Brother Wulf Series
There are two books in the series so far and I am now writing a third. The first one, ’Brother Wulf’, was published in May 2020. The next one will be out soon (May 2021) and is called ‘Wulf’s Bane’.
Both are set within the world of the Spook and feature Tom, Alice and Grimalkin some years after the end of ‘The Starblade Chronicles’.
There is a new hero called Wulf and a new threat.
He has been trained as a monk but it seems that his destiny is to become a spook’s apprentice. But is he really a seventh son of a seventh son? Even Alice is not sure but she can tell that he has powerful gifts.
In ‘Wulf’s Bane’ we find out what Wulf really is and the events become stranger and darker.
Joseph Delaney
Joseph Delaney
Absolutely love your books been reading them since I was 11 I’m now 27 haha
Will there be a third book and if so any rough estimate for the release?
I have written a third book already but no ink on a contract, yet! It would come out some time mid 2022.
is there a place to read them online because i’m a kid don’t have a credit card and I read book 1 brother wulf but I can’t read book 2 anywhere
I am afraid if there was a place to read them online I wouldn’t make any money so wouldn’t be able to write. Have you tried your local library.
The third book was so good, any plans for a 5th book after Wulf’s War or possible a new series linked to the spooks?
I remember being around 8 or 9 years old in the early 2000’s, dreading the idea of going to my public library to find a book to read. However, when I was browsing the fantasy fiction section, your book, “The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch”, really grabbed my attention and pulled me from reality. I remember the book taking me a few days to read, and when I was done, I would actually look forward to the next library trip, because I knew I would be able to read more from the TLA series. The library only had a few books of your series, and I was really sad when I was unable to finish the series
As an adult, during this coronavirus pandemic, I stumbled upon the TLA series once again, and I knew it was time for me to finally finish reading the series. First and foremost, I am so glad that you are still writing and updating Spook’s World! Furthermore, I must say that your writing has improved from book to book, but I was sad when “The Starblade Chronicles” ended so abruptly. TSC felt like it warranted at least 1 more in its saga (although I do not blame you, I feel like you wanted to write more in this series, but were forced to rush the ending and keep it a trilogy). 🙁 As I am waiting for Wulf Bane to be released in the US, I do have a few questions (I hope you don’t mind answering them!)
Do you ever plan on writing a standalone and posting it on your website/blog about how Alice and Tom sort their differences with one another (especially since Tom can transform) and how they find their way back together between the time period of TSC ending and beginning of “Brother Wulf” series? Do you also plan on explaining why Alice was at home, waiting for Tom, especially after she seemed mad and told Tom to go back by himself? I have a few hypotheses on why she did so, but I would like to know your take on it! (My leading hypothesis is that Alice saw the future/heard about the future about what Tom becomes, and wanted Tom to transform, so that he can now be considered “dark” and Alice and him can relate more to one another.) Also, how many books in the “Brother Wulf” series do you plan on writing? I really like the direction you’re taking and writing it in a monk’s POV (or former monk, I should say), while keeping us readers in the loop with what’s happening with Alice and Tom.
I developed my love of reading as a child at the Harris Library in Preston. I am glad to hear you have rediscovered my books and are still enjoying them as an adult.
No plans to write a stand alone at the moment because I have several writing projects underway which take up my time.
Starblade Chronicles will remain a trilogy for now but I do accept that there are still untold stories – particularly about Slither and Nessa.
I have already written a third book in the Wulf series and would like there to be at least four.
It would be really great if joseph delaney would write the story of Tom and Alice before brother wulf.
Tom and Alice feature in Wulf 3 – hopefully I can give you news of a third book soon.
Do you know when it will be available in French?
A french fan ! 🙂
I am not sure when it is out in France. I will try and find out but I think it will be next year.
Hello, my name is Alexis B. I’m a US based flight attendant and for the past few months I’ve read all 16 of your books (Wardstone & Starblade). It’s been a welcomed distraction from all that we go through on the aircraft through this ongoing pandemic. I recently found out that there are two new entries with Wulf and I cannot, in good judgment, move on to anything else until I complete this series. I read on kindle and I have not been able to find those two Wulf entries on kindle. Where could I go to find them?
Hello Sorry for my delayed reply. These questions were hidden for some reason.
