LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
February 2014 Book of the Month Best-selling Michelle Paver, creator of the Wolf Brother series, continues her equally richly created and atmospheric Gods and Warriors series set in the sun-baked Greek countryside. Although separated by a wide social gulf, Hylas the Outsider and Pirra the daughter of the High Priestess have become friends. Now Hylas, imprisoned by slavers, is working in the mines. He has to escape before his vicious enemies the Crows find out where he is. Pirra has always promised she would help Hylas escape but can she reach him? And can the two of them survive especially if the gods are against them? Despite danger at every turn Hylas and Pirra together with an orphaned lion cub continue to pursue their destiny.
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for the first book in the series, The Outsiders, a small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review this title. Here's a taster....'This gripping historical adventure story would suit all adventure lovers with an interest in mythology. I loved it and found it similar to the Percy Jackson books.'
Scroll down to read more reviews...
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About
The Burning Shadow Synopsis
'If an Outsider wields the blade, the House of Koronos burns...' A boy on the run. A deadly prophecy. A race against time. Hylas the Outsider is captured by slavers. Set to work in the terrible underground mines of Thalakrea, he learns to his horror that he's now closer than ever to his murderous enemies, the Crows. He has to escape before they find out he's here. Pirra, the daughter of the High Priestess, is also on the run. When Fate reunites her with Hylas, their survival depends on ancient magic and an orphaned lion cub - unless the Gods have other plans...
You can download a letter from Michelle Paver to her readers here which tells more about the time the book is set and how she used her research to bring the Gods and Warriors series to life.
The Gods and Warriors series
The Outsiders
The Burning Shadow
The Eye of the Falcon
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780141339290 |
| Publication date: |
6th February 2014 |
| Author: |
Michelle Paver |
| Publisher: |
Puffin Books an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
288 pages |
| Series: |
Gods and Warriors |
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Press Reviews
Michelle Paver Press Reviews
A small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review the first in the series The Outsiders. You can read their reviews below.
Mukunth Kowsik, age 12 - 'If there is a book with a steady storyline that will take you into the story without any complications and keep you on the edge of your seat until the end, it's The Outsiders.’ Click Here to read the full review.
James Lawrence Griffith, aged 10 - 'This gripping historical adventure story would suit all adventure lovers with an interest in mythology. I loved it and found it similar to the Percy Jackson books.' Click Here to read the full review.
Lucy Minton, age 10 - 'An excellent read because it draws you in from the start...I would recommend this book because it is fast paced and ends on a cliffhanger.' Click Here to read the full review.
Adam Pattenden, age 12 - 'The first installment in what promises to be a brilliant series describing a boy's desperate search for his sister in Ancient Greece.' Click Here to read the full review.
Lucy Allan-Jones, age 12 - 'The Outsiders is a compelling, nerve-wracking, unputdownable and unique story. Click Here to read the full review.
Robert White, age 10 - 'A gripping read, this book is impossible to put down. Gods, warriors, a chase, a shipwreck, a rescue, what else could you ask for?' Click Here to read the full review.
Jenny Bridgeman, age 8 - 'This book brought me to a mystical place where gods and warriors are born.' Click Here to read the full review.
Tabi Cooper, age 12 - 'Action. Adventure. Survival. Following the mythological story of Hylas, a twin, this shows us what it feels like to be an outsider.' Click Here to read the full review.
Lucas Abbott, age 9 - 'Great story, great characters, a gripping tale.' Click Here to read the full review.
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Further reviews.
The kind of story you dream of reading and all too rarely find The Times
A classic children's book ... superb writing -- Anthony Horowitz
These books are full of magic, adventure and action, and they appeal equally to both sexes -- Charlie Higson
Heartstoppingly real The Independent
Electrifying Independent on Sunday
The reader's attention is caught from the first line ...spellbinding Telegraph
Set to become another children's classic Books for Keeps
Author
About Michelle Paver
Born in Malawi in 1960 to a Belgian mother and a father who ran the tiny 'NYASALAND TIMES', Michelle Paver moved to the UK when she was three. She was brought up in Wimbledon and, following a Biochemistry Degree from Oxford, she became a partner in a big City law firm. She gave up the City to follow her long-held dream of becoming a writer. She is the author of the brilliantly successful children's series, THE CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS, the final book of which won the 2010 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.
An Interview with Michelle Paver
What’s the first book you remember reading?
The first book I remember looking at was a big illustrated book about Stone Age people, although at the time I was too young to read the captions. Two of the first books I actually read were Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson, and a terrifically exciting adventure about a horse, called The Sagebrush Sorrel. I’ve still got all three books.
What’s the greatest influence on your writing?
Concerning literary influences, I’d name two principal ones: J.R.R. Tolkien, who inspired a lifelong love of myth and Anglo-Saxon and Norse literature, and who also deepened my appreciation for trees and forests; and Anthony Trollope, whose page-turning novels taught me much about storytelling.
Concerning non-literary influences, I’d have to name my parents, who ensured that I grew up surrounded by books (despite not having much money at the time), and who always encouraged me to follow my interests and take risks, while somehow managing to instill a bit of commonsense about how far to go!
Typewriter, Word Processor, or pen?
I scribble the first version of each chapter on a pad with a rollerball pen, but it’s such a scrawl that I can only read it while it’s still fresh in my mind, so I try to type it onto the wordprocessor on the same day. Then I go over it a few times on the computer before moving on to the next chapter, and so on.
Name your favourite literary hero and villain
They change from time to time, but here are the ones that have lasted. For heroes, it’s Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings and Hector from The Iliad. For villains, it’s Dracula (the Bram Stoker one, of course), and Stavrogin from The Devils.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi), but came to England when I was small, and lived in Essex till I was eight, when we moved to Wimbledon. Apart from a couple of years in central London, I’ve lived there ever since.
Did you enjoy school? What is your most vivid memory of your school years?
In the main I did, but my most vivid memory concerns my one bad year. When I was about eleven, a new girl joined the class and took such a dislike to me that she got everyone else to gang up against me. It doesn’t sound too bad, but it was miserable and very lonely to go through. My mother told me to ignore the lot of them, which I did – and after a pretty rough year, the ringleader left, and things drifted back to normal. But I’ve never forgotten it. And it probably helped make me a writer, because for that year, I retreated into my imagination.
What were the first pieces of writing that you produced?
I wrote my first stories on my mother’s typewriter when I was five. I’ve still got some of them. One was about a rabbit called Hamish and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Another, Ebany the Mouse Goddess, concerned a tribe of mice who burrowed to safety beneath an oncoming glacier. At school I wrote several plays, including one about the murder of Tutankhamun, and another about a family of cavemen.
What jobs did you have before you started writing?
I worked as a solicitor in the City for thirteen years: lots of all-nighters and weekends in the office. The challenge made it fun for a while, but that soon palled. I don’t miss it at all.
If your house was burning down what would you save?
Nothing. I’d just try to get out alive. (And lest anyone think me callous, I should add that I don’t have any pets!)
Click here to read more about Michelle Paver and The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness:
And you can keep in touch with Michelle through Michelle LIVE! – her monthly show on YouTube. You can send her a question in advance, or post a comment on Twitter, YouTube or Instagram live during the show itself!
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