Ghost Song

It's midsummer and midnight: the endless white night of the far north. Malyuta, a slave and hunter, feels richer than the Czar because he holds his first new-born, a son. He names the baby 'Ambrosi' which means immortal. Then comes Kuzma, the shape-shifting bear-shaman, who demands the baby from him. The child was born to Kuzma's apprentice in witchcraft. "Give him to me," says Kuzma. In return for the baby, he will make Malyuta rich or even return his youth. Malyuta refuses. All through the long summer night, he refuses. The hour of midnight passes and the shaman leaves but as he