Ghost Hunter - Michelle Paver
Ghost Hunter - Michelle Paver
If, like me, you have followed Torak and Wolf’s adventures in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness for years, you will have been awaiting this sixth and final instalment with bated breath. If you haven’t yet read the other books, or haven’t in some time, I recommend that you do before reading this one – not just because they’re brilliant, but because ‘Ghost Hunter’ does not provide much back-story, and the plot (and probably this review) can get confusing if you don’t know what’s happened before.
The clans are being plagued by fear of Eostra, the eagle-owl mage, and Torak sets out to find her. Despite intending to go alone, he ends up being accompanied, as usual, by his faithful pack-brother Wolf, and his friend Renn. All through their journey, they battle Eostra’s dark magic and their own doubts, fears and grief. Renn is disturbed by a prophecy regarding Torak, and her own feeling s for him, Wolf’s loyalty to his pack-brother is tested by the crippling loss he endures, and Torak himself struggles with the guilt of leading his friends into danger and fear of his own fate. When, at last, they reach the mountains where Eostra is hiding, they face an apocalyptic struggle to destroy the last piece of the fire-opal and break the power of the Soul Eaters for ever.
There is a lot of reference to the previous books in the series, particularly the first one, ‘Wolf Brother’; old characters reappear and old riddles resurface. The plot has some interesting twists; enough that we don’t know how things can possibly resolve themselves in the end, but not so many that it becomes confusing. All the strands of the story do eventually come together and make for a wonderful ending to an epic series of books.
As usual, the themes of friendship and sacrifice are strong, and the descriptions of hunting and tracking and living in the world of six thousand years ago are as vivid and interesting as ever. In this story, Torak travels from the familiar Forest out to the High Mountains, where there are new challenges and ways of surviving. This has always been one of my favourite aspects of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness – the fascinating ways in which people survived before cars and thermal socks and nylon rope. Michelle Paver has always been good at bringing these things to life, and Ghost Hunter is no disappointment.
I’m going to miss the Forest and the clans, now that the series is over. The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness are aimed at younger teens, but I still love them aged nearly-sixteen, and I don’t think I’ll outgrow them anytime soon.
Kitty
