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The Falcon Chronicles #3
Wilds of the Wolf
Saker and Sinter escape by the skin of their teeth when their plan to sabotage a billionaire businessman plundering 'black gold' (natural oil and gas) and hunting wolves in the remote Yamal peninsula in North West Siberia goes disastrously wrong. But they escape one kind of peril only to find themselves in an even more terrifying situation. Separated by blizzards and avalanches, lost in a breathtakingly beautiful but deadly frozen Arctic wilderness, suffering from frostbite and hunger, listening to the wolves howl and the packs draw closer, it seems that this time they cannot possibly live to tell their tale.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published July 31, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 22, 2020
This book is an interesting, intense book that inspired me to write my own book. I am amazed at how many wonderful words Steve Backshall used! I love this book and I hope you do too.
Saker and Sinter live in the cold Arctic, they are friends who take care of each other. They face a polar bear and, Yanter, their dog, saves Sinter's life, next, they go to Hep's workshop to stop him killing animals. The Clan boy, Wolf captures them and Snowy owl shoots Sinter with a toxinated bullet. They escape but are trapped under a blanket of snow, they thought each other were dead, but they were actually alive. Sinter was saved by being found and Saker was saved by digging out. At the end, they find each other.
This book has all that a great book needs. It uses excellent description and events. I think that it's the best book I've read in my nine year life.
I give this book five stars. I recommend this book to anyone who loves intensity.
Saker and Sinter live in the cold Arctic, they are friends who take care of each other. They face a polar bear and, Yanter, their dog, saves Sinter's life, next, they go to Hep's workshop to stop him killing animals. The Clan boy, Wolf captures them and Snowy owl shoots Sinter with a toxinated bullet. They escape but are trapped under a blanket of snow, they thought each other were dead, but they were actually alive. Sinter was saved by being found and Saker was saved by digging out. At the end, they find each other.
This book has all that a great book needs. It uses excellent description and events. I think that it's the best book I've read in my nine year life.
I give this book five stars. I recommend this book to anyone who loves intensity.
April 20, 2018
Wilds of the Wolf surged along like an avalanche, tumbling over deadly precipices, the pages lost in a blur of ice as I, the reader, became the avalanche devouring the pages of the book until that too was lost in a cloud of ice and I was left feeling shaken, flooded with adrenaline and determination. The book is packed with information of wildlife and survival which balances perfectly with adrenaline surging moments and I love how sometimes Steve Backshall can’t but help begin a wildlife presenter speech. It makes me love the book even more.
Set in the heart of Siberia, Saker and Sinter discover an illegal oil drilling station and set off to sabotage the company, but soon the hunter becomes the hunted and they find themselves in the grips of an avalanche, facing hypothermia, death and a pack of wolves that lurk in the icy shadows.
This story is different to all the others out there though. If I had been given this book without prior knowledge of the age group I would have been surprised to learn that it was a children’s book; in a world of books of fairies and unicorns, fantasy knights and happy families this book is raw, unflinching from graphic descriptions and hard hitting as you realise the situations you’re gasping at or mentally squirming away for are happening right now. Some of the descriptions of the (brutal, monsterous, inhumane… there barely seems a word to justify the horror) ways in which wolves were trapped were so evil I felt so miserable, boiling with anger and misery, an intoxicating cocktail of sickening inevitability and helplessness. But that is where the power of this book lies, yes it is a fantastic story, gripping and full of adventure but the true story is the one that the reader then creates for themselves inspired by the book to help these creatures and the terrible plight of our planet.
And that is the reason why it’s important that the book doesn’t shy away from the gory details even if they do settle in the mind of the reader festering away like an maggoty wound, the children who read this are the planets future. If Steve Backshall had skipped the dark passages and merely passed over it then who would feel inspired to help. Maybe a few kind souls, but this is the type of book that stays with the reader long after reading it and perhaps paves the path for some to become zoologists, animal activists, to create a beautiful future. Sometimes it isn’t enough to read it in non judgemental text in a newspaper, it has to felt and lived as though it’s your life. Knowledge is power and I believe books like these have the power to change not just the readers lives, but the lives of all the people and animals who share this beautiful planet.
I love Steve Backshall and had the pleasure of meeting him at his Wild World tour which was so inspiring (and I managed not to trip and land on my face when I met him which I typically do) He is so kind and caring but the moment a wolf was killed in the first chapter I knew this book was going to be intense and Steve was not going to hold back on character deaths. Again, in most childrens books there are times of peril, but the main character survives as do their friends. You are tense wondering what will happen but in the back of your mind you’ve already predicted the happy outcome and feel slight relief but mostly triumph you’ve guessed the ending. Here though the moment one of the huskies didn’t return from fighting a polar bear I knew I had to prepare myself for the deaths of many more characters, I sat tears pouring down my cheeks when one particular four legged character was killed. If others reading that feel such emotion for fictional characters think how the world could be changed if that emotion was felt for living creatures.
