Wolves of Winter: The epic sequel to Essex Dogs from Sunday Times bestseller and historian Dan Jones (Essex Dogs Series)

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Heading into 2018, there’s a good chance Tyrell Johnson’s debut novel, The Wolves of Winter, wasn’t on your radar. Honestly, I missed it too. So when I finally heard about this book a couple of weeks ago, after it was already out, I didn’t know what to expect. When I first sat down with the book, I planned to read the first chapter and then go about some of my other tasks. But when I finished the first chapter, I had to start the second. And then the third. . .

Johnson: “Nothing is ‘in the books’ yet, but I do have a plan for two more novels (the illustrious trilogy) and probably no more than that with these characters.” In a post-terrorism, post-flu epidemic world, a young girl named Gwendolyn (but who prefers to be called Lynn) and her family make do trying to survive in the wilds of the Yukon during winter, after having emigrated from Alaska when the flu started catching fire. The flu doesn’t like cold weather, and Canada is safer than Alaska in that regard (believe it or not), so the characters are ex-patriots. Anyhow, everything is fine and dandy until Lynn runs into a fugitive named Jax during one of her hunts, and it turns out that Jax has superhuman capabilities and is, thus, being tailed out an outfit that goes by the short name Immunity, which is trying to find a cure for the flu. Basically, the shit hits the fan when Jax comes into the picture, and Immunity catches up with him. This puts Lynn’s family in a perilous situation where they must fight even harder to stay alive.After Ser Criston Cole was killed south of the Gods Eye by Robb's longbowmen, Lord Dustin blew his warhorn to begin the charge of the Winter Wolves and their river knight allies against Criston's army in the ensuing Butcher's Ball, a slaughter of the greens. [1] On that note, an early January release date is not the end of the world (no pun intended) for a book that’s set in the snowy confines of a Yukon winter. If you want to read something as frosty as what’s covering the glass of your windows, this book is perfect for that kind of feeling. While the novel does, ultimately, come up a bit short after a certain point of no return is reached, it is still enjoyable and pleasant. The Wolves of Winter is just an agreeable time-killer, nothing more and nothing less. If you’re looking for something that’s not much of a challenge to read, and like things kept simple, this book is recommended. If not, there’s always a certain young adult trilogy and a book called Station Eleven to re-read to make you feel like you are part of a world that we may be on the verge of heading towards, with much more to say about the times we now live in than The Wolves of Winter ever aspires to, alas. You’re a prolific non-fiction writer. How has this helped shape your fiction and on the flipside, what would you say is the hardest thing about transitioning from penning non-fiction to fiction? Lynn is a 23-year-old woman who is now forced to subsist in the rough, unforgiving land of ice and snow in the Yukon. Her father was a scientist who died from the flu when Lynn was aged 12. The family then fled to Alaska while American cities were being destroyed by bombs. In the isolation of the Yukon wilderness, they subsist by hunting, fishing, foraging and a few vegetables they are able to grow for a couple of months. Lynn’s family consists of her mother, a brother, and an uncle with his adopted son of a deceased friend. There is also a brutal neighbor who is not to be trusted.

The book also talks about candles, with strict rations, in the library. Either they traded for tallow candles, or they could have an apiary and make beeswax candles. I don't think the book ever mentioned the type of candle. Another thought occurs to me: this book must have been utterly exhausting to write. To outline, sort, carry out. It’s too rich, too cleverly thought-out, and too meticulous. Cripes, it must have been exhausting to write. In fact, this novel is perhaps more of an achievement because introductions are easier than keeping the reader engaged and it’s quite remarkable that an author used to writing serious history has delivered such a great story again.A captivating tale of humanity pushed beyond its breaking point, of family and bonds of love forged when everything is lost, and of a heroic young woman who crosses a frozen landscape to find her destiny, this debut novel is in a postapocalyptic tradition that spans The Hunger Games and Station Eleven but blazes its own distinctive path. What had happened to the world had made animals or monsters of us all. Survivors or murderers. Sometimes the line between the two was blurry...