Unfortunately because the US haven’t picked up the Wulf series, they are also not available on Kindle. The UK publisher is working on this and still hoping to sell to the US
Hello Mr. Delaney,
First and foremost, I hope you are in good health and doing well. I just wanted to thank you for the fantastic Spook’s series, for it opened many doors in my life. I am sure you have heard similar stories from your readers before, but here I go anyway, because I really want to show my appreciation. I first started the series when I was eleven, upon my cousin’s advice, and I have been in love with its bleak world ever since. Tom has been a great friend of mine through my toughest times, encouraging me to be brave when facing my fears and taught me that it is ok to make mistakes. At the end of the Starblade Chronicles and in the new Brother Wulf series, I was full of joy when I found out that he and Alice were finally together and even had a child. I grew up with the two, so it was like seeing my two best friends get married to each other!
This is the series that made me love reading books and even start reading them in English (my native language is Turkish), since I got too curious to wait for the translated versions. It even inspired me to write my own stories. And now, I am studying Western Languages and Literatures at my dream university, all thanks to you and your books!
I am currently reading Wulf’s Bane and enjoying every chapter of it. It is nice and refreshing to see the main characters and the events from Wulf’s perspective, and my heart is full of pride to see my boy Tom all grown up!
I do have a few questions, though. First of all, is there a specific reason why you chose the names “Beowulf” and “Hrothgar”? I believe these names are from an epic about the Swedish hero Beowulf, and Hrothgar is the name of the king who asks Beowulf’s help against Grendel.
It was also a surprise to see tulpas come back. So my second quesiton is: although witches and mages can create tulpas with magic, is it still considered magic in Wulf’s case? Or is it considered to be another power?
And lastly, where did the idea of tulpars and their use of imagination come from?
Once again, thank you for these amazing series. I wish you many long and happy years.
PS: I sent this comment to another blog before, but for some reason I could not see it afterwards. So I wrote it here again. I hope it works. Sorry if this seemed like a spam.
I hope you can see this answer? Glad to hear you enjoy the books and that they have helped inspire you.
Yes I began with Brother Beowulf, eventually shortened to Wulf, and thought it was a good idea to echo the narrative poem ‘Beowulf’. So, then I introduced Hrothgar but stopped short of bringing into the narrative a monster called Grendel!
Yes, it is magic. You could say that Wulf is a specialist mage whose power is concentrated on tulpas!
Okay let me just say how huge a fan I am of this whole universe- like, MASSIVE. As a(n amateur) writer my favorite genre is horror/science fiction and The Last Apprentice has had such a huge influence over the way I write the horror elements of my stories. I think in some ways soft magic systems are much more difficult to make unique and interesting than hard ones, and this is one of my favorite soft magic universes out there.
I absolutely devoured the original series through Spook’s Destiny/Rage of the Fallen in high school (which was all my local library had), and then picked it up again in 2019, starting from the beginning again and tearing through the whole series as fast as I could check them out. I was absolutely ecstatic to learn that there was a whole other series after that, but between work and the pandemic I didn’t get to finish The Dark Assassin until recently. And I must say after reading some of the other comments here I’m so disappointed that people didn’t seem to enjoy The Starblade Chronicles as much– I found them so cool and engaging, especially the way you delved into the Kobalos world and culture. The unique history and creatures of that society were just so fascinating and imaginative I could lie awake thinking about it for hours! I finished The Dark Assassin in two days and loved it, even though Jenny’s death broke my heart. I loved the way Grimalkin sort of gets a second life as Hecate’s successor, and Thorne as well! (Her death in the original series was also a difficult pill to swallow.) I also loved the way Alice finally chose between Tom and Lukrasta, even though it revealed the cracks in her and Tom’s relationship. I think it was fitting that before they could be together, Tom had to really accept the darkness within himself and take on his lamia form– finally “do his own dirty work,” as I thought of it. It was very telling to me that in the moments before he transformed he was praying for Grimalkin, and all her Dark magic, to save him. Especially after the prudishness about the Dark held by John Gregory and to some extent Tom himself in the earlier books, it’s fascinating to see the evolution of their beliefs and how Tom had to rely more and more on the Dark to achieve his own goals, but mostly through other practitioners such as his mother, Grimalkin, and Alice. I think only when he ceased to hold his own Darkness at such an arm’s length was Alice able to come around. I seriously smiled so much at the end of The Dark Assassin when Tom came home to Kratch and Alice– I knew they’d be together in the end!
