Thousands of years ago an orphan boy and his wolf cub companion challenge a demon bear that threatens to destroy their world forever. With the help of the World Spirit, Torak destroys the bear, but his beloved Wolf is lost in the ensuing avalanche. And Torak's quest is far from over. A strange, creeping sickness, silent and deadly, is threatening the Ravens, whose leader Finn Kedinn has told Torak something of his history. Word arrives that the Seal Clan have the cure and Torak must face a lonely journey across treacherous terrain alive with menace and danger to find it. He must search for the rare herb which is part of the cure and find it by Midsummer. On the Seal's Island he stumbles into a world utterly unlike his own. And here Torak is welcomed by the kindly Seal Mage, Teneris, and kinsman, Bale. But all is not as it seems - Torak must keep his wits about him to judge who might be friend or foe, to face the dark art of the Soul Eaters, who haunt him even in his dreams, and to master his fears.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Michelle Paver was born in central Africa but went to England as a child. After earning a degree in biochemistry from Oxford University, she became a partner in a London law firm but eventually gave that up to write full-time. The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series came from Michelle's lifelong passions for animals, anthropology, and the distant past-as well as an encounter with a large bear in a remote valley in Southern California. To research the books, Michelle has traveled to Finland, Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Arctic Canada, and the Carpathian Mountains. She has slept on reindeer skins, swum with wild killer whales, and gotten nose to nose with polar bears--and, of course, wolves. The first four books have been made into widely acclaimed audiobooks, read by Ian McKellen.
