Viper's Daughter: 7 (Wolf Brother)

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Here’s my photo of Torak (on the right) with a wolf called Mai, who we think inspired the wolf character Darkfur in the books! Are we right Michelle?? I love the series so much, it’s all about adventure, friendships, clans, demons and Soul Eaters! I love it because I see myself a bit in all of the main characters – loyal, fun, adventurous, wild and slightly stubborn! Born in Malawi to a Belgian mother and a father who ran the tiny ‘Nyasaland Times’, Michelle moved to the UK when she was three. She was brought up in Wimbledon and, following a Biochemistry Degree from Oxford University, she became a partner in a big City law firm. She gave up the City to follow her long-held dream of becoming a writer.

If you’ve read my recent list of brilliant adventure books for 8 to 12 year olds, you’ll know that we’re HUGE fans of Michelle Paver’s exhilarating six-book Wolf Brother/Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (COAD). Perfect for children in UKS2 and KS3, this is a fantastically unique fantasy story which speaks to heart, mind, body and soul. A story in the vein of the greatest and oldest adventure epics, and importantly, one that raises many pertinent questions for our own life and times. I shall certainly be seeking out the other books in this series, such was the excellence of this one.” Whispering Stories was established in 2015. The blog is here to share our love of books and the bookish world, alongside our other passions in life. We are based in the UK.

Viper's Daughter

The sequel finds Torak once again battling demons (literally and figuratively) on a quest to save Renn who has mysteriously disappeared. After six similar storylines (think Star Wars), the series could have been in danger of becoming formulaic but Michelle’s wolf-like nose for storytelling and faith in extravagant adventures results in yet another fresh, exciting and inspiring tale.

I also went to literally the edge of the world to outer Siberia, up through the Bering Straights to somewhere called Wrangel Island, which was the last home of the woolly mammoth. Of course I didn’t see any mammoths, but we did find a tusk embedded in a riverbed which went into the story, and lots of polar bears! One day a few of us were in a rubber dinghy bobbing around on the sea at the bottom of a cliff, and suddenly one of us looked up and there we saw a polar bear standing right at the edge of the cliff looking down at us, clearly thinking “how do I get down so I can eat these people?” and that’s something else that’s gone into the story.When she mysteriously disappears, Torak and Wolf brave the Far North to find her. At the mercy of the Sea Mother and haunted by ravenous ice bears, their quest leads them to the Edge of the World. There they must face an enemy more evil than any they’ve encountered… Parents, you’re going to need to buy this book and, unfortunately for your wallets, probably the previous six in the series if your offspring haven’t already read them!” Join me at Kids of the Wild to discover how to get your kids outside more, spark a lifelong love of nature together & enjoy everything the great outdoors has to offer.

Viper’s Daughter transports us along with Torak & Co on a journey farther north than they have ever been before, to where the cold white sun never sets and the last mammoths are struggling for survival. Viper’s Daughter is the long-awaited sequel to the Wolf Brother series and to the delight of ardent fans it turns out to be the first in a trilogy! Why not pin me to read later? The first is of course that Torak and Renn are hunter gatherers. Everything they need to survive – that’s food, weapons, clothes, shelter – they’ve got to find or make from what’s just around them in the forest, so they really know the animals and plants around them because they depend on them. Our copy arrived on the doorstep last week. Witness below 👇 the joy of a 10-year old on opening it, newly published and desperately awaited. Do I need to add much more to our book review than this?! Michelle’s clean, simple descriptions of nature and the natural environment bring a gentle, comforting richness to the reading experience.I wrote it both for existing fans of the Wolf Brother books and for new readers who want a rich, immersive adventure in an entirely different world. And I do mean adventure! As with the other Wolf Brother books, my aim is to make the reader unable to put it down. It’s a historical adventure series about clans and bone-kin. In some of Torak’s first adventures he finds himself alone, his parents are dead and he has always lived apart from the clans. He happens upon a lone wolf cub and together they begin their journey to destroy demons and break the Soul Eaters, with the help of their Mage friend Renn. Equity between male and female is a surprising theme in the story. And for one character it is a story of emancipation and empowerment – an important storyline for children living in a modern society which still has some way to go before fairness reigns. I’d never planned to write another Wolf Brother book, but Torak, Renn and Wolf simply didn’t leave me. Also, fans of the books never stopped asking, “Please please can you write another one?” Then a few years ago I was in arctic Norway, trudging through the snow, when I saw the aurora borealis pointing north. That gave me such a strong idea for a story that I had to write it. As for reservations about returning to Torak’s world, I had none whatsoever, because I knew I had a great new story – and a stonkingly good villain. In COAD we watched Torak grow from a Stone-Age boy of 12 summers to the teen that he is when Viper’s Daughter is set, two years after the the end of the last book, Ghost Hunter.

How did you feel about returning to the world of Torak, Renn and Wolf? Were you excited? Did you have any reservations?Lucy has a lifelong passion for nature & the transforming benefits of getting outside, especially since her daughter's cancer diagnosis in 2017. She loves walking, travelling & exploring with her family, dog & camper van. She helped rescue 28 swans & set up a Forest School in 2002 & cries every time she sees a whale in the wild! Lucy aims to inspire families to connect with nature & love the great outdoors All the characters immediately feel real, so does their world. The stories are always twisty and exciting – you think the end is coming but no, more twists, more adventure! I was excited to see that the eighth book in the series will be published in 2021. Can you give us any clues about what’s going to happen?