Before Wallachia had a crown, it had villages, wolves, graves, and oaths - and some oaths were older than God. Toma of Valea Lupului is not a prince, a chosen o
By Clara Damian
Before Wallachia had a crown, it had villages, wolves, graves, and oaths - and some oaths were older than God. Toma of Valea Lupului is not a prince, a chosen one, or the hidden heir to a throne. He is a village boy from Wolf Valley, raised among livestock, mud, church bells, forest paths, and the old fears people do not name too loudly after dark. But when a body is found at the ford, the village begins to turn on itself. The burial is wrong. The animals know it. The old women whisper. The priest prays harder. And beyond the fences, wolves come down from the hills. As sickness spreads through the yards and suspicion moves from house to house, Toma begins to see what others refuse to face: the dead may be restless, but the living are hiding something worse. A bad death has opened an old wound, and someone in Valea Lupului would rather blame strigoi, moroi, or the wolves than speak the truth. Set in the pre-state Wallachian lands of the late 13th century, Blood of the Village is a dark young adult historical fantasy rooted in Romanian folklore, village justice, burial fear, and oath-bound power. It is a story of restless dead, hidden kinship, local lords, wolf-haunted forests, and one boy’s first step from village life into a wider world of service, danger, and blood debt. For readers who enjoy gritty medieval historical fiction, dark coming-of-age fantasy, political danger, and folklore that feels ancient, local, and morally costly. The village will survive. Toma may not.
ASIN: B0H68H9N31
584 pages | Language: English | Published: June 21, 2026
Genre: Fantasy
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