Gods and Warriors by Michelle Paver

(Puffin, 2012)

A Greek Bronze Age edge-of-your-seat adventure for older children (and adults). 

I love Michelle Paver's books. Having first discovered her children's books years ago with Wolf Brother, the first title in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, I've since devoured them all and, yes, you've guessed it; I'm not a child. I can't even pretend I was child when Wolf Brother was published. Ahem. No, not even remotely. Much like other good children's books, her books are for children of all ages (approx. age 9 and up). Gods and Warriors is the first of a new series, so I approached it with more than a little trepidation: "how on earth could it match up to the thrilling Neolithic stories of Torak et al.?" BUT, cast your fears aside because this book is every bit as good.

Do you ever pick up a new book at night and say to yourself, 'I'll just read a few pages before I go to bed?'. Well, there I was a few hours later still reading - I literally couldn't put this book down until I'd finished it and I'm still trying to recover those lost hours of sleep. The story doesn't stop for breath; it's so fast paced it almost turns the pages for you.

Without giving away any key moments, here's an outline. This is the story of Hylas, a boy aged 12 who we meet at the beginning of the novel, fleeing from a frightening group of black-clad warriors. His little sister has gone missing, he's lost his dog and he has no idea why these soldiers are after him but it's fairly clear they would like to see him dead. Hylas must escape and find his sister. After being turned away by the nearby villagers Hylas seeks refuge in a cave. Here his destiny meets him head on and the story takes on a sense of mystery. The young boy sets out on a path to the sea, along the way befriending the runaway rebellious daughter of a High Priestess, Pirra. A lone dolphin, Spirit, tries to help Hylas but can anything save him from the fearsome black warriors? Will he reach his sister...?

Apart from the great story, there's one other thing I love about this book: it's nicely made. I love well-produced physical books. It's a pet subject of mine. Sadly 9 times out of 10 the Americans do it better than our British publishers ever do. I've even been known to order US hardback editions of my favourite books because they are so much better made. But this time Puffin have done a good job. Good paper, striking colours, vibrant red endpapers contrasting with black page edges and a well-thought out appealing dust jacket design. All these factors make it a book I want to keep (and so I shall!). Well done Puffin. Keep up the good work with attractive physical books that we want to keep for ever and ever.