You learn quite a lot about Steve Backshall and his perspective on humanity. He made me think of the disconnection between the situations in the book and myself as the reader especially when we met the Yenet tribe in Siberia. When Saker and Sinter were shivering huddled up in an ice cave with only Yantar the husky as warmth I was sitting all cosy in by bed shivering at a slight draft. When the heart of Siberia was being massacred by the oil drills, sucking out it’s blood and sending it out to power never ending resources I was sitting in the garden surrounded by birdsong lifting my feet up so they didn’t touch the grass which could be riddled with some disease. Even a few days after reading it I find myself reflecting on the void between our lives, what a mostly safe and protected life we have yet out there there are people so close to nature they live and breathe with the forests and the landscapes around them.
I implore anyone who wants to help wildlife to read this book, it will fuel you with such passion to want to make a difference. The biggest lesson of all in this book is a sobering one. Whilst the wolves are pretty terrifying and some of the facts of how they treat domestic dogs, disturbing, this book reinforces of all the monsters and terrifying creatures in the world, humanity is the one we must fear most.
Set in the heart of Siberia, Saker and Sinter discover an illegal oil drilling station and set off to sabotage the company, but soon the hunter becomes the hunted and they find themselves in the grips of an avalanche, facing hypothermia, death and a pack of wolves that lurk in the icy shadows.
This story is different to all the others out there though. If I had been given this book without prior knowledge of the age group I would have been surprised to learn that it was a children’s book; in a world of books of fairies and unicorns, fantasy knights and happy families this book is raw, unflinching from graphic descriptions and hard hitting as you realise the situations you’re gasping at or mentally squirming away for are happening right now. Some of the descriptions of the (brutal, monsterous, inhumane… there barely seems a word to justify the horror) ways in which wolves were trapped were so evil I felt so miserable, boiling with anger and misery, an intoxicating cocktail of sickening inevitability and helplessness. But that is where the power of this book lies, yes it is a fantastic story, gripping and full of adventure but the true story is the one that the reader then creates for themselves inspired by the book to help these creatures and the terrible plight of our planet.
And that is the reason why it’s important that the book doesn’t shy away from the gory details even if they do settle in the mind of the reader festering away like an maggoty wound, the children who read this are the planets future. If Steve Backshall had skipped the dark passages and merely passed over it then who would feel inspired to help. Maybe a few kind souls, but this is the type of book that stays with the reader long after reading it and perhaps paves the path for some to become zoologists, animal activists, to create a beautiful future. Sometimes it isn’t enough to read it in non judgemental text in a newspaper, it has to felt and lived as though it’s your life. Knowledge is power and I believe books like these have the power to change not just the readers lives, but the lives of all the people and animals who share this beautiful planet.
I love Steve Backshall and had the pleasure of meeting him at his Wild World tour which was so inspiring (and I managed not to trip and land on my face when I met him which I typically do) He is so kind and caring but the moment a wolf was killed in the first chapter I knew this book was going to be intense and Steve was not going to hold back on character deaths. Again, in most childrens books there are times of peril, but the main character survives as do their friends. You are tense wondering what will happen but in the back of your mind you’ve already predicted the happy outcome and feel slight relief but mostly triumph you’ve guessed the ending. Here though the moment one of the huskies didn’t return from fighting a polar bear I knew I had to prepare myself for the deaths of many more characters, I sat tears pouring down my cheeks when one particular four legged character was killed. If others reading that feel such emotion for fictional characters think how the world could be changed if that emotion was felt for living creatures.
You learn quite a lot about Steve Backshall and his perspective on humanity. He made me think of the disconnection between the situations in the book and myself as the reader especially when we met the Yenet tribe in Siberia. When Saker and Sinter were shivering huddled up in an ice cave with only Yantar the husky as warmth I was sitting all cosy in by bed shivering at a slight draft. When the heart of Siberia was being massacred by the oil drills, sucking out it’s blood and sending it out to power never ending resources I was sitting in the garden surrounded by birdsong lifting my feet up so they didn’t touch the grass which could be riddled with some disease. Even a few days after reading it I find myself reflecting on the void between our lives, what a mostly safe and protected life we have yet out there there are people so close to nature they live and breathe with the forests and the landscapes around them.
I implore anyone who wants to help wildlife to read this book, it will fuel you with such passion to want to make a difference. The biggest lesson of all in this book is a sobering one. Whilst the wolves are pretty terrifying and some of the facts of how they treat domestic dogs, disturbing, this book reinforces of all the monsters and terrifying creatures in the world, humanity is the one we must fear most.
January 17, 2015
Ok, so, I know I'm a tad biased, cos I completely love Steve, but I also completely love these books! Saker and Sinter need to be a couple though, seriously, they are too cute!!!! I love these books, cos there's adventure, and a sweet growing love story, and all sorts of good stuff, just a great read, as always!! I wanna say I can't wait til the next in the series, but that would be a lie, cos there's a teaser in this one, and the next one is called Shark Seas, and I can't bring myself to read the teaser, partly cos I hate teasers, and partly cos I'm frickin terrified of sharks, like, just the word gives me the willies, scary beasts!!!!
Also, I should not review books whilst under the inflience of alcohol, but it's still a great book, and I love Steve, like, a lot!!!
Also, I should not review books whilst under the inflience of alcohol, but it's still a great book, and I love Steve, like, a lot!!!
August 30, 2014
It has a lot of action, danger and adventure
May 2, 2020
I love this book! I love Sinter and Saker's adventures on the frontline trying to save wildlife and discovering who they really are along the way
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews