A complete guide to TJ Klune’s books
Step into the world of TJ Klune’s speculative and fantasy fiction with our guide to the bestselling author and his books.
TJ Klune is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous fantasy and LGBTQIA+ romance novels, including Wolfsong, The House in the Cerulean Sea and In the Lives of Puppets. As a queer author, TJ Klune seeks to celebrate and normalise the queer experience in his books, drawing on his experiences of being part of the LGBTQIA+ community to inform his characters and stories. Klune’s books – which sit under sci-fi, speculative fiction and cosy fantasy – have earned him legions of fans around the world, and he cites his literary influences as Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series and Stephen King, amongst others. Hailing from small-town Oregon, on the Pacific Coast of America, Klune drew on the setting for his Green Creek series, which is set in the state’s dreamy, spooky backwoods. With his work spanning stories of found family, to werewolf romances, superhero love triangles and queer retellings of classic stories, there’s a TJ Klune book for every type of fantasy reader.
If you like what you hear and are wondering which TJ Klune book you should read first, read on for more inspiration.
New and coming soon
TJ Klune's latest book
The Bones Beneath My Skin
by TJ Klune
Why read this: If you’re searching for a story full of the heart-mending romance T J Klune is known for, and which leans more towards sci-fi than fantasy, his latest novel The Bones Beneath My Skin is for you. Set against the forests of Oregon in the spring of 1995, it follows Nate Cartwright – grieving, adrift – who returns to his family’s remote cabin only to find it occupied by a guarded man named Alex and a remarkable child who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. What unfolds is a breathless road trip threaded with government conspiracies and alien secrets, yet at its core lies something achingly human: the need to love and be loved.
If you’re looking for: Found family, queer romance, alien encounters, 1990s nostalgia, road trip adventure, government conspiracies.
Great for fans of: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
What the experts say: ‘The sci-fi romance adventure you never knew you needed’ – Jennifer L. Armentrout, author of Fall of Ruin and Wrath.
TJ Klune's next book
We Burned So Bright
by TJ Klune
Why read this: Out in April, TJ Klune's new novel follows husbands Don and Rodney on their end-of-the-world road trip as a wandering black hole hurtles towards Earth. Their journey is both epic and deeply personal, as they encounter a world choosing how to spend its final hours. This is a soul-stirring exploration of whether a life well-lived is enough, even when nothing remains in the ashes.
If you’re looking for: Queer love stories, end-of-the-world fiction, road trip novels, speculative fiction.
Great for fans of: Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune.
TJ Klune’s Wolfsong and the Green Creek series in order
Why read this: Sweeping romance entwined with tooth-and-claw intensity makes the Green Creek series TJ Klune’s most feral and fiercely beloved work. The quartet of books follows different members of the Bennett pack – a family of shapeshifting werewolves – and those bound to them. First love, second chances, grief and redemption are all set against a backdrop of werewolf lore, pack politics and looming threats. Darker and more primal than his later fantasies, this is a saga about belonging, identity and the enduring power of chosen family.
If you’re looking for: Werewolves, queer paranormal romance, found family, slow-burn relationships, small-town settings.
Great for fans of: A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvate.
What the experts say: 'Wolfsong is so well written that I'm in awe of TJ Klune's talent [...] The complex and startling world of Green Creek is the perfect setting.' Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series.
Wolfsong
by TJ Klune
Book one in the Green Creek series
Ox Matheson grew up feeling like he was destined to be alone. So, when Joe Bennett moves in next door and the pair strike up a friendship, Ox is determined to hold onto him. As he gets to know the mysterious Bennetts better, Ox discovers their secret: the family are shapeshifting werewolves, immersed in a magical world he has never known. As Joe and Ox grow up together, Ox feels drawn to his best friend in a way he doesn’t understand but can’t ignore. The book that began TJ Klune’s cult queer fantasy series, Wolfsong is an absolute must-read.
Ravensong
by TJ Klune
Book two in the Green Creek series
Outcasted and left to fend for himself when tragedy split the pack, shapeshifting werewolf Gordo Livingstone vowed never to get involved in the affairs of wolves again, until Mark Bennett came back, begging for his help. A year later and alone again, Gordo struggles to push away his feelings for Mark, despite everything that has happened between them and the heartache he has caused. The second book in TJ Klune's Green Creek series, Ravensong is a story of queer love, loyalty and loss, set in the same world as Wolfsong.
