Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69397 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-06
• Released on: 2006-09-06
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Rowan Stanfield, CAROUSEL
'Elegantly written and imaginatively executed, Soul Eater, is darker and edgier than the first two books, stepping up the face of this excellent series and promising plenty more adventures to come.'

Review
'The detailed research into prehistory and the matchless storytelling combine to create an irresistable feast for readers and it's easy to see why these books are so addictive.' (Becky Stradwick, Borders THE BOOKSELLER )

[being compared to William Nicholson's Jango] 'exceptional storytelling... Both Paver and Nicholson create fully realised fictional worlds that are far removed from our own but utterly relevant and convincing. I eagerly await the next installments.' (Angela Lockton, The Golden Treasury THE BOOKSELLER )

'Paver is a master storyteller, whose clear, taut prose overlies complex research. There is magic, but it is natural magic, depending on perception or superstition... The thrill of this remarkable series is that it makes readers percieve the world differently.' (Amanda Craig THE TIMES )

'Paver has a flair and a directness that really packs a punch... readers get a real sense of what it would be like to be in Torak's shoes.' (LIVERPOOL ECHO )

'exhilarating... Torak's trusty companion, Wolf, is captured by the Soul Eaters. The brilliance of Paver's earlier books lay in her descriptions of life as a wolf, and in the tender relationship between boy and lupine. But if this is pushed off centre, it is almost made up for by Torak's nuanced friendship with the girl, Renn... Readers of eight and above will find the story gripping.' (Lorna Bradbury DAILY TELEGRAPH )

'This is a marvellous book. It really, really is. It's a living, breathing, world of a story, perfectly realised and never missing a beat.' (Jill Murphy THEBOOKBAG.CO.UK )

'This was a very gripping book and had me on tenterhooks 'til the end! It was so well written that you could really believe these were the thoughts and feelings of a wolf.' (Lucy Howlett, age 12 FIRST NEWS )

'Much anticipated third novel in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness sries. Both feral and otherworldly... strange and thrilling with a huge following.' (THE BOOK MAGAZINE )

'A wonderfully imagined adventure... left me enlightened, moved and optimistic. (Gaye Hicyilmaz TES )

'a story with a relatively small cast of characters and a single narrative trajectory, yet Paver find interest and excitement everywhere. The excitement of the surface adventure draws extra power from Paver's creation of a way of life, myth and magic that is rooted in people's relationship with an unyielding environment... a triumph of the imagination.' (Clive Barnes BOOKS FOR KEEPS )

'Once I had picked up the book I could not put it down and I read till long past my bedtime and every morning. I was in Torak's world all day and in my bed I go over what I have read and guess what will happen next. It is so unpredicatable that I was almost always wrong! It was a thrilling read!' (Hugh (age 11) FAMILIES SOUTH WEST )

'consistently superb... meticulously realised...' (Amanda Craig THE TIMES )

'Soul Eater crackles with atmosphere.' (Julia Eccleshare THE GUARDIAN )

'The third book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series and it is one of the best... Soul Eater is an amazing book.' (Benjy Taylor (age 10) INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

'Once I had picked up the book I could not put it down and I read till long past my bedtime and every morning. I was in Torak's world all day and in my head I go over what I have read and guess what will happen next. It is so unpredictable that I was almost always wrong! It was a thrilling read!' (Hugh (aged 11) MY CHILD )

'Elegantly written and imaginatively executed, Soul Eater, is darker and edgier than the first two books, stepping up the face of this excellent series and promising plenty more adventures to come.' (Rowan Stanfield CAROUSEL )

Julia Eccleshare, THE GUARDIAN
'Soul Eater crackles with atmosphere.'

Customer Reviews

Edge of your seat.
Soul Eater! The name is intriguing itself, you don't know whats to come in this book, but that is what makes its more scary, because it just consistently surprises you which keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering whats going to happen next, these books are brilliant! And I'm sure Michelle Paver will keep on writing!

A considerable improvement.
I enjoyed Wolf Brother but hated Spirit Walker and I was weary that this entry in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series was going to be just as meandering and slow. Fortunately it's not and it's just as good as the first book.

Wolf is kidnapped by the evil Soul Eaters so Torak and Renn must chase after them into The Far North to rescue him. Their chase brings them to the Eye of the Viper, a cave deep, deep in a mountain where the Soul Eaters have made their lair and intend to sacrifice 9 hunters to unleash demon hoardes under their control upon the world.

The mythology is getting a tad out of hand though. I don't know whether these forest people simply don't understand science and physics and mistake everything for fate, miracles and magic or if it's just their ancient point of view trying to make sense of it. That complaint aside, it's a good book that you'll not want to put down until you've finished it. It's way more fast moving than Spirit Walker and brings the COAD series back on track.

Huh? How could anyone think this series should end here?
I've said it before and I'll say it again the Harry Potter similarities are all good.
There are more of those evil soul eaters out there to deal with;
much in the same way as Harry still has Horcruxes to find, poor Torak cannot rest until he has sorted out the remaining soul eaters.
The series should be six or seven books surely and I for one cannot wait to get stuck into the next instalment "OUTCAST".
But it will have to wait until after the Deathly Hallows since Outcast is apparently due out 6th Sept in paperback??? (What, no hardback first?)