When There Are Wolves Again

Wonderful . . . this is what science fiction should be doing now . . . a novel that tackles head-on the hard problem of writing about the near future; it does so with clarity, creativity, an eye for detail, and unfailing empathy

Locus

A remarkable work. Beautifully written and sensitively observed, it demonstrates how great speculative fiction can speak to our present and prepare us for the future. Swift has written a powerful and necessary novel, one that beautifully captures the precarity of our current times whilst anticipating and preparing us for the struggles that will inevitably come ahead. It confirms Swift as one of modern speculative fiction's key visionaries, and as one of our most engagingly human writers.

Fantasy Hive

Swift's exquisite writing brings life to everything from soil to sky...It's a novel to make you touch grass, and dream of wolves

SFX, (five stars)

The most important, the most courageous, the most uplifting novel I have read in years...one of the UK's brightest younger talents in speculative fiction

Strange Horizons

One of our best writers. Her new novel more than lives up to the expectations generated by its predecessor [The Coral Bones]

ParSec Magazine

The use of nature is lyrically described, the power of science to explain the danger and aid us to do better is carefully explained but the human element is where this story excels, to tell us that we as a collective group can do better and this is what it could potentially look like. Coming back to that feeling of uncertainty it's a word that also doesn't mean all is lost there is . . . this is excellent science fiction for the twenty first century because this gives us that feeling of possibility - hope. I think When There Are Wolves Again is going to be a book hard to beat for my favourite of the year. Incredibly strongly recommended!

Runalong The Shelves

Powerful, emotive stuff, and [this novel] has touched me far more deeply than I would ever have expected

Reader Of Else

This book is powered by a passionate love of nature and deep concern for the planet's future . . . Evocative and beautifully written, this character-driven novel also inspires as an argument for rewilding in Britain

The Guardian

WHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN is another of E.J. Swift's beautifully written, moving and eloquent letters to the natural world, and to the power of humanity to address the damage we inflict upon it. The Chernobyl disaster, extrapolated into a vividly realised near future world, brings two unforgettable characters into a narrative of exploration, reparation and hope. Swift gets better and better.

Adam Roberts, author of LAKE OF DARKNESS

WHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN is gentle and inspiring eco-fiction. Full of charm and intimate detail, with exquisitely written relationships, both human and lupine. You'll never look at rewilding the same way. This is a book full of hope, sorely needed in a world that seems to lack it

Tade Thompson, author of ROSEWATER

This novel is vivid. It has a great eye for canines, a great ear for human speech, and a great heart for the world, including the future world we are making. Add to that the dark but ever-fascinating Matter of Chernobyl, and the result is tremendous, unforgettable.

Kim Stanley Robinson, author of THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE

'An eco-masterpiece . . . a story by turns tragic, alarming, uplifting, poetic and ultimately hopeful. Swift's accomplished prose and vivid characterisation connect large questions of the planet's destiny with human intimacy and experience'

The Guardian (A Best Science FIction Book of 2025)

Poetic, passionate and incredibly thoughtful . . . Swift's insights are considered, plausible, and in the end affirmatory. Her writing, tied indivisibily as it is to her personal convictions, goes from strength to strength

Nina Allan, author of CONQUEST