Chronicles of Ancient Darkness is a six book historical fantasy series by
British author, Michelle Paver. The series consists of Wolf Brother, Spirit Walker,
Soul Eater, Outcast, Oath Breaker and
Ghost Hunter. It is aimed at younger
readers, but can be enjoyed by a range of ages. We follow a twelve-year-old
boy, named Torak, who has spent most of his life living alone with his father. His
life is shattered when his father is killed by a bear, and he must go on a
journey to fulfil his father’s dying wish. As always, I will not be going into
any plot details to avoid possible spoilers.
This series is set during the Mesolithic period, or the Middle Stone Age, so roughly 6,000 years ago on the European continent. The world is divided into clans and each clan is represented by an animal: Wolf Clan, Raven Clan, Salmon Clan, etc. Each member of a clan is marked by distinctive tattoos and they hold their clan animal in high regard. The Raven Clan have three fine blue lines across each cheek, while the Wolf Clan have two dotted blue lines across each cheekbone. This is one of my favourite things about this series. I don’t know a lot about this time period, but it feels realistic. It is very clear that Paver put in a lot of research into these books and the world is incredibly vivid as a result. Throughout the series you get to explore more of the world and there is a fantastic map provided. If you enjoy good worldbuilding, then you need to check this series out. I haven’t read many fantasy books, if any, with settings like this one.
The series has
a fantastic cast of characters. Torak is a young boy at the start of this
series and we get to see him grow as a person in each book. The same can be
said for his companions, Renn, a young Raven clan girl, and Wolf, a wolf Torak
found as a cub. From very early on you become invested in their story and you
come to really care from them throughout the books.
Paver has done a fantastic job at creating well written characters with distinct personalities and interesting back stories. The development of the relationships is also very well done. In particular Torak’s relationships with Wolf and Renn. There are just a lot of fantastic characters in this series. Both the main protagonists and secondary characters are so well written.
Each book is as compelling as the last and Paver does a great job of weaving all of the plot threads together. There is plenty of action and twists woven into the story too. The pacing is good throughout and the writing is fantastic. We mainly follow the perspective of Torak, but Wolf also has a few chapters from his perspective sprinkled into the books. These switches are well done and do not disrupt the flow of the story. It also adds an interesting viewpoint, as it shows us the events of the book through the eyes of a wolf. I first read these books when I was young, and they have remained one of my favourite series to this day.
Overall
this is a fantastic series set in a unique world with well written characters
and compelling plot. I have reread this series a few times and have enjoyed it
every time. I definitely recommend checking it out, if you haven’t already,
especially if you are interested in this time period or love fantasy with
animal companions. An audiobook version is also available, which is narrated by
Ian McKellen. Chronicles of Ancient Darkness is well worth a read and, in my
opinion, is quite an underrated series.
On March 18th, 2019, Paver announced on her YouTube channel that she is working on three sequels set after the events of Ghost Hunter. The first, The Viper’s Daughter, is set to be published in spring 2020 by Head of Zeus. Artwork for the cover and interior illustrations will be by the original series artists, John Fordham and Geoff Taylor.
Jennie Ivins
Julia Kitvaria Sarene