It’s a darker story than many of those that have come before, with the Forest devastated by a disaster that throws the clans’ way of life into disarray and pushes the characters to their limits of despair.

Skin Taker, fortunately, is a triumphant return to form in that regard. Viper’s Daughter, released last year, assuaged some of those fears, yet it still felt distinctly different in style to the original six. When Michelle Paver announced a continuation trilogy ten years after Ghost Hunter ‘ended’ the series in 2010, I had concerns that it would slip into what I’ve come to term ‘Cursed Child’ syndrome - when an author tries to continue a series years after its end and it ends up feeling like fan fiction. Is this series objectively better than some of the literary masterpieces I’ve read over the years? Probably not, yet I’d still rank it above most of those classics. I think everyone has books like that, though: the ones that seem as though they were written specifically for you, that speak to your interests and passions and contain worlds you can entirely lose yourself in. In a way it sculpted who I am as both a reader and writer, and as such I’m aware that rose-tinted glasses is an understatement.

'Can easily be read as a standalone novel, so skilful is the storytelling.I suppose I should start with a disclaimer that I’m pretty much incapable of being objective with this series I first discovered the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness in primary school and it was the first series that I fell in love with. SKIN TAKER: read it as a standalone or part of the series and be carried back to the Stone Age, to nature, drawing you deeper into an astonishing environment and adventure which began with WOLF BROTHER and has captivated millions of readers. And as a new evil haunts the devastated land, Torak must risk his sanity, his life and even his souls to save everything he loves. With their world in turmoil, Torak, Renn and Wolf are tested as never before. Bears woken from their dens prowl the shadowy valleys.

In the Dark Time of midwinter, disaster strikes the Forest. The Clans will be tested as never before, as they battle to find ways to survive and thrive in their beloved Forest. Danger, magic and non stop adventure await Torak, Renn and Wolf. Run wild with Wolf Brother in a Stone Age world we all want to be a part of with million-copy-selling author, Michelle Paver.

Skin taker michelle paver