Wolf Brother
The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, Book 1
Michelle Paver
HarperTrophy
Fiction, MG Adventure/Fantasy
Themes: Bonded Companions, Canids, Cross-Genre, Ghosts and Spirits, Prehistoric Animals, Wilderness Tales
****
Description
In the primeval forests of the ancient past, young Torak grew up alone in the wildlands with his hunter father, learning the voices of bird and beast, tree and stone. When the demon-bear came, slaughtering man and beast indiscriminately, Torak had no clan to turn to after his Fa fell before the monster's mighty claws. The only hope of defeating the monster lies in seeking the aid of the World Spirit, at its mighty mountain in the cold north... but the Prophecy which sends Torak on his quest, guided by a wolf pup with whom he shares an unusual bond, may be read in many ways, some of which call for Torak's death.
Review
As one of the few humans on the planet who evidently enjoyed Disney's Brother Bear, I figured I'd give Paver's prehistoric magic-adventure tale - set in a similar magical dawn-of-mankind world - a try. It moved fairly quickly. Torak's world, pieced together by the author from archaeology, study of surviving primitive tribal culture, and a healthy dose of artistic license, is full of primeval wonders and dangers, though the way people keep withholding information about his father's past and the all-important Prophecy had the faintest whiff of an author padding a story. Still, Torak and Wolf have a decent adventure, with plenty of action and danger.