A BOY. A WOLF. THE LEGEND LIVES ON...

Over 3 million copies sold worldwide

Over 1 million copies sold in the UK

Winner of Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize

Published in 36 languages

The legend returns...

We were thrilled when we heard that, after a hiatus of over a decade, Michelle Paver was continuing the adventures of Wolf Brother. Viper's Daughter, the seventh book in the series, is a triumph of storytelling, myth and adventure taking us back in to the Stone Age world of Torak, Renn and Wolf. We were intrigued to find out more & Michelle shared a few secrets....

What made you return to the world of Wolf Brother? And how did you balance that with ensuring that Viper's Daughter can be read as a standalone story for a new generation of readers?

I'd never planned to write another Wolf Brother book, but the characters wouldn't leave me alone, they were always there at the back of my mind.  Also, fans of the books never stopped asking me to write another one. Then a few years ago I was in Arctic Norway and I saw the Northern Lights.  They were like a giant green arrow pointing north.  That gave me an idea, which became Viper's Daughter.

I wanted the story to appeal both to existing fans and to new readers who have never read the previous books - so I kept the story simple.  Renn goes missing.  To find her, Torak and Wolf must journey out of the Forest and beyond the Far North, to a hostile land of ice caves, volcanoes and mammoths... My aim was to create a rich, immersive adventure that's so exciting that readers of any age can't put it down.

Not to give anything away, but the plot of Viper's Daughter centres around Renn. What made you want to give her the lead in the book?

You know, I don't think she's really the lead, as she and Torak play equally active parts; but you're right that she kicks off the story.  When I started thinking about these new books, I re-read the first six, and I realised that Torak and Renn still had quite a lot of emotional fallout to deal with.  So it wasn't hard to work out the challenge Renn must face in Viper's Daughter. And in the next book, Skin Taker, the focus will be more on what Torak has to deal with from his past.

You introduce a new clan called the Narwal Clan. Are there any lessons to be learned from their way of life that could be useful for teachers?

I'm not a teacher, so I can't predict what they'll find useful, but I'm always fascinated by the imaginative ways in which they use my stories.  The Narwal Clan inhabits the treeless lands of the Far North, and they give their children the toughest of upbringings.  Boys must drag a walrus skull up and down a hill, to make them stronger; and they're raised by their uncles, rather than their fathers, as uncles punish more harshly!  But the Narwals do this for a reason: they survive by hunting walrurses, which are incredibly dangerous. Hunting them in a six-man boat requires absolute obedience, so discipline is vital.

Having said that, the White Fox Clan, who also feature in the story and also live in the Far North, are completely different: they never discipline their children.  I based them on the traditional Inuit way of life, while the Narwals were inspired by the Chukchi of Siberia.  Torak and Renn come across many different clans in their adventures, with wildly differing customs and beliefs.  But all are hunter-gathereres. This means they're very respectful of the animals on which they survive, they never kill more than they need, and never waste any part of a carcass.  So there's quite a lot for teachers to get their teeth into!

Your novels are always meticulously researched, which really adds to the vivid storytelling. Can you tell us a bit about your research for Viper's Daughter?

To make the story real, I went to Alaska, where I crawled under a glacier into a gigantic blue ice cave.  I also tried a Native America cure for toothache, by licking a slug (it worked).  After that I went to outer Siberia and travelled by ice-breaker through the Bering Straits to Wrangel Island, one of the last known homes of the woolly mammoth. There I encountered muskoxen, snowy owls, and a few too many polar bears for comfort.  A highlight was finding a mammoth tusk sticking out of a dry river bed.  It was amazing to touch it and feel a real connection with the distant past.

I should add, though, that only a tiny fraction of all this research ever finds its way into my stories.  Viper's Daughter is an adventure, not a history lesson.  The story is always king.

The natural world, and the characters' connection with it, are hugely important in the novel. Do you feel strongly about sharing this message with young people, especially in these times?

I don't ever write with a message, as that really used to put me off a book when I was younger; it still does.  My aim is to create the most exciting, immersive story that I possibly can.  Having said that, though, it's true that Torak and Renn are much more in tune with the natural world than we are, because they depend on it every day to survive. They have to build their own shelters, make clothes out of animal hides, and hunt or gather their food.  Readers seem to love the feeling of living in the Forest and the Far North with Torak and Renn - and they love having Wolf as a friend. That closeness to a wild animal is something we just don't have.  So if my stories help foster an interest in the natural world, then that's all to the good.

Can you give us a hint about what's next for Torak, Renn and Wolf?

Skin Taker begins in midwinter, in the Dark Time, when the sun is asleep in its cave.  Catastrophe devastates the Forest, plunging Torak's world into chaos. Demons are on the loose, bears have woken from hibernation, and the clans are struggling to survive: do they turn on each other, or work together?  And although Torak is affected more than most, he must risk everything to save the Forest... Skin Taker is also a standalone story, though it does have a bit of an arc, for those who have read Viper's Daughter. It will be published in April 2021.  And in 2022 comes the third and final book, Wolfbane.  I really hope you enjoy them!

The next adventure in the Wolf Brother series, Skin Taker, is now out in hardback, you can read our review and the first chapter - and read more about Michelle Paver on her author page.

Photo credit © Anthony Upton