In Spirit Walker, a horrible sickness attacks the Clans, and Torak has to find the cure. His search takes him across the Sea to the islands of the Seal Clan, where he encounters demons and killer whales, and gets closer to uncovering the truth behind his father’s death, as well as learning of his own undreamed-of powers.
“Superb… so well done, so fully visualised in so few brush strokes and cliché-free”
This is easily the greatest book I’ve ever read. Wolf Brother, the first book in the series, was just brill and I couldn’t see this book being any better but it was, I couldn’t believe it! I read it in two days I was so addicted. The adventure is brilliant and the run of events that happen throughout are breathtaking. I can’t wait till the next book Soul Eater is out!”
“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.”
“The story grips you like a wolf’s jaws and won’t let go…Her [Paver’s] account of their spiritual beliefs suggests deep anthropological research but feels new-minted when described in her taut, elegant prose. Children, who are often very close to these animist beliefs, will find this imagined world as thrilling as Tolkien’s or Pullman’s…The climax is superb. With Wolf fighting demons by Torak’s side for another four books, wolves have never looked more like a boy’s best friend.”
Notes
“I wrote the whole book without having a clue as to how to start it.
I knew that at the outset, Torak would meet a man suffering from the sickness which would ravage the clans – but for the life of me, I couldn’t get into those crucial first pages. So I skipped the beginning and wrote the rest of the book. The deadline for giving the manuscript to my editor came and went, and still nothing… Then one night, about two weeks before the absolute last final extended deadline, I went to my weekly yoga class at the church hall. During the relaxation bit at the end, when I was lying on the floor, the answer floated into my mind: an auroch and her calf. Torak sees them at the river, then along comes the sick man, who crazily starts attacking the auroch, and…
Problem solved. Thank you, yoga.”