Book Review: Skin Taker
By Emily Price
As with all the books in Michelle Paver’s breathtaking Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, this story will transport you back to the Stone Age to a time when people lived as clans and survived in tune with their surroundings. Through Paver’s meticulous and thoughtful research, she is able to build an entire world from scratch that a reader can understand and relate to despite our modern day being poles apart from this fascinating ancient adventure.
A midwinter disaster in the form of a huge meteorite strike destroys the forest and tumbles Renn, Torak and Wolf into a desolate world. The ‘thunder star’ was unpredicted by mages and clans begin to clash and turn on one another. Animals are left dead, trees are spikes of charcoal in the ground and Renn, Torak and Wolf are forced to face a past evil in the hope they can save the land they love.
Torak’s relationship with his pack brother is what makes Paver’s story telling so iconic and captivating. Sections of the book are told through the eyes, ears and nose of Wolf allowing the reader to understand what it is to run wild and survive in the ancient forest.
The truly original world created by Paver has seen all titles in the series become best sellers. Although this is the eighth book, new readers to the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness can easily enjoy it as a stand-alone novel and delve into a long-ago wild world. Renn, Torak and Wolf are the usual protagonists but characters from previous books make a return, offering a dash of familiarity and comfort for long term fans.
Categories: Reviews