Viper: Book 1 (Isles of Storm and Sorrow)

Product Information

All the characters immediately feel real, so does their world. The stories are always twisty and exciting – you think the end is coming but no, more twists, more adventure! If you’ve read my recent list of brilliant adventure books for 8 to 12 year olds, you’ll know that we’re HUGE fans of Michelle Paver’s exhilarating six-book Wolf Brother/Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (COAD). Written between 2004 and 2009, we only discovered them last year and Caroline tore through all six in a matter of weeks (as did I!), loving every immersive minute. Caroline even named her new kitten Torak after the main character! Caroline and our Torak reading Viper’s Daughter I love the series so much, it’s all about adventure, friendships, clans, demons and Soul Eaters! I love it because I see myself a bit in all of the main characters – loyal, fun, adventurous, wild and slightly stubborn! Oh, and the other big news? The entire Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series is to be made into a TV series. It’s going to be epic! Meeting the ‘Real’ Torak

The book can be read as a standalone story though I think it’s better to read the entire series! It’s actually quite hard to give the storyline of the book without giving any spoiler of the previous books. Let’s give it a go though: Marianne has been training to be the Viper for her entire life - to serve and protect the King and the citizens of The Twelve Isles - but to become the Viper and protect the islands she loves she must find the strength to defeat her father.Viper’s Daughter is the long-awaited sequel to the Wolf Brother series and to the delight of ardent fans it turns out to be the first in a trilogy! Why not pin me to read later? The UK Wolf Conservation Trust is no longer open to the public but at the time of writing Torak is alive and well and living a very contented life. If only he knew how inspirational that life has been! Here’s my photo of Torak (on the right) with a wolf called Mai, who we think inspired the wolf character Darkfur in the books! Are we right Michelle?? So before you hear what I thought of the book, here is Caroline’s review, penned within hours of receiving Viper’s Daughter by post (and submitted to school via Google classroom, during the time of Coronavirus Covid-19!) Lucy has a lifelong passion for nature & the transforming benefits of getting outside, especially since her daughter's cancer diagnosis in 2017. She loves walking, travelling & exploring with her family, dog & camper van. She helped rescue 28 swans & set up a Forest School in 2002 & cries every time she sees a whale in the wild! Lucy aims to inspire families to connect with nature & love the great outdoors

But the reigning Viper stands in her way. Corrupt and merciless, he prowls the seas in his warship, killing with impunity, leaving only pain and suffering in his wake. Caroline’s excitement at the prospect of the ongoing story has been palpable ever since; Michelle Paver’s writing really does have this effect. Viper’s Daughter by Michelle Paver

First Edition Hardcover

Join me at Kids of the Wild to discover how to get your kids outside more, spark a lifelong love of nature together & enjoy everything the great outdoors has to offer. A big apology for this one, wild parents, but you’re going to need to buy this book and, unfortunately for your wallets, probably the previous six in the series if your offspring haven’t already read them! (links at the bottom) Our copy arrived on the doorstep last week. Witness below 👇 the joy of a 10-year old on opening it, newly published and desperately awaited. Do I need to add much more to our book review than this?! In COAD we watched Torak grow from a Stone-Age boy of 12 summers to the teen that he is when Viper’s Daughter is set, two years after the the end of the last book, Ghost Hunter. Outdoor Mum, lover of nature& the wild, and parent of a childhood cancer survivor. I LOVE being outdoors & have experienced the benefits of nature & the wild during serious illness.

Wild wishes to you all for an unforgettable reading expedition into the ancient world of Torak, Wolf and Renn!

Viper’s Daughter is set in the Stone Age, in the forests of the northern hemisphere, about Torak, a boy, Renn, a girl, and Wolf – a Wolf! This is the seventh book in a series of nine, I’ve read the whole book in about ⅔ of a day (it arrived yesterday!) After finishing Viper’s Daughter she’ll undoubtedly read it a couple more times in the coming months and she is now gutted to have to wait a year for the next book. First Edition Hardcover One of the things I love about Viper’s Daughter is that Michelle continues the brilliant educational value within the storylines. Torak and his companions are fictitious but the pre-historic world they inhabit is painstakingly researched by the author’s first-hand exploration into similar landscapes in our own times. I’m not in any way in the slightest little bit at all jealous honestly… Michelle’s clean, simple descriptions of nature and the natural environment bring a gentle, comforting richness to the reading experience.