The Wolf and the Woodsman

A dark, evocative fantasy debut steeped in Hungarian folklore, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik, Katherine Arden and Laini Taylor.

Stories don't have to be true to be real...

When the Woodsmen come to claim a sacrifice, vike has little fear that she will be chosen. As the only girl in her isolated pagan village unable to heal, forge or summon fire, her lack of magic keeps her safe.

But when the villagers surrender her to the soldiers, vike is thrust into a hostile world that has abandoned her gods. Determined to protect her people despite their betrayal, she strikes a reluctant bargain with her captor, the disgraced prince Gaspar Barany. In exchange for the pagans' safety and her freedom, she will help him seek out a powerful creature of myth and win back his father's favor.

Their journey takes them from the Far North, where the terrifying magic of the old gods run wild, to the political mire of the capital, where the growing power of a vengeful cleric threatens to destroy them both. As their fates grow ever more entangled, vike and Gaspar must learn to trust each other - or neither of them will survive.

A dark, spellbinding literary fairy tale inspired by Hungarian folklore, The Wolf and the Woodsman is perfect for readers of Katherine Arden, Naomi Novik and Erin Morgenstern.

About the Author

Ava Reid was born in Manhattan and raised right across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey, but currently lives in Palo Alto, California. She has a degree in political science from Barnard College, focusing on religion and ethnonationalism. She has worked for a refugee resettlement organization, for a U.S. senator, and, most recently, for an AI robotics startup. The Wolf and the Woodsman is her first novel.