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Classic World of Darkness Fiction
Wyrm Wolf
The World Of Darkness role-playing games from the White Wolf Game Studio are at the cutting edge of the science fiction/fantasy media world. Their Vampire universe, featuring Gothic-punk storytelling where each character strives to control the beast within, is the basis for the novelization of Dark Prince (December 1994).
274 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1995
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About the author
Edo Van Belkom
72 books54 followersBram Stoker and Aurora Award-winner Edo van Belkom is the author of over 200 stories of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. As an editor, he has four anthologies to his credit that include two books for young adults, Be Afraid! (A Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year finalist) and Be Very Afraid! (An Aurora Award winner — Best Work in English). Born in Toronto, van Belkom graduated from York University, then worked as a daily newspaper sports and police reporter before becoming a full-time writer. Edo van Belkom lives in Brampton, Ontario, with his wife Roberta and son Luke.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 8, 2009
I'm not exactly a fan of werewolves but I usually don't mind reading any book set in the World of Darkness. Any fan of werewolf stories would probably love this one. The story has a good pace, the plot is good, and the characters are well-developed.
October 6, 2025
I first read this book back in the 90s, when I was a huge fan of all things White Wolf. I reread it this past summer. It is...not quality literature. But, what it lacks in goodness, it more than makes up for in badness.
It's about what you'd expect from licensed fiction for an RPG in the 90s: hits the lore notes, but doesn't actually use them in any interesting fashion. It reads more like the short fics you might find in an RPG source book, but padded for length.
Good points: a couple of the characters are mildly interesting. Father Oldman, a Garou who masquerades as a Catholic priest and runs a homeless shelter, is a decently sympathetic protagonist, and the tension between his public role as a priest and his true identity is worth exploring. Its resolution at the end of the novel is less than satisfying, basically ending the problem of "wait, were you even ordained?" by having another Garou (the well-connected Glass Walker with the terrible, but terribly 90s, name "Randy Internet") just use money and connections to make the problem go away. Disappointing. Still, Oldman is the most interesting character in this book.
Holt, the other protagonist, is far less so. He's a kinfolk, a human with Garou blood, and a formerly homeless man now adopted by the local sept. And he's really there to be a blank slate for lore dumps, so that the other Garou characters don't have to go around doing "as you know"-style exposition. Also, he takes part in an entirely gratuitous and badly-written sex scene with one of the Garou women.
Our antagonist, Wingnut, is utterly disappointing. Sure, he's a "Wyrm-corrupted" Garou, but aside from randomly killing homeless people, what's his motivation? He's corrupted, but in what fashion? What makes him tick? Is he really just about random killing? Knowing the background setting as I do, and the variety and complexity of corruption that the Wyrm can work in the world of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, having Wingnut just be a "booga booga, I kill you!" type of villain was underwhelming.
My verdict: give this a miss even if you are a fan of the old World of Darkness.
It's about what you'd expect from licensed fiction for an RPG in the 90s: hits the lore notes, but doesn't actually use them in any interesting fashion. It reads more like the short fics you might find in an RPG source book, but padded for length.
Good points: a couple of the characters are mildly interesting. Father Oldman, a Garou who masquerades as a Catholic priest and runs a homeless shelter, is a decently sympathetic protagonist, and the tension between his public role as a priest and his true identity is worth exploring. Its resolution at the end of the novel is less than satisfying, basically ending the problem of "wait, were you even ordained?" by having another Garou (the well-connected Glass Walker with the terrible, but terribly 90s, name "Randy Internet") just use money and connections to make the problem go away. Disappointing. Still, Oldman is the most interesting character in this book.
Holt, the other protagonist, is far less so. He's a kinfolk, a human with Garou blood, and a formerly homeless man now adopted by the local sept. And he's really there to be a blank slate for lore dumps, so that the other Garou characters don't have to go around doing "as you know"-style exposition. Also, he takes part in an entirely gratuitous and badly-written sex scene with one of the Garou women.
Our antagonist, Wingnut, is utterly disappointing. Sure, he's a "Wyrm-corrupted" Garou, but aside from randomly killing homeless people, what's his motivation? He's corrupted, but in what fashion? What makes him tick? Is he really just about random killing? Knowing the background setting as I do, and the variety and complexity of corruption that the Wyrm can work in the world of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, having Wingnut just be a "booga booga, I kill you!" type of villain was underwhelming.
My verdict: give this a miss even if you are a fan of the old World of Darkness.
December 6, 2023
This is my second time reading the book in many years. It is clearly a case of the cover art doesn't match the interior of the book for the story. It also reads like two major stories centered around the central character of Wendal Oldman, a Child of Gaia Garou who runs a Homeless Shelter in San Francisco.
It's an overly simplified plot or plots that feels like the author dropped the first arc with the homeless killings to focus on the reporter getting too close to the Caern in the National Park before switching back. Predictable side plots that feel shoehorned in for the purposes of word count with a major Publisher. There is a final subplot with the Bonegnawers that feels unresolved.
But this is about what you can expect for a book like this.
It's an overly simplified plot or plots that feels like the author dropped the first arc with the homeless killings to focus on the reporter getting too close to the Caern in the National Park before switching back. Predictable side plots that feel shoehorned in for the purposes of word count with a major Publisher. There is a final subplot with the Bonegnawers that feels unresolved.
But this is about what you can expect for a book like this.
October 15, 2025
It’s mediocre… and that is arguably being generous.
If there was a book that could encapsulate the words “things happen and then the book ended” it is this one. The term slideshow comes to mind when reading this as it simply moves from one thing to the next without having any sort of connective tissue.
I hesitate to say this is bad as I did finish it and part 1 was actually enjoyable but ya, I can’t recommend reading this one.
If there was a book that could encapsulate the words “things happen and then the book ended” it is this one. The term slideshow comes to mind when reading this as it simply moves from one thing to the next without having any sort of connective tissue.
I hesitate to say this is bad as I did finish it and part 1 was actually enjoyable but ya, I can’t recommend reading this one.
October 26, 2024
Ultimately, a nice addition to my trek of reading through the Werewolf The Apocalypse novel selection. I really like the B/Middle Holt story line, of finding a lost kinfolk who is introduced to the Garou, but the bookend story line was underdeveloped; I'm not sure why the villain choices wasn't really Wyrm related, especially given the title.
July 25, 2018
Quick read with some nice mythos concerning WoD werewolves. I especially enjoy the main character and his dealings with running a homeless shelter in a seedy area.
August 9, 2023
Based on the reviews on the site, I did not expect much good from the book, but I was very positively disappointed. Despite the fact that I'm not familiar at all with WoD, the story was very enjoyable and the characters were also very interesting. 4/5
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews