold he has created for himself?
Lycanthia is a genre novel, a werewolf story – and also a beautiful, challenging and thought-provoking work.
Here, in a 19th-century French (?) setting, the hapless (?) protagonist is a young man, Christian Dorse. Finding himself the unexpected heir to an ancestral manor house, he betakes himself to languish in his new property. Languishing is what he aims for – Christian believes himself to be an invalid (although it’s not quite clear if he is), and is a self-centered, not very likable individual. All he wants to do is to be left alone, to play the piano, and to feel sorry for himself.
However, his house, with its strange servants, the insular village nearby, and – most of all – the neighboring woods, seem to harbor sinister secrets. It’s not clear if Christian’s destiny is to fulfill a traditional role in a way of life he has never known, or if he will be shunned as an outsider.
He meets a strange couple, outcast from the village, and seemingly helpless to resist, falls into a web of supernatural depravity (or is it natural, beautiful love?). Christian is spurred to become more than he was – to re-examine what in life is truly meaningful. But will he succeed in breaking from the mold he has created for himself?
Lycanthia is a genre novel, a werewolf story – and also a beautiful, challenging and thought-provoking work.
March 5, 2018
The setting for this novel appears to be a remote part of France in the early twentieth century - certainly there are trains and cars. Gas lamps, an invention of the previous century are much in evidence, but this is not surprising in the countryside where electrical supplies would have appeared later. Christian is a talented pianist but seems eaten up with ennui and a preoccupation with his own, presumed imminent, demise - as he has been exhibiting symptoms which point to tuberculosis. He has come to live out his remaining months at an old chateau which had been in the family for centuries, then sold by his grandfather to pay off debts - but with a clause which allowed it to revert to his grandson Christian if the buyer died without issue. As the buyer's children were lost in a boating accident and he drank himself to death, the house now belongs to Christian, who does not want it. He has only come to such a remote place to escape emotional ties in 'the city', including those with a female relative with whom he became entangled.
Christian treats the servants like dirt and is by turns petulant and slothful. He picks up on references to a local family who are shunned by the community, and eventually goes looking for them, trying to work out if theirs are the dogs which have followed him and come to the chateau. But of course - as the title discloses - these are not dogs but his werewolf neighbours, with whom he becomes embroiled. Unfortunately, local supersition will not permit this to continue.
As ever with Lee, the writing is lush at times and vivid and yet ... I didn't find much sympathy for any of the characters, and especially not the protagonist who was a right royal pain. I did feel a bit sorry for the chauffeur, but that was about it. The main character is a grown up spoiled brat essentially. But the standard of the writing brings the overall rating up to 3 stars.
Christian treats the servants like dirt and is by turns petulant and slothful. He picks up on references to a local family who are shunned by the community, and eventually goes looking for them, trying to work out if theirs are the dogs which have followed him and come to the chateau. But of course - as the title discloses - these are not dogs but his werewolf neighbours, with whom he becomes embroiled. Unfortunately, local supersition will not permit this to continue.
As ever with Lee, the writing is lush at times and vivid and yet ... I didn't find much sympathy for any of the characters, and especially not the protagonist who was a right royal pain. I did feel a bit sorry for the chauffeur, but that was about it. The main character is a grown up spoiled brat essentially. But the standard of the writing brings the overall rating up to 3 stars.
February 17, 2025
Um twink com tuberculose e um par de lobisomens incestuosos + atmosfera gótica + metáforas sobre violência cíclica e geracional. A Tanith meio que divou muito nesse aqui
October 19, 2022
The most important rule of storytelling, to me, is that a character should change in some way. They should not arrive at the end the way they appeared at the beginning. The character of Christian Dorse starts the story as an arrogant, using, narcassric, self-pitying asshole. He ends the story that way too, despite a tease in the third quarter that he might begin to change. I could've tolerated how deeply unlikable he was if it was a lead-up to a transformation. It's baffling to me to write such a relentlessly crappy person. If the transformation had occurred, I might have enjoyed this book.
