Book Info
Format
Paperback288 pages
Author's Website
www.michellepaver.com/Publisher
OrionPublication date
28th June 2006ISBN
9781842551134Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations
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Spirit Walker: Book 2 Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
Michelle Paver
This title is in stock
Lovereading4kids Price: £5.24
RRP: £6.99 Saving £1.75 (25%)Julia Eccleshare's comment:
This is a worthy second novel in the CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS trilogy, the first was Wolf Brother that we praised so highly earlier this year. Non-stop action on every page dovetails beautifully with heart-stopping narrative and sharp attention to detail. When you read about Torak eating fish eyes, remember that the author did too for the sake of realism! Lovers of Harry Potter or Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy will love this debut trilogy from one of the most exciting and distinctive children’s authors to have emerged in recent years.
Titles in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series:
1. Wolf Brother
3. Soul-eater
4. Outcast
5. Oathbreaker
6. Ghost Hunter
Who is Julia Eccleshare ?
Synopsis
Thousands of years ago an orphan boy and his wolf cub companion challenge a demon bear that threatens to destroy their world forever. With the help of the World Spirit, Torak destroys the bear, but his beloved Wolf is lost in the ensuing avalanche.
And Torak's quest is far from over. A strange, creeping sickness, silent and deadly, is threatening the Ravens. Word arrives that the Seal Clan have the cure and Torak must face a lonely journey to find it. On the Seal's Island he stumbles into a world utterly unlike his own. Here life moves to the rhythms of the sea, the Seals build shelters from whale bones and skim the waves in fast, beautiful kayaks. And here Torak is welcomed by the kindly Seal Mage, Teneris, and kinsman, Bale. But all is not as it seems - Torak must keep his wits about him to judge who might be friend or foe.
As in 'Wolf Brother' Michelle Paver's sheer passion for her story set in a world of myth and natural magic, shines through in this skilfully woven, exciting and brilliantly satisfying second instalment of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness.
Reviews
'...the momentum for this should be considerable'
Jennifer Taylor
CHILDREN'S BOOKSELLER
'...the perfect concoction of action and narrative is what makes the book so attractive. ...Paver has succeeded in producing a first-class story supported by substantial moral messages... unclouded by the present day'
Edward Malnick
DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books) 27/8/05
'...another gripping, taut adventure in the ancient world'
Anne Johnstone
THE HERALD, 3/9/05
About The Author
Born in Malawi to a Belgian mother and a father who ran the tiny 'Nyasaland Times', Michelle Paver moved to the UK when she was three. She grew up in Wimbledon and, following a Biochemistry Degree from Oxford, she became a partner in a City law firm. Eventually, she gave up her career in law to follow her long-held dream of becoming a writer. Successfully published as an adult author of historical fiction, CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS are her first - brilliant - books for children.
About Michelle Paver and The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness:
- She wrote her first story on her mother’s typewriter at the age of 5. (Her mother still has it!)
- She has always been fascinated by prehistoric times and skinned a dead rabbit at the age of 10. She ditched of her bed and slept on her bedroom floor for 3 years as a child.
- She dug up the lawn of her parents’ house and planted medicinal plants which she tried out on her sister.
- She skipped lectures in biochemistry at Oxford University to write.
- The Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness Series has been universally popular. The series is made up of Wolf Brother (2004) Spirit Walker (2005), Soul Eater (2006) and Outcast (2007) so far. There will be 6 books in the series.
- The books have been translated into 36 languages.
- Ridley Scott has bought the film rights and a script is being worked on currently.
- She gave up a successful career as a Partner in a City Law Firm in 1999 to write full time.
- She has travelled to inaccessible and unusual places researching her books including the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, Finland and Greenland and Northern Canada.
- On her travels, she has had some unforgettable, unique and heart-stopping experiences including learning the traditional skills of the Inuit people and coming face-to-face with wild polar bears through the observation platform grille of a tundra buggy. She has swum with killer whales, gone husky-sledding and faked a wolf kill to attract ravens.
- She has eaten some very unusual food in the name of research, including, raw whale blubber, fresh seal liver (still warm from when it was killed), fish eyes, seal flippers (these are put under rocks and left for 3 months after which time they are considered a delicacy), all sorts of wild berries, tree bark and sap.
- The only thing she has ever refused to eat was the seal eyes, though these are considered a delicacy by the Inuit and eaten by the grannies! There is absolutely no wastage when these animals are killed and every bit of them is used for food or materials so don’t be put off by any perception of cruelty.
- She has many artefacts from her travels including reindeer skin gloves and a necklace made of bear claws and teeth.
Titles in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series:
1. Wolf Brother
3. Soul-eater
4. Outcast
5. Oathbreaker
6. Ghost Hunter
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