The books are set in prehistoric Europe during the New Stone Age. The main story arc revolves around Torak and his quest to defeat the Soul Eaters, a group of evil clan mages who seek out to destroy all life in the forest in which they live. The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness tell the story of Torak, a twelve-year-old boy who is clanless, and his friends Renn and Wolf. Main article: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Her 2010 ghost novel Dark Matter was nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award for best novel. She resigned from legal practice soon after her return, to concentrate on writing. Her father's death in 1996 prompted her to take a one-year sabbatical, during which she travelled around France and America and wrote her first book, Without Charity. After reading biochemistry at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, where she attained a first-class degree, she became a partner in a City of London law firm. She was educated at The Study and Wimbledon High School.

Her family settled in Wimbledon, England when she was three. Her mother was Belgian ( Flemish) and her South African father ran a newspaper, the Nyasaland Times. Michelle Paver was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in central Africa. For the sixth book of the series, Ghost Hunter (2009) she won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by a panel of British children's writers.

Michelle Paver (born 7 September 1960) is a British novelist and children's writer, known for the historical fantasy series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, set in prehistoric Europe.

Thin air paver