There are, of course, other transformations to be found. I've always liked the concept of werewolves in the most literal sense, in a man becoming a wolf. The symbolic stuff, not so much. I can think of no werewolf story, book or film, that I've really loved. But here, the werewolves are the only likable characters. They turn into wolves (not wolf-people) every night at sundown, retaining their core personalities, and being pretty damn harmless, trying to live their cursed lives together in peace. But they're not enough to make the book enjoyable. The incest was also not appealing.
I read a little Anne Rice as a teen and wasn't into it, but I remember enough to say this is in the same vein. Not quite smutty, but certainly sexual. That alone isn't my thing, but add in a rapey douche for a lead, and I'm out.
There are, of course, other transformations to be found. I've always liked the concept of werewolves in the most literal sense, in a man becoming a wolf. The symbolic stuff, not so much. I can think of no werewolf story, book or film, that I've really loved. But here, the werewolves are the only likable characters. They turn into wolves (not wolf-people) every night at sundown, retaining their core personalities, and being pretty damn harmless, trying to live their cursed lives together in peace. But they're not enough to make the book enjoyable. The incest was also not appealing.
I read a little Anne Rice as a teen and wasn't into it, but I remember enough to say this is in the same vein. Not quite smutty, but certainly sexual. That alone isn't my thing, but add in a rapey douche for a lead, and I'm out.
October 10, 2011
As a prose stylist, Lee is insanely good, and while some complain that her protagonists are unpleasant and/or hard to relate to, I have no problem with that. Where she's been known to lose her way, in my estimation, is plotting that's either scanty or overly reliant on twists, and that's not the case here: the events are intriguing as they occur, and the ending isn't easily anticipated but seems inevitable once you've gotten there.
January 1, 2022
Empfehlenswerter als Heart-Beast, von der gleichen Autorin, ist Kinder der Wölfe kein Roman den ich persönlich weiterempfehlen wollte, um ehrlich zu sein.
In Die Kinder der Wölfe macht Tanith Lee vieles Richtig, der Roman baut eine dunkle, bedrohliche Atmosphäre auf und steigert sich konsequent zu einem Finale welches dem Werwolfmythos neue Seiten hinzufügt. Leider verliert sich Lee auch hier immer wieder in psychedelisch anklingenden abschweifungen, deren Bezug zur Geschichte einem nicht immer klar wird, und dieser nichts bedeutungsvolles hinzuzufügen scheinen, was den Lesefluss entscheidend hemmt.
Wie in Heart-Beast fällt auch bei Die Kinder der Wölfe das Finale dann letzlich Flach und kommt ohne wirklich Auflösung daher.
Sexualisierte Gewalt, auch an minderjährigen, erscheint dabei gefühlt ein ständiger Topos im Werk von Tanith Lee, was es mir generell schwer macht mich mit ihrem Werk anzufreunden.
In Die Kinder der Wölfe macht Tanith Lee vieles Richtig, der Roman baut eine dunkle, bedrohliche Atmosphäre auf und steigert sich konsequent zu einem Finale welches dem Werwolfmythos neue Seiten hinzufügt. Leider verliert sich Lee auch hier immer wieder in psychedelisch anklingenden abschweifungen, deren Bezug zur Geschichte einem nicht immer klar wird, und dieser nichts bedeutungsvolles hinzuzufügen scheinen, was den Lesefluss entscheidend hemmt.
Wie in Heart-Beast fällt auch bei Die Kinder der Wölfe das Finale dann letzlich Flach und kommt ohne wirklich Auflösung daher.
Sexualisierte Gewalt, auch an minderjährigen, erscheint dabei gefühlt ein ständiger Topos im Werk von Tanith Lee, was es mir generell schwer macht mich mit ihrem Werk anzufreunden.
July 14, 2021
Tanith Lee mezcla el terror y el erotismo en esta novela gótica con licántropos.
Detesté a Cristian como personaje principal. Adoré las descripciones del castillo, el bosque y el pueblo. Hijos de lobos tiene una atmosfera bien lograda y un aire onírico que lo vuelve mágico aunque no esté sucediendo nada puntual.
La prosa de Tanith Lee me gustó mucho, quiero seguir leyéndola.
