Paver’s descriptions of the Arctic alone were spine-tingling. It is written in the style of a diary penned by Jack, who has been selected for an expedition to the Arctic. I was scared not only for Jack, but for myself! It is described as a ‘ghost story’ and for me I was a bit dubious as to whether or not it would be truly original or even scary. It was a breath of fresh air for kids to read, following hunter-gatherers struggling to survive six thousand years ago.īut Dark Matter is something entirely different. I have previously read Wolf Brother, the first of the Ancient Darkness series and loved it. You probably recognise her name from the childrens series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. This is Michelle Paver’s first adult ghost story. Soon he will reach the point of no return – when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. So when he’s offered the chance to be the wireless operator on an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London.

‘What is it? What does it want? Why is it angry with me?’

Dark matter michelle paver film