Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #6: Ghost Hunter

Written by Michelle Paver

Narrated by Ian McKellan

Her cry rips the souls from your marrow. With her spear she snares them. She devours them. Eostra truly is an eater of souls.

Winter is coming. Souls' Night draws near. Eostra, the Eagle Owl Mage, holds the clans in the grip of terror. Torak must leave the Forest and seek her lair in the Mountain of Ghosts, while Renn faces an agonizing decision. Wolf, their faithful pack-brother, must overcome wrenching grief. And in the final battle against the forces of darkness, Torak will make the most shattering choice of all.

Ghost Hunter, the final book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, draws the reader for the last time into the shadowy world of the deep past and brings Torak to the end of his incredible journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780061984013

Michelle Paver

Michelle Paver was born in central Africa, but moved to England as a child. After earning a degree in biochemistry from Oxford University, she became a partner in a London law firm, but eventually gave that up to write full-time. Chronicles of Ancient Darkness arises from her lifelong passions for animals, anthropology, and the distant past. It was also inspired by her travels in Norway, Lapland, Iceland, and the Carpathian Mountains—and particularly by an encounter with a large bear in a remote valley in Southern California.

Reviews for Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #6

[deslivres5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Final book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series.While I thoroughly enjoyed the series as a whole,this final book seemed a bit rushed to me, theresolution against the final, extremelypowerful Soul Eater ended too quickly. Maybe I just wanted the storyof Torak and Renn and Wolf to be prolonged a bit more.I enjoyed the life lesson situations faced by the variouscharacters and the beautiful, descriptive writing detailing theenvironments.

[waterdropfraz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For me this book proves to be a great ending to the series 'Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'. I really enjoyed it for the unique content of the Ancient people who lived off the land, a subject I didn't know much about before reading this. I also found myself hooked to the interesting characters right until the end; I was sad to read the final page as I knew it would be the last of the beloved story which followed Torak, Renn and Wolf's adventures and feits against evil forces.I think the story was well concluded, but prehaps a bit rushed as a lot of information towards the end came very quickly and was hard to process. Also, I would have liked to have seen Torak and Renn's story continue, but all things have to come to an end eventually.All in all, it's deffinatly worth the read.

[sarahlh-41506 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A brilliant and entertaining conclusion to the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, full of action and drama and ancient magics. Should satisfy any long-term fan of the series; I hope Michelle Paver returns to this fictional 'verse sometime in the future.

[spud2000 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book see's the last of the Soul Eaters, but Tarok's life is in grave danger. A great conclusion for the current story. Will there be more?

[kmstock · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The final book in an excellent series. I picked the first in this series up and starting reading when my daughter was busy playing in the library and didn't want to leave, and I've read all of them now. All are difficult to put down, but nice and quick to read, great stories, ultimately a battle between good and evil set in ancient times when people lived in tribes that subscribed to totemic animals. The stories follow Torak and Renn, two children/teenagers who battle the forces of darkness. Highly recommended for children (not too young, because they are a bit scarey at times!) and adults.

[imperfectcj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, this book totally redeems the series. It is at least as well done as the first book of the series (Wolf Brother).

With as little as I liked the fourth and fifth books in this series, I wonder if I just don't like middle books. I'm one of those people who thinks The Empire Strikes Back is incredibly boring, and I'd just rather get to the Ewoks, thank you very much. (Incidentally, I also still think of the Star Wars movies as a trilogy. They start with IV and end with VI, and that's enough for me.) It's possible that's what's gone on with this series for me.

So, what do I think is better about this book?

More vivid descriptions. I was able to visualize the setting again like I wasn't able to when I read the fourth and fifth books. The moths, the ice storm, the craggy mountain trails, the forest, the reindeer...I could see them all.

Tighter plot. Maybe it's because Paver knew she was wrapping up the series with this book, but it's just put together better than the book before it. I could see the trajectory of the story and there didn't seem to be as many distractions. And Paver brought back elements from the first books and kind of tied things together, which can sometimes be cheesy or tedious, this was neither tedious nor cheesy. Except for one character towards the end who seemed a little tacked on, Paver showed in an un-forced way how things all fit together.

Of course, this might be a bit misleading for younger readers because it implies that greater clarity comes with age, which I've not found to be the case, at least not in any dramatic way. But that's a flaw of many books for teens/young adults. And what's really the alternative? A book that admits that the confusion and fear kids feel isn't likely to go away, but instead just morph as time passes? That no answers are revealed when they pass through the veil to adulthood? That there in fact isn't even a veil to pass through and you don't even know you're a grown-up until suddenly one day you realize you have been for a while now and you totally missed the transition? Even I wouldn't read a book like that. Or I guess I would---it's actually the kind of literary fiction towards which I usually gravitate---I just wouldn't read it to my eight-year-old.

Better characterization. I think this is mostly because there are fewer characters in this book. We're back to, mostly, the primary characters of the series, and Paver does a very good job showing the motivations behind their actions (or inaction). I wanted to find out what they were going to do and I cared what happened to them, which is always a good quality for a book. And I loved the role Fin-Kedinn played in this one. He's a class act, that one.

Reading Oath Breaker, I was motivated to read quickly because I just wanted to finish it (which I know is a horrible thing to say about the hard work of an author, but that was my experience). With Ghost Hunter I read it quickly because I was drawn from one chapter to the next. I didn't want to put it down until I'd read the whole story. It was a strong way to end the series. Even if it did mess up my bed time.