Which is why I am unbelievably excited to see there will be a third series! And so disappointed it hasn’t been picked up by an American publisher (which means it isn’t available in American libraries). To right this terrible wrong I am strongly considering ordering paperbacks on Amazon and donating them to my local library when I’m done.
Anyway if you have a chance I just have one question for you– although I am generally reluctant to incorporate authorial intentions/interpretations into my own (“death of the author” and all that…)– but I’m just so curious: When you describe witches taking their victims’ “thumb bones,” how many bones do you imagine per hand? Since Grimalkin would snip hers off with scissors, I have to imagine “thumb bones” doesn’t include the metacarpal. But do you imagine a witch taking the distal or proximal phalanges? The proximal is larger and I would think could store more power, not to mention look better on a necklace, but that’s just me. Perhaps a witch would take both, which would mean collecting 4 thumb bones per victim, but that seems like it would crowd a necklace very quickly, unless only the proximal hangs from the necklace, and the distal is fastened to the proximal (or vice versa). Maybe I am overthinking this… you’ll have to let me know.
Glad you have enjoyed the books. It has been disappointing that an American publisher hasn’t bought the Wulf series. Still hoping!
Grimalkin would just snip the whole thumb off close to the hand (just after combat this is done quickly and no finesse is involved but the proximal would be pierced and strung on the necklace). If the other bones eventually dropped off it wouldn’t matter because the proximal is the most potent for magical purposes.
Is there a place to read them online because i’m a kid don’t have a credit card and I read book 1 brother wulf but I can’t read book 2 anywhere
Hello. An author makes a living from the number of books sold so if every reader accessed books for free online authors wouldn’t make any money and ultimately there wouldn’t be any books. That is why libraries are great because they enable everyone access to books . If your local library doesn’t have a copy for you to borrow then they might get it on loan for you from elsewhere. If you are lucky enough to have a library at your school you could also ask them to stock it.
Hello Mr Delaney, I’m a big fan of your books! Would you happen to know when the french translation of Wulf’s bane will come out?
It is out April 20th and called Le fléau du Tulpan (“Tulpar’s Bane”)
Oh my! I never knew you had a website Mr Delaney, it’s a pleasure to be able to follow your works more closely! I just want to drop a word to say that I discovered your books in middle school – used to read them at my local library – but I got quite spooked while reading the fifth instalment of the Spook series and called it quit. But the Spook never left me alone, it haunted me, and ironically enough, I ended up finding true love for stories featuring ghosts and other creatures. Years later, at 27, I decided it was high time to finally get over my childish fear and read the rest of the series : best decision ever. I reconnected with the characters I loved so much, I felt their pain, their fear, their love and anger. I wept, perhaps more than I would’ve at 12 when I first started the series. But it felt like the end of en era, and it’s never fun to say goodbye. Your books kept me up at night, accompanied me during the day, and fed my imagination anew. I got my elder brother and sister to finish the series too – they forgot how amazing the story was, and it was hilarious to see them gape at the plot twists like kids once again! So thank you for your wonderful works that, no matter the age, still manage to captivate. But most of all, thanks for sharing so generously your imagination with us.
Love from France,
Mi.
Thanks for your message. I am glad to hear you have enjoyed the books and shared them with others. Have you read the Wulf series? The second one is out this year. Was due to be April 20 but that has been slightly delayed. New date yet to be advised.
The Fiend was the strongest creature in the Dark, but what is the strongest creature of Light? While fighting the Fiend, why didn’t they summon in the world?
I am afraid that humans have to fight the dark as best they can without direct divine intervention.
Hi Mr. Delaney, I’m a big fan of your work. Would you happen to know when the french translation of Wulf’s bane will be out?
Hello, Joseph!Thank you so much for your creativity!All Russian-speaking fans are grateful to you for the Witcher’s Apprentice universe
Hello, Joseph!Thank you so much for your creativity!All Russian-speaking fans are grateful to you for the Witcher’s Apprentice universeDo you happen to know when the Russian translation of Wolfe’s books will be released?
I don’t know if Russia have bought the Wulf books – I will find out.