Mrs Butler's Blog 9
October 2005 Number 9
OK, it’s time to tell you about Spirit Walker by Michelle Paver. It is the second book in Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, which started with Wolf Brother. I’m afraid many of my recent books have been sequels because it is much easier to order second instalments from a mail-order catalogue than books which you know nothing about. (The second Book People order came today with a curious selection of books which, I hope, does credit to my catholic reading tastes: a set of ten Agatha Christies, a boxed set of Cat in the Hat, three animal stories by Geoffrey Malone, Guinness World Records 2006 and Match! Annual. They will all be in the Library as soon as we can cover and catalogue them.)
Torak first appeared on Wolf Brother. His father died horribly, gored by a terrible spirit bear, and Torak had to make his way through the Deep Forest to find help in destroying it. On the way he befriended a wolf cub and learned to speak Wolf, not just in howls and growls but the body language of animals. It is a fabulous book, evoking a Stone Age world in which spirits are all around, which can be read by the priests or witch-doctors of each clan and placated by ritual. I was raving before about Across the Nightingale Floor which is a fantasy set in an unusual country. Wolf Brother is a fantasy (or even a thriller) set in an unusual time, the Stone Age, and it is brilliantly done.
In Spirit Walker a deadly disease attacks the Raven Clan and Torak knows that he must move on because he fears that he has attracted this plague and feels that it is up to him to find a cure. The journey takes him to the islands of the Seal Clan and, quite apart from the riveting adventure, we find out so much about the coastal fishing tribes. He is followed by Renn, the apprentice Raven mage and also by the wolf, who returns from living with the wolf-pack. He needs both these friends to save him before the end. The climax is gripping and the cause of the plague is unexpected. (Well, it fooled me.) And we discover the secret of why Torak and Wolf are able to talk to one another.
I’m afraid I’ve only bought one copy of Spirit Walker as it has only just come out in hardback. Wolf Brother is in the library already and I will buy more paperbacks of that if it gets the demand it deserves. I recommend these books.
OK, it’s time to tell you about Spirit Walker by Michelle Paver. It is the second book in Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, which started with Wolf Brother. I’m afraid many of my recent books have been sequels because it is much easier to order second instalments from a mail-order catalogue than books which you know nothing about. (The second Book People order came today with a curious selection of books which, I hope, does credit to my catholic reading tastes: a set of ten Agatha Christies, a boxed set of Cat in the Hat, three animal stories by Geoffrey Malone, Guinness World Records 2006 and Match! Annual. They will all be in the Library as soon as we can cover and catalogue them.)
Torak first appeared on Wolf Brother. His father died horribly, gored by a terrible spirit bear, and Torak had to make his way through the Deep Forest to find help in destroying it. On the way he befriended a wolf cub and learned to speak Wolf, not just in howls and growls but the body language of animals. It is a fabulous book, evoking a Stone Age world in which spirits are all around, which can be read by the priests or witch-doctors of each clan and placated by ritual. I was raving before about Across the Nightingale Floor which is a fantasy set in an unusual country. Wolf Brother is a fantasy (or even a thriller) set in an unusual time, the Stone Age, and it is brilliantly done.
In Spirit Walker a deadly disease attacks the Raven Clan and Torak knows that he must move on because he fears that he has attracted this plague and feels that it is up to him to find a cure. The journey takes him to the islands of the Seal Clan and, quite apart from the riveting adventure, we find out so much about the coastal fishing tribes. He is followed by Renn, the apprentice Raven mage and also by the wolf, who returns from living with the wolf-pack. He needs both these friends to save him before the end. The climax is gripping and the cause of the plague is unexpected. (Well, it fooled me.) And we discover the secret of why Torak and Wolf are able to talk to one another.
I’m afraid I’ve only bought one copy of Spirit Walker as it has only just come out in hardback. Wolf Brother is in the library already and I will buy more paperbacks of that if it gets the demand it deserves. I recommend these books.
posted by Extreme Reading Group | 12:24 PM
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