Heartsong
by TJ Klune
Book three in the Green Creek series
Step back into the dreamy backwoods of Green Creek in Heartsong, the penultimate book in TJ Klune's queer fantasy series. Werewolf Robbie Fontaine has always been a loner, travelling from pack to pack and never quite belonging. That is, until he's summoned to become second to Alpha Michelle Hughes, and join the wolf stronghold in Caswell, Maine. Finding a new sense of belonging, Robbie discovers a short lived happiness and a mate, until whispers of treachery and betrayal in the pack threaten to destroy his new life and rip them apart.
Brothersong
by TJ Klune
Book four in the Green Creek series
In the ruins of Caswell, Maine, Carter Bennett glimpsed the truth of what had been right in front of him the entire time. And then it was ripped away from him. Desperate for answers, he leaves his family and pack behind.. Alone, he tracks the feral wolf Gavin, son of Robert Livingstone and half-brother to Gordo Livingstone. But Gavin’s history with the Bennett family runs deeper than anyone knew, involving a secret kept by Carter’s father, Thomas Bennett. And uncovering this secret comes at a cost: the sins of the fathers will burden their sons.
The Cerulean Chronicles
The House in the Cerulean Sea
by TJ Klune
Why read this: A tale of chosen family, The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of TJ Klune’s best-loved novels. Linus Baker, a by-the-book caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, is sent to assess a remote orphanage housing six supposedly dangerous children – including the Antichrist. What he finds on a windswept island is not menace, but magic: a found family shaped by kindness, and a guardian, Arthur Parnassus, who challenges everything Linus thought he knew.
If you’re looking for: Cosy fantasy, found family, queer romance, whimsical magic, character-driven storytelling.
Great for fans of: The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá.
What the experts say: ‘I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect’ – V. E. Schwab, author of Bury My Bones in the Midnight Soil.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
by TJ Klune
Why read this: Return to Marsyas Island in Somewhere Beyond the Sea, the No. 1 New York Times bestselling sequel that deepens the magic – and the stakes – of the Cerulean Chronicles. Arthur Parnassus has built a sanctuary for magical children alongside Linus Baker, but when his painful past is dragged into the light, their fragile peace is threatened. As a new child arrives, wielding the word ‘monster’ like a shield, Arthur must confront what protection truly means. Klune has crafted a sequel that feels both timely and timeless. This was the winner of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Fantasy for a reason
If you’re looking for: Found family, queer love stories.
Great for fans of: The House in the Cerulean Sea, naturally.
Other books by TJ Klune
Under the Whispering Door
by TJ Klune
Why read this: If you’re drawn to stories that balance humour with heartbreak, Under the Whispering Door is a gentle, life-affirming fantasy about what happens after the end. Wallace Price was a ruthless lawyer who had no time for anything beyond work – until he found himself at his own funeral. Collected by a reaper and delivered to Charon’s Crossing, a curious tea shop where the dead prepare to move on, Wallace is given one week to come to terms with the life he lived. In the company of the compassionate ferryman Hugo and an unforgettable cast of souls in transit, Wallace begins to understand what it truly means to live. Witty and profoundly humane, this is comfort fantasy with real emotional depth.
If you’re looking for: Afterlife fantasy, queer romance, redemption arcs, found family, cosy settings.
Great for fans of: The Good Place, Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove.
What the experts say: 'It broke my heart with its unflinching understanding that grief never goes away, never empties, only settles into the room of your soul like a strange souvenir. And then it healed me in the next breath.' – Cassandra Khaw, author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth
In the Lives of Puppets
by TJ Klune
Why read this: In the Lives of Puppets is a dazzling reinvention of Pinocchio for the end of the world. In a forest home built high in the trees, a human named Victor lives in hiding with three robots: a gently paternal inventor-android, a gleefully murderous nurse machine and an attention-seeking vacuum. When Vic repairs a fallen android known as ‘HAP’, he sets in motion a chain of events that will drag their cobbled-together family into the City of Electric Dreams. What follows is a quest across a strange, mechanical wasteland. Klune once again asks what makes us human, and answers: connection, choice and the courage to love.
If you’re looking for: Queer retellings, sentient robots, found family, post-apocalyptic adventure, friends-to-lovers, dark fairytales.
What the experts say: ‘A deeply stirring journey through a world of extraordinary robots’ – Chuck Tingle, author of Camp Damascus. ‘One can’t help but fall in love with this book’ – T. L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead.
