Torak’s world is a land of spirits, tall forests, wolves, ravens, mages and nature’s magic. He is a hunter but respectful of his kills, using all of the animal and honoring nature afterwards. He loves his life with his partner Renn and his wolf brother (Wolf) in their home in the forest.

One morning after 5 years together, Torak discovers that Renn has left. There is no warning, no note and no reason, and when he learns that his friends knew she was going to leave, he’s angry at all of them. She decided to leave after terrible dreams about his death, and after a few accidents that have happened recently. She believes something is causing these accidents and making her put his life at risk. Fuming at being kept from her worries, he sets off after her with his wolf brother at his side.

Both Torak and Renn discover a riddle that underlines their journey.

To find what you seek

you must put the island of wings to flight

and cross the forest in the treeless land.

You must save the past by burning the present.

The journey that Renn takes, with Torak desperate to find her; is not only rife with the dangers of the Stone Age, ice bears, other clans and even lumbering mammoths, there are demons both known and unknown who want nothing more to be free to consume the souls of the living. Renn soon realises there has been trickery afoot and she has to outsmart the trickster in order to survive.

Torak and Renn find themselves in a place they never dreamed they’d see – a land of molten rock, exposing the fiery demons beneath, wanting to snatch their lives at every step.

An afterword by the author confirmed my guestimate of when Viper’s Daughter is set. It is based on real places, and bird and animal life of 6,000 years ago, after the Ice Age in Northern Scandinavia. I particularly liked seeing this world seething with life and lessons to be learnt if you want to survive – through the eyes of character Wolf.

I also enjoyed the fact that although this is no.7 in a series, it is perfectly readable on its own, the characters and setting richly drawn and a plot that pulls you through to the action-packed climax and satisfying conclusion. Well worth discovering an ancient but magical world that can be further explored in books 1-6.

Author – Michelle Paver

Age – 8+

(2020, Bloomsbury, Love, Action, Historical, Animals, Betrayal, Conflict, Courage, Magic, Series, Mammoth, Danger, Journey, Demon, Clans, Hunter, Ice, Wolves)