Wolftamer by Maggie Rapier
The Magpie and the Wolf Duology #2
Fantasy Romance
Published August 25, 2026 by Ace
ARC

Review by Angela

I enjoyed the first book in this duology quite a bit. Pirates! Magic! Gods and sea monsters! Lost islands! And the cover art had me hunting down a physical copy for my library. When the follow-up came up for review I smashed that request button.

Wolftamer begins right where Soulgazer left off, with the now married Saoirse and Foalan trapped on the Isle of Lost Souls, Saoirse having pledged herself to freeing all the souls from the soul stones. And when I say trapped, I mean the wild and free Foalan is gone. Now he is a man who feels lost, tethered to an island, his ship destroyed, and he doesn’t know who he is anymore. Saoirse is herself struggling under the demands made upon her, all while worrying about this new side of Foalan.

And they have other issues, mainly welcoming the rest of the Ring of Stars, leaders of the other lands, have come to Isle of Lost Souls and Maccus obviously has nefarious intentions. He is brandishing his god’s lost relic, professing his belief that magic in their world can be renewed, and sending Saoirse and Foalan, and their allies, to discover what he is up to and how the lost magic and relics play a part.

The pacing of this book kept me off kilter. Slow for the first 40% or so, with bursts of excitement in the middle, then full on race to the finish at the very end. As much as I loved Foalan in the first book, he kind of lost me for a good part of Wolftamer. He made bad decisions that endangered his crew time and again, and it felt like he was mired in his identity crisis far past the halfway mark. He and Saoirse are also separated for a good amount of page time, both working to complete separate tasks. I do think that alternating their POVs worked for this story, especially considering each character’s inner turmoil, their separation for a good portion of the book, and the way this author chose to move her plot forward.

I will say that, as a whole I did enjoy this duology. The world building is well done, and I liked the found family aspect of Foalan’s crew. The relationship between the two main characters is lovely, despite their drama and angst, their story ends with a nice HEA. The last 20% kept me on the edge of my seat. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Grade- B-