Detesté a Cristian como personaje principal. Adoré las descripciones del castillo, el bosque y el pueblo. Hijos de lobos tiene una atmosfera bien lograda y un aire onírico que lo vuelve mágico aunque no esté sucediendo nada puntual.
La prosa de Tanith Lee me gustó mucho, quiero seguir leyéndola.
August 10, 2016
The story itself was pretty well plotted, I didn't see the conclusion coming but I suppose it was always on the horizon - it didn't shock me. I'm slightly deflated by the ending though, since it still feels slightly anticlimatic, but it wasn't a cop-out ending, and was a perfectly reasonable way to resolve the story.
I quite liked this novel - it wasn't amazing, but parts of the novel featured some really good writing from Lee. I was also surprised by this strange emotional twinge I felt inside of me when Christian first confronted Sylvie about the de Lagenays. I also appreciated how Lee managed to work some of the French-ness into the English dialogue without being too overbearing about it, like that part when Madame Tienne asks Christian to come with him "if you please." (s'il vous plait) And he replies curtly: "I don't please." As for weaknesses of this novel, I want to say something about characterisation, but I think that's a rather nitpicky comment since we're dealing with werewolves - I'm actually glad Lee didn't indulge in overly expository explanations of what the werewolves are and how the superstitious beliefs of the villages worked - just enough was relayed to the reader to get a good sense of what's going on.
All in all, a pretty solid (if not entirely spectacular) book. And definitely an interesting way of telling a werewolf story.
I quite liked this novel - it wasn't amazing, but parts of the novel featured some really good writing from Lee. I was also surprised by this strange emotional twinge I felt inside of me when Christian first confronted Sylvie about the de Lagenays. I also appreciated how Lee managed to work some of the French-ness into the English dialogue without being too overbearing about it, like that part when Madame Tienne asks Christian to come with him "if you please." (s'il vous plait) And he replies curtly: "I don't please." As for weaknesses of this novel, I want to say something about characterisation, but I think that's a rather nitpicky comment since we're dealing with werewolves - I'm actually glad Lee didn't indulge in overly expository explanations of what the werewolves are and how the superstitious beliefs of the villages worked - just enough was relayed to the reader to get a good sense of what's going on.
All in all, a pretty solid (if not entirely spectacular) book. And definitely an interesting way of telling a werewolf story.
November 6, 2009
A delightful read, I felt it moved along at a good pace that keep me turning the pages to find out what happens next. Enough mystery around the setting that has the main character trying to figure out what is going on and what is illusions brought on by his illness. Lee does a wonderful job with giving all elements a weight and feel of life. Very pleased with the ending and left me feeling very satisfied. Definitely something I will pick back up in the future.
December 12, 2011
"Lycanthia" was a nice surprise to me, as I actually think that it's one of the better of Lee's books. The prose is, as always, lush, without becoming too purple, the setting seems to live and breathe, the plot is tight and rises to a taut climax, the characterisations are satisfying, and the sensuality that always infuses her stories is present but not allowed to overpower the narrative.
August 21, 2022
An interesting take on werewolf legends, set in France. The reader is more clued in to the set-up than our protagonist, but he does catch on in the end, and I like the way he is brought into it, both as an outsider and as a part of the triangle. Lee's lush prose sets the scene, although it's very slow to get going and very abrupt to end, as I've found with several of her books.
September 24, 2007
Took awhile to get into this. Sort of a period piece/werewolf saga. Not all that scary, but interesting.
December 4, 2016
Decadent™ fuckboy Christian gets a shot at becoming an actual human being. Through contact with werewolves. Moody, lush, and complex, it's one of the best Tanith Lee has written.
November 2, 2025
Okay this was an actual masterpiece. My love for Tanith Lee grows deeper and deeper with each and every book I read by her.
Who would've thought a story about an incestuous love triangle between a young, nihilistic, suicidal, and consumptive French piano player and some werewolves (with very sexy human forms, mind you) could be rendered so beautifully, so sensually, so richly? Werewolves? I don't even like werewolves, conceptually. I just think they're kinda dumb. But not in this book, and it's all because of the writing. The prose in Lycanthia is simply divine: absurdly lush, ripe, overabundant, and utterly delicious. As always for Tanith Lee, you should not come in expecting tight plotting and strong character work, though I must say that this book was much better plotted than many of the works I've read by Lee before; one could even call it a page turner of sorts. But for the most part, you read a Tanith Lee book to savor some exquisite prose and dripping atmosphere, and Lycanthia delivers in spades.
