Michelle Paver | |
---|---|
Born | Blantyre, Nyasaland | 7 September 1960
Occupation | Novelist |
Citizenship | British |
Alma mater | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford |
Period | 2000–present |
Genre | |
Notable works | Wolf Brother (2004) |
Notable awards | Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2010 |
Signature | |
Website | |
michellepaver |
Michelle Paver (born 7 September 1960) is a British novelist. She is best known for her children's historical fantasy series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness , set in prehistoric Europe, which started with Wolf Brother , in 2004. It has sold more than 2.5 million copies and has been translated into 30 languages.
Born in Malawi, she moved to England as a young child. Paver started her career as a lawyer, before becoming a full-time writer. She is also the author of the children's series Gods and Warriors, as well as novels for adults, including the Daughters of Eden trilogy and several standalone books.
Michelle Paver was born on 7 September 1960, in Blantyre, Nyasaland (now Malawi), [1] to a Belgian mother and South African father. Her father ran a newspaper, the Nyasaland Times . In 1963, her family moved to Wimbledon, England, where she was educated. Later, after earning a first-class degree in biochemistry from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, she became a solicitor and, after five years, a partner at a City of London law firm. [2]
Paver's father's death in 1996 prompted her to take a one-year sabbatical, during which she travelled around France and America and wrote the first draft of the book, Without Charity. She resigned from legal practice soon after her return, to concentrate on writing. [2]
In 2000, Michelle Paver published her debut adult historical novel, Without Charity (a sweeping tale of betrayal, forbidden love, and family secrets, spanning modern-day London, Edwardian England, and the Boer War), [3] followed by A Place in the Hills (a tale of passion, mystery, and lost treasure, as Antonia's search for the truth behind a Roman poet's riddle intertwines with a love that defies time and tragedy in the hills of Provence), the following year. [4]
Other standalone works include the ghost novel, Dark Matter (2010), a chilling tale of isolation and terror set in the Arctic, which was nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel; [5] Thin Air (2016), a tale of mountaineering and supernatural terror in the Himalayas; [6] and Wakenhyrst (2019), a gothic thriller about a young girl uncovering dark secrets in the Fens. [7] Her forthcoming novel, Rainforest, described as "an 'immersive' companion story to Dark Matter and Thin Air", is set to be published in 2025. [8]
Paver's Daughters of Eden trilogy, was published from 2002 to 2005, consisting of The Shadow Catcher (a tale of betrayal and redemption, as Madeleine journeys from Victorian Scotland to a decaying Jamaican plantation to confront her family's dark legacy), [9] Fever Hill (set in Jamaica in 1903, the story follows Sophie Monroe as she uncovers family secrets and confronts prejudice to save the plantation she loves), [10] and The Serpent's Tooth (set against the backdrop of World War I, the story follows Belle as she battles secrets, tragedy, and war to find love, friendship, and redemption). [11]
In 2004 she published Wolf Brother , the first book in her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series and her first book for children. The book has sold more than 2.5 million copies and has been translated into 30 languages. [12] Paver was paid a reported £2.8 million advance for the first book. [13]
The series is set in prehistoric Northern Europe [14] and is made up of nine novels published from 2004 to 2022. [15] It tells the story of Torak, a twelve-year-old boy who is clanless, and his friends Renn and Wolf. The main story arc revolves around Torak and his quest to defeat the Soul Eaters, a group of evil clan mages who seek out to destroy all life in the forest in which they live. For the sixth book of the series, Ghost Hunter (2009), she won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by a panel of British children's writers. [16]
Paver's second children's series, Gods and Warriors, is set during the Bronze Age. It tells the story of Hylas, a 12-year-old goatherd, whose adventures take him to Ancient Crete and Ancient Egypt, and Pirra, the daughter of a high priestess with a crescent-shaped scar on her cheek. The story crucially features animals in the plot – a lion, a falcon and a dolphin: the dolphin from the first book, the lion from the second book onwards and the falcon from the third book onwards. [17]
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Chronicles of Ancient Darkness is a series of historical fantasy novels by the British author Michelle Paver and her first books for children. The books chronicle the adventures of Torak, an adolescent boy, and his friends Renn and Wolf. The main story arc revolves around Torak and his quest to defeat the Soul Eaters, a group of power hungry mages who seek out to destroy all life in the forest. Paver has called it simply "a single story: the tale of Torak's discovery of himself and his world."
Wolf Brother is the first book in the series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness written by Michelle Paver and illustrated by Geoff Taylor. Wolf Brother takes place six thousand years ago during the Middle Stone Age, and tells the story of twelve-year-old Torak, a boy who can talk to wolves. The book was published in 2004 by Orion Children's Books.
Marie Brennan is the pseudonym of Bryn Neuenschwander, an American fantasy author. Her works include the Doppelganger duology ; the Onyx Court series; the Memoirs of Lady Trent series; and numerous short stories.
"The Shadow Kingdom" is a fantasy novelette by American writer Robert E. Howard, the first of his Kull stories, set in his fictional Thurian Age. It was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in August 1929.
Ghost Hunter is the sixth book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series written by British author Michelle Paver and illustrated by Geoff Taylor. The book was released on 20 August 2009 in the United Kingdom.
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Spirit Walker is the second book in the series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness written by Michelle Paver and illustrated by Geoff Taylor. The plot follows Torak and his friends travelling to the mysterious Seal Islands to find a cure for a terrible sickness circulating throughout the forest in which they live.
Soul Eater is the third book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series written by Michelle Paver and illustrated by Geoff Taylor.
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Outcast is a 2007 children's fantasy adventure novel written by Michelle Paver and illustrated by Geoff Taylor. It is the fourth book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. It is preceded by Wolf Brother (2004), Spirit Walker (2005), and Soul Eater (2006), and followed by Oath Breaker (2008), Ghost Hunter (2009), Viper's Daughter (2020), Skin Taker (2021), and Wolfbane (2022).
Oath Breaker is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series written by Michelle Paver and illustrated by Geoff Taylor. It was published in 2008 by Orion Children's Books.
Bibliography of British science fiction and fantasy writer Tanith Lee:
Novel ... Finalists: Dark Matter, Michelle Paver (Orion) ...