Spirit Walker

Name: Spirit Walker
Author: Michelle Paver
ISBN: 9781842551134

by Michelle Paver

Ages 9–12 Reading age 10 Novel Set in the past adventurousepic

A sickness is spreading through the clans, and Torak crosses the sea to the Seal Clan to find a cure that nobody there wants to give him.

A story about children and animals, adventurous and epic in tone. We would put it with children of 9–12, and at a reading age of about 10 for reading alone.

Worth knowing before you buy

Mild peril
A character dies

None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.

Part of a series

This is book 2 of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.

Our take on this book

In the second of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, a mysterious sickness is spreading through the clans of the prehistoric forest, and Torak leaves his home to find a cure — a journey that takes him to the sea and the seal clan, and deep into the mystery of who he really is, with his wolf-brother never far away. Michelle Paver's Stone Age saga is superbly researched and utterly immersive: a world of six thousand years ago rendered so vividly you can smell the forest, with genuine peril, a strong thread of the mystical, and the deep bond between boy and wolf at its heart. There is real danger and some darkness, so it suits a confident reader ready for a substantial, atmospheric adventure. For a nine- to twelve-year-old already gripped by Wolf Brother, it is a worthy second book, best read in sequence, and it keeps readers locked into one of the most vivid and exciting series going.