Michelle Paver - Skin Taker (Wolf Brother) - Quick Book Review - Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

 

This Easter we are Running wild with Wolf Brother in a Stone Age world we all want to be a part of again.  The Eight Book will paw its way into the world published by Zephyr on the 1st April 2021. This is another great book in one of the best long-running series. Torak, Renn and Wolf are back in a dangerous and magical world. A mouth-watering adventure in their beloved forest.  

It has been very well researched and is packed full of fantasy and adventure. All of which, is told in rich detail that makes your heart sing and your wolf soul dance in such a way that time disappears in no time at all. A dark shadow rises to a meteorite crescendo that will have readers hooked until the very last page. I'm looking forward to possibly the last book in the series in 2022. Another brilliant read! 

In the Dark Time of midwinter, disaster strikes the Forest. Chaos rules. Bears woken from their dens prowl the shadowy valleys. Desperate clans battle for survival. Only demons thrive.

With their world in turmoil, Torak, Renn and Wolf are tested as never before. And as a new evil haunts the devastated land, Torak must risk his sanity, his life and even his souls to save everything he loves...

Skin Taker carries you back to the Stone Age, to nature, drawing you deeper into an astonishing environment and adventure which began with Wolf Brother. 

Michelle Paver - Viper's Daughter - Book Review - Blog Tour 2020 UK

Viper's Daughter by Michelle Paver is out now, published by Zephyr (an imprint of Head of Zeus) priced £12.99 in hardback.

• Viper's Daughter is the seventh book in the award-winning series that began with Wolf Brother.
• Selling over 3 million copies with a million copies sold in the UK 
• Published in 36 languages 
• Winner of The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

WOLF BROTHER began the literature journey back in 2004 when the world was a different place for you, I and even the characters. The series continued with another five books, ending in 2009 with GHOST HUNTER. All explored the adventures and the troubles of Torak, Renn, Wolf, their friends and, of course, their enemies. I'm sure that many avid readers (like me) have held the characters in their fantasy hearts for all those years; they have lived on in spirit within us as we have not wanted them to disappear. 

Eleven years have now past and, finally, the characters have been brought to life once again. We have an exciting new adventure full of courage, hope and another dramatic quest to follow and indulge in. On opening VIPER'S DAUGHTER, my heart beat a little faster as I found myself at home once again. The spirits were awoken and continued to live on through another amazing adventure.

The sense of adventure and the human soul are captured with maturity. Michelle Paver's sense of adventure is an absolute joy to read; the landscape and the characters have come of age with her great passion for the outdoors and a great sense of history. The plot has a wonderful sense of drama that is captured in this new episode and could easily be read as a standalone story or as a continuation of this wonderful series.

So, if you have not read any of the other books in the series then what can you expect?

• A setting that is set deep in the past that will have you engrossed and intrigued; 
• Brilliant descriptive detail that transports you to that place and time;
• Characters that are full of warmth, realistic, complex and yet still very relatable;
• A plot full of action, drama and suspense. 

The story is driven by morals, giving the reader a real sense of emotion and dilemma as it pulls the threads tightly through the eye of a storm. Especially, as the darker side of the story deepens and situations become more tricky to deal with. The book has been brilliantly researched - you can tell the author has visited the places depicted in the book. It really helps the readers to resonate with the setting as you visualise the places. The detail is really astounding and, at a time like this, it makes you feel as if you are outdoors in the wilderness living and breathing the story. 

This is your chance to enter a world that will captivate and enthrall you with a large body of work that has already found many readers across the world. The book covers are all wonderful and look brilliant on any bookshelf! I believe another book in the series will be published midway in 2021. These are already a classic (in my opinion) but perhaps they will become even more widely known and cherished as they are being adapted for TELEVISION.

As part of this post, I have included the synopsis to give you an idea of what this book is about. There are also some YOUTUBE Videos for you to watch including an author talk and a reading by Sir Ian McKellen. Finally, I have embedded a link to obtain free readers' notes which are very useful, fun and a great tool for learning. I hope you really enjoy this post and extra materials. Please stay safe and be kind to each other. 

A boy. A wolf. The legend lives on. 

The world of Torak and Renn is that of six thousand years ago: after the Ice Age, but before farming spread to north-west Europe when the land was one vast Forest. The people looked like you or me, but their way of life was very different. They lived in small clans, some staying at a campsite for a few days or moons, others staying put all year round. They didn’t have writing, metals or the wheel – but they didn’t need them. They were superb survivors. They knew all about the animals, trees, plants, and rocks around them. When they wanted something they knew where to find it, or how to make it. Like the previous books in the series, Viper’s Daughter takes place in northern Scandinavia. The wildlife which Torak and Renn encounter on their adventures is appropriate ➔

And don't forget to check out the rest of the blog tour! Details are below:

Viper's Daughter Readers' Notes

Free download perfect for home learning - Download for FREE HERE

Press Release: Michelle Paver - Short Story Challenge - Gods and Warriors: The Burning Shadow - Puffin Books

BESTSELLING AUTHOR PUTS SHORT STORY CHALLENGE TO YOUNG WANNABE WRITERS

Michelle Paver invites youngsters to ‘Write for the Gods’

Gods and Warriors: The Burning Shadow released 1^st August

Young people with a talent for spinning an adventurous yarn are being invited to take part in a unique writing challenge by bestselling novelist Michelle Paver.

To mark the release of her new book, Gods and Warriors: The Burning Shadow, the award-winning children’s author is launching ‘Write for the Gods’, a short story contest offering youngsters of all ages the chance to show off their storytelling skills and scoop some money-can’t-buy prizes.

The Burning Shadow is the second instalment in an epic five-part series transporting readers back to the Mediterranean Bronze Age, most of the research for which was done first hand with Michelle climbing volcanoes and meeting animals – dolphins, falcons and lions – that feature in the stories.

Now the author is calling on young wannabe writers to take inspiration from her books and adventures and submit their own original tale of up to 450 words.

The ten most imaginative and exciting stories – as selected by Michelle herself – will be published online as part of an official Write for the Gods page on social media platform Tumblr, and appear on the new Gods and Warriors website.

Winning entrants will also receive signed copies of The Burning Shadow, as well as a copy of the first book in the Gods and Warriors series, The Outsiders.

Taking part is simple. Just visit http://www.writeforthegods.tumblr.com where you will find some opening lines written by Michelle to get your entry started, along with step by step instructions for sending in your finished story. The first two winners will be revealed on 26 July, with two more unveiled every week until 23 August 2013.

If you’re stuck for a brainwave, Michelle’s top writing tips should come in handy:

Ask yourself: who is my main character? What do they like, hate or fear? Most importantly, what do they want? To escape a lion? Pass a test? Get to safety?

Next, ask: what gets in their way of achieving their aim? An enemy? A blizzard? Self doubt? Putting an obstacle in your character’s way, then deciding how they deal with it, will give you the basis of a story

Now make your story real. If it’s set in a forest, take a walk in one and pretend to be your character. Take notes on whatever strikes you, using all five senses

Then, start writing. Just get something down. (You can either write on paper first, or straight onto a computer, whatever feels right for you.)

Now read your story through as if you were a new reader. Is anything unclear? A bit boring, wordy or unnecessary? Change it! You can rewrite anything. It’s your story. You’re in charge.

Finally, reading your story out loud can really help, especially in writing natural-sounding dialogue

Gods and Warriors: The Burning Shadow is published in Puffin hardback on 1st August 2013. Follow on Twitter @PuffinBooks.