More Than Three Million Copies Sold
Published In 35 Territories Worldwide
Winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
Six thousand years ago. Evil stalks the land. Only twelve-year-old Torak and his wolf-cub companion can defeat it. Their journey together takes them through deep forests, across giant glaciers, and into dangers they never imagined.
In this page-turning, original, and spectacularly told adventure story, Torak and Wolf are joined by an incredible cast of characters as they battle to save their world, in this first book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series.
“Paced like summer blockbusters, the novels open with a bang and pick up speed from there… hugely entertaining… Paver’s prose is clean and energetic”
“Like other great children’s books which also entrance adults, Wolf Brother conjures up an utterly believable, yet original world where the story grips you to the very last page.”
“WOLF BROTHER gripped me from the very first page. It has the three qualities of a classic children’s book. Attractive characters. Relentless pace. And superb writing. Added to which, it explores a world that was virtually unknown to us with real insight and authority. This really is a book that stands out from the crowd.”
“The kind of story you dream of reading and all too rarely find…The descriptions of an ancient world are wonderful. The vivid prose leaps off the page.”
“A thrilling narrative with authentic flavour founded on thorough research. The text is well-honed and rhythmic, and moves with terrific pace. A haunting and heroic adventure with appeal for boys and girls”
“A gripping tale that rings true to our understanding of that distant time”
Notes
Sir Ian Mckellen + Michelle Paver at the Wolf Trust
“I first had the idea for a story about a boy and a wolf twenty years ago, at University. I even wrote it, but it didn’t get published, because the historical background didn’t work, and also I didn’t yet know enough about writing. Then a few years ago, I had a very scary encounter with a bear, which nudged the story to the forefront of my mind again.
I was hiking alone in the remote mountains of southern California, when suddenly on the opposite side of the stream I was following, a large female black bear and her two cubs appeared out of nowhere. My heart began to pound. One moment I’d been in the present day; now I was back in the prehistoric forest.
An old rancher in Wyoming had warned me that a female bear with cubs is at her most dangerous. He’d also said that as bears can’t see too well and hate surprises, it’s vital to make a noise to let them know you’re there: his tip was to sing! The mother bear and her cubs were only about thirty feet away from me on the other side of the stream, but she hadn’t spotted me yet; and my way home led right past her. I couldn’t hope to creep by unnoticed. I had to tell her I was there. So I took a deep breath and launched into `Danny Boy’.
To my horror, instead of watching me go, she pricked her ears and started purposefully across the stream – towards me. That’s when the fear really kicked in. If I made a wrong move, she might attack. And I had no defences. All I could do was try to persuade her that I wasn’t a threat – or prey. I stopped. She stopped in mid-stream. We looked at each other. She rocked from side to side, as if considering whether to rear up on her hind legs. For what seemed like a lifetime I side-stepped slowly past her. She watched me all the way. Then, finally, my path dipped out of sight – and I ran like crazy.
It was the most terrifying, exhilarating experience of my life, and it also felt weirdly as if I’d been back in time. In those moments when I faced the bear, thousands of years of civilisation were suddenly irrelevant: I knew what it was to be prey.
Then last year (early 2003), I was having a rest between writing adult novels, and I took another look at my twenty-year-old story about the boy and the wolf. The memory of the bear came flooding back. I realized that this is a story which comes from the deep past: from the Stone Age. WOLF BROTHER is the result.”
Sir Ian McKellen and a wolf go face to face
Wolf Sister” feature in the Sunday Telegraph – click to download