From a time of myths and ancient magic comes a tale of gods and warriors – and the rise of a hero…
Hylas is only a boy but he knows three things:
The gods exist.
Magic is real.
Somebody wants him dead.
Hunted and alone, Hylas is desperate to find his missing sister. His quest takes him across the hostile mountains and treacherous seas of ancient Greece. His only friend is a girl on the run. His only guide is a wild dolphin.
And his murderous enemies are closing in…
‘Inventive and gripping… Paver is creating a contemporary children’s fantasy classic!’
‘A gloriously absorbing story of courage and mystery’
‘The reader’s attention is caught from the very first line… the book has a spellbinding storyline’
‘An engrossing read, bound to enthral her fans’
‘To spend an hour with Michelle Paver is to lose yourself in another place and time… Appealing to both girls and boys, Gods and Warriors looks set to become another children’s classic’
‘Hats off to another rollicking adventure story with some sound educational side effects to boot’
‘Paver’s immaculate research, control of pace, intricate plotting and fully formed characters build an excellent adventure… A guaranteed bestseller’
Notes
The first book in Michelle’s Gods & Warriors series is The Outsiders, followed by The Burning Shadow, The Eye of the Falcon, The Crocodile Tomb & Warrior Bronze
Before I was an author, I was an overworked lawyer, so every summer I used to escape for a week or two to a small Greek island. I’d rent a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, and be totally alone – no mobile phone, no car, no shops: I brought enough food with me, and lived on bread, cheese, thick Greek honey and yogurt.
I spent my days watching falcons on the cliffs, and walking in the hills, where the only other person was a solitary goatherd. He wore sandals made from scraps of old tires, and I only ever glimpsed him in the distance, although I often heard the bells of his goats among the olive trees.
When I was writing THE OUTSIDERS, I did lots of research exploring drowned caves and boar-haunted mountains, swimming with wild dolphins – but always I had with me the memories of those earlier visits to that little island: the goatbells in the hills, and the falcons wheeling over the cliffs…