RELEASE THE WOLVES: Meet the Main Characters
Hello, and welcome to this blog series on Release the Wolves, my upcoming dark and scary fantasy for young(ish) readers. These posts will be full of tidbits about the world, the characters, and the monsters, and a new one will be releasing every week, starting with this one.
Before we get into that, though . . . I got finished copies!! And they’re gorgeous. Thanks so much to Greenwillow Books, Rovina Cai, Paul, and Virginia, for making such a beautiful book.
Here is Rovina Cai’s full wraparound jacket art. I love how flowy it is, and that sinister-yet-warm glow on the left side, and how it all comes to a point at our two, beleaguered heroes . . . When the jacket arrived in my inbox I sat and stared at it for a very long time in delight.
Also! I got to do the interior art for this book, which was a first for me and very exciting.
Meet the MAIN Characters
And now the point of this post, which is to introduce you to the characters of Release the Wolves. We have. . .
Argo Smith’s son
Argo is a blacksmith’s apprentice in the village of Milford when the book begins, and very soon finds himself in a much more dangerous position due to a series of unfortunate choices and occurrences. He’s an earnest, grim boy, for lots of good reasons. Terrible things have happened to him, including a run-in with the mysterious “Little Lord” - a monster in the woods - when he was a child. He has a bit of a hero complex, with an undercurrent of feeling like everything is up to him, even though it’s really not. My last book had a very optimistic main character, who was always ready to collaborate, and personally I would also lean in that direction, so it was interesting to write someone completely different.
Ana ISULDRI
Without giving too much away, Ana is a monster huntress on a quest to avenge a terrible crime. She’s got a lot on her shoulders, too, like Argo, and like everyone in this country after so many generations of destruction and fear. She is also mistrustful, but is a bit more ready to find an ally. She has a complicated relationship with her family, an alter ego to hide her true identity, and a very cool attic full of monster hunting accoutrements.
There are, of course, a host of other characters, including Simna, Argo’s sister, but not much can be said of them for fear of spoilers.
About RELEASE THE WOLVES
One thousand years ago, the Elduari conquered the country of Varen in a brutal war. Now, every few generations they subject their one-time enemies to a terrible tradition: bloodthirsty monsters are unleashed across the land, attacking indiscriminately, keeping the population in a perpetual dark age. . . .
Pre-order deal
Tertulia, a new book discovery website, is running a pre-order deal for Release the Wolves where you can get the book for 20% off with code STEFAN. From now through June 30th!
From what I’ve gathered it works on a membership basis, but the code should work without signing up for anything, if you are like me and cautious about these things.
Also, Caroline Carlson gave the book a lovely review over on Literary Hub, and BookRiot and The Review Geek have given it some nice mentions as well. Thank you all, so much! (And go check out Caroline’s upcoming book Wicked Marigold, which looks fantastic.)
“Stefan Bachmann is a master of truly scary storytelling. . . splendidly written . . . compellingly narrated . . . Give this book to your bravest middle grade and teen readers, or read it yourself with all the lights on.”
And, while we’re on the topic of new middle grade books, I just finished The Cats of Silver Crescent by Kaela Noel, and it was the perfect read for summer, featuring cats who talk and dress like humans and just the right amount of spookiness.
Here is a final picture from the walk yesterday, because it’s so lush and green here right now. And then on to next week, whose post will be about the world of Release the Wolves, and maps!
