Soul Eater (novel)

Soul Eater

The cover of the first British edition
Author	Michelle Paver
Illustrator	Geoff Taylor
Language	English
Series	Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
Genre	Children's adventure, fantasy novel
Publisher	Orion Children's Books
Publication date	2006
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback), audio book (CD & cassette)
Pages	323 (paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 1-84255-170-1 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC	71329760
Preceded by	Spirit Walker
Followed by	Outcast

Soul Eater is the third book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series written by Michelle Paver. Not to be confused with the anime and manga franchise Soul Eater.

"It's winter, and Wolf, Torak's beloved pack-brother has been captured by an unknown foe. In a desperate bid to rescue him, Torak and Renn must brave the Far North. As they battle for survival amid howling blizzards and the ever present menace of the great white bear, their friendship is tested to breaking point, and Torak is forced to get closer to his enemies than ever before..."- Soul Eater

Plot summary

Wolf is kidnapped and Torak and Renn set out to find him. During their journey, Torak takes a spirit journey, in the form of a raven, and discovers that the Soul Eaters have captured Wolf. They follow Wolf's kidnappers to the Far North, where they encounter Inuktiluk, a member of the White Fox Clan. They go with him to the White Fox Clan's camp, where the clan's mage (shaman) tells them of a vision she has had, in which Torak is about to hit Wolf with an axe.

They continue their search for Wolf. Torak secretly changes places with a boy who is serving as an acolyte to the Soul Eaters. Torak goes into the cave, where he has to help the Soul Eaters in order to maintain his disguise. Renn goes into the cave and hides. While in the cave, Torak kills an owl, then takes a spirit journey into a bear and finds out where Wolf is. Torak and Renn find Wolf, who is distracted by an injury to his tail and doesn't recognise them. They have to use Renn's axe to cut off Wolf's tail, fulfilling the mage prophecy. They free all the animals which the Soul Eaters have been holding captive, but the Soul Eaters release demons. Renn takes the Fire Opal, a religious artifact belonging to the Soul Eaters, and as they flee, Torak and Renn become separated when Renn floats away on a piece of river ice. Meanwhile, Torak becomes snow blind and is captured by the Soul Eaters.

Renn eventually makes it to the riverbank, and discovers that the Fire Opal can be destroyed by being buried under stone while a life is sacrificed. She intends to kill herself to get rid of the Fire Opal, but before she can do so, Torak and the Soul Eaters arrive. Torak takes the form of a spirit bear and attacks the Soul Eaters. Renn is about to jump but at the last minute, the Bat Mage sacrifices herself to atone for the fact that Torak's father once saved her life. Torak, Renn and Wolf are rescued by Fin-Kedinn and Inuktiluk. They return to the forest together.

Editions

Soul Eater has been released in several languages including French, Italian, Korean and Swedish.