Author: Martin Millar
Cover Design: Simon Fraser
Publisher: Soft Skull
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publication Date: April, 2008

While teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is being pursued through the streets of London by murderous hunters, her sister, the Werewolf Enchantress, is busy designing clothes for the Fire Queen. Meanwhile, in the Scottish Highlands the MacRinnalch Clan is plotting and feuding after the head of the clan suddenly dies. As the court intrigue threatens to flare into civil war, the competing factions determine that Kalix’s vote is critical to assume leadership of the clan. Unfortunately, Kalix isn’t really into clan politics — Laudanum’s more her thing. Even more unfortunately, Kalix is the rreason the head of the clan ended up dead

This is an expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world—elegant werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, friendly werewolves, homicidal werewolves, fashionista werewolves, warriors, punks, cross-dressers, musicians—an entire Clan of Werewolves, getting in trouble from the Scottish Highlands to London, and in several dimensions beyond…

I’ll say this upfront, this will be a short review that can be summed up thusly: Go read the book!!

My initial thought when I first saw Lonely Werewolf Girl was shock. Shock at how big the book was. It was a much bigger book then I thought so I was caught a little off guard. But this wasnt my first Millar book so I really wasnt worried much.

I feel as if I must echo Neil Gaiman’s assessment here in that I am surprised that Millar hasn’t yet made a huge impact into the mainstream. His style lends itself to as wide a readership as possible, not by being dull though, and aiming for the lowest common denominator but instead by being multi-faceted and covering as many interests as possible.

Lonely Werewolf Girl is, at a basic level, a book of court intrigue, set in the modern world among a large and old family of werewolves. The length of time that they have been around means that there is a lot of history that manifests itself in rivalries and grudges that influence the politicking that surrounds the clans as they struggle to find a replacement for the recently slain king. But don’t let the long history of the clan fool you, from misfits to rock musicians to fashionistas this is as throughly modern (and urban) a family of werewolves as your likely to find anywhere else.

But underlying the surface modernizations these characters have a deliberately over the top and histrionic way of speaking and interacting. Nothing is merely said, instead its proclaimed in a fortissimo-like gusto. If this sounds like it would be a turnoff it isn’t, it becomes part of the fun.

Lonely Werewolf Girl is a book that is ultimately a lot of F-U-N to read. Just for sheer entertainment (not necessarily the same as escapement) Millar’s vision of the world just can’t be beat. This is a book (and Millar an author) that cults form around (and rightly so); you don’t merely like a Millar book, you love it.

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Topics: Lonely Werewolf Girl, Martin Millar, Martin Scott, Soft Skull Press