Children's Writer, Book Reviewer, Teacher, Artist
I HEAR THE CALL...
Wow! 'I Am Wolf' is an exhilarating and highly-original first installment in what promises to be a stunning sci-fi trilogy for children. Alastair Chisholm, author of the acclaimed Orion Lost and Adam-2, has created a startling and savage world of animal Constructs that fight for territory and resources across desolate terrain. This is 'Mortal Engines' meets 'Mad Max' by way of animals. Chisholm takes a daring and exciting concept and explores it through a story of friendship, teamwork and survival. Highly imaginative, unique and adrenaline-fuelled, 'I Am Wolf' will summon crews of wide-eyed readers across Years 5, 6 and early secondary when it is published in May.
Coll is Wolf... He lives with his clan on a Construct, a huge technological "creature" driven by the clan's combined willpower. Together they roam their world, fighting other clans and absorbing them into their own.
But when a new and dangerous Construct attacks them, Coll is thrown clear from Wolf and left behind. Now he must survive life on ground and get back to his clan...
As with Chisholm's previous children's books, he really knows how to hook a reader in. Arguably, this is his most compelling story yet, and with 'I Am Wolf' being the first in the trilogy, there is so much more to discover in this strange and riveting world of animal Constructs. Coll, and the friends he makes, Rieka, Brann and Fillan, are wonderful characters that must learn to work together when they are thrust into a battle for survival. I loved Coll's journey of finding strength and belief in himself through his vulnerabilities and disability - he has prosthetic limbs - and how he steps up to lead others. There are dramatic, cinematic action scenes, as the giant animal Constructs (with the human crews inside) fight each other over desolate lands, scavenging for resources. There is so much we don't know about this extraordinary world. Why is it like this? Who created the first Constructs? What happened to the environment? Bring on the sequel, as quickly as possible please! This is first-rate storytelling from one of the best sci-fi writers for children out there.
Thank you to Nosy Crow for my proof copy to review.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/i-am-wolf/alastair-chisholm/9781839945311