Not a perfect book - actually, I wish it had been 50 pages or so longer because the ending seemed somewhat rushed to me - but in terms of sheer enjoyment, this is an easy 5-star read for lovers of Tanith Lee like myself. Also if you're looking for a good werewolf novel, then this is a fantastic exemplar, and probably the most sensual and romantic werewolf story ever written.
Who would've thought a story about an incestuous love triangle between a young, nihilistic, suicidal, and consumptive French piano player and some werewolves (with very sexy human forms, mind you) could be rendered so beautifully, so sensually, so richly? Werewolves? I don't even like werewolves, conceptually. I just think they're kinda dumb. But not in this book, and it's all because of the writing. The prose in Lycanthia is simply divine: absurdly lush, ripe, overabundant, and utterly delicious. As always for Tanith Lee, you should not come in expecting tight plotting and strong character work, though I must say that this book was much better plotted than many of the works I've read by Lee before; one could even call it a page turner of sorts. But for the most part, you read a Tanith Lee book to savor some exquisite prose and dripping atmosphere, and Lycanthia delivers in spades.
Not a perfect book - actually, I wish it had been 50 pages or so longer because the ending seemed somewhat rushed to me - but in terms of sheer enjoyment, this is an easy 5-star read for lovers of Tanith Lee like myself. Also if you're looking for a good werewolf novel, then this is a fantastic exemplar, and probably the most sensual and romantic werewolf story ever written.
February 12, 2024
I am a huge Tanith Lee fan and I am certainly glad that I read this, despite the fact I found the experience somewhat more frustrating than the other books of hers I have read (though I admittedly have not delved much into her novels as opposed to her short fiction).
While Lycanthia disguises itself as a Gothic romance, it is in fact a rather surreal tragedy. Almost everything in this book is an inversion of the traditional Gothic romance: The hero is not a woman, but a man; he is not virginal and virtuous, but lecherous, insane, and a huge asshole; he comes to the gloomy ancient estate not to serve, but to lord over it.
The setting, on the other hand, is indisputably Gothic, and is by far my favorite part of the book. The village, estate, and woodlands feel suitably ancient and haunted, and pagan gods with long-forgotten names continue to assert their rites and magic among the locals.
The ending is drenched in pathos, but I didn't find that the outcome (or much of the rest of the plot) was directly tied into the protagonist's rather obvious flaws. On the other hand, I'm sure there's a ton of subtext that I missed.
While Lycanthia disguises itself as a Gothic romance, it is in fact a rather surreal tragedy. Almost everything in this book is an inversion of the traditional Gothic romance: The hero is not a woman, but a man; he is not virginal and virtuous, but lecherous, insane, and a huge asshole; he comes to the gloomy ancient estate not to serve, but to lord over it.
The setting, on the other hand, is indisputably Gothic, and is by far my favorite part of the book. The village, estate, and woodlands feel suitably ancient and haunted, and pagan gods with long-forgotten names continue to assert their rites and magic among the locals.
The ending is drenched in pathos, but I didn't find that the outcome (or much of the rest of the plot) was directly tied into the protagonist's rather obvious flaws. On the other hand, I'm sure there's a ton of subtext that I missed.
October 5, 2024
Tanith Lee is on strong form in this compelling and eerie story of werewolves. At some point in the early twentieth century, Christian inherits a château in the depths of the French countryside. Afraid that he is dying from tuberculosis, and lost now that he can no longer work as a pianist, he hopes to die in peace in his grandfather's château. Immediately on arrival, he encounters difficult villagers and surly servants, alongside rumours of wild dogs or wolves running in the forest. Events come to a head when a servant girl is killed and mauled, and Christian decides to seek out and destroy these wolves. What follows is an intimate and erotic story of an unexpected relationship. Like many Tanith Lee books, this novels feels a little too short, and there are areas that could benefit from being fleshed out more, but overall it's a convincing story that is a pleasure to read.
January 22, 2023
A spoof title would be "Wimpy O'Navelgazers winter fling with his (distant) werewolf cousin and her son, who is also a (distant) cousin" It seems like Lee's idea was to create a protagonist so physically/morally weak and weakwilled he naturally makes the wrong decisions to create a tragic story. But, when a writer makes a protagonist like that, and makes them the main character, one should realize most people are not going to like such a character and their behavior and that it brings down enjoyment of the story, or even feel much for the tragic aspects of the tale being told. In a way, Lycanthia is like a poetic, gothic story of someone shopping for shoes at Target, being "meh" about those shoes, then returning the shoes to Target and forgetting about those shoes entirely.
January 30, 2025
A consumptive musician heads to a decaying country estate he's inherited to spend his last days, but an insular town and outcast family in the forest force him to make other plans.
August 14, 2018
The plot and setting could be straight out of a Hammer film, with werewolves, rambling mansions in winter pine forests, ancient folklore, disgruntled locals (there's even a village mob!). However, with Tanith Lee writing, it all becomes much deeper and much more affecting - the cliches are there, yes, but Lee's handling of them will never make your eyes roll. Her lush style is what sets this above: darkly charming, erotically-charged, knowing, sometimes dreamlike, often quite beautiful. Her characters are nuanced, subtle, and only the werewolves themselves have any redeeming qualities - this is Dark Fantasy at its best.
August 2, 2024
Que no os engañe la portada: más que una historia de licantropía (aunque la hay, claro) es un cuento gótico mezclado con terror pagano y con el erotismo perverso propio de Tanith Lee.
La trama es original, con un final poco predecible pero que tiene todo el sentido. El estilo, mucho menos preciosista que en otras obras de la autora, igualmente delicioso. Y los personajes principales, especialmente el desagradable protagonista, totalmente coherentes.
La trama es original, con un final poco predecible pero que tiene todo el sentido. El estilo, mucho menos preciosista que en otras obras de la autora, igualmente delicioso. Y los personajes principales, especialmente el desagradable protagonista, totalmente coherentes.
September 29, 2021
Un 3.5
La verdad la historia no dió para mucho, pero le quise dar la oportunidad por ser de Tanith Lee, y lo que he leído de ella me ha parecido bueno; aunque en esta ocasión me quedó a deber mucho.
No puedo negar que en cuanto a la escritura es muy buena, pero el desarrollo de la historia no; aunque la manejan como terror, de terror no tiene nada...
La verdad la historia no dió para mucho, pero le quise dar la oportunidad por ser de Tanith Lee, y lo que he leído de ella me ha parecido bueno; aunque en esta ocasión me quedó a deber mucho.
No puedo negar que en cuanto a la escritura es muy buena, pero el desarrollo de la historia no; aunque la manejan como terror, de terror no tiene nada...
July 14, 2024
This is about as gothic as it gets. Lush dense prose, werewolves, dark sensuality, and an emo pretty boy protagonist make it hard for me not to like Lycanthia, but Christian (the protagonist) grated on my nerves quite often and while it wasn’t a poorly done ending, the story certainly didn’t resolve the way I wanted it too.
October 23, 2024
Según la escritora es galardonada pero ni ganas de volverla a leer, demasiado relleno. Literal empecé a leer por encima y saltando gran parte de los párrafos, deteniendome en los diálogos, entendí perfecto todo. ¿Cuántas veces debes decirme la textura de unas cortinas?, sin pies ni cabeza, mal intento de novela con estilo gótico, no me gustó.
March 14, 2018
Lee works her magic on the werewolf genre. Not among my favourite works by her, thanks to a dislikable protagonist and a thin story, but there are rich sensual moments, a wonderful gothic atmosphere, and morality lessons.
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September 28, 2023This was fun, though I think me and Lee might disagree about where the main tension point in the book was, the actual main ending thing felt a little underwhelming.
I'll be checking out more of her stuff, I'm told it's similarly weird.
I'll be checking out more of her stuff, I'm told it's similarly weird.
October 18, 2019
muy raro
November 2, 2024
Libro extenso, bien ambientado y narrado para contar una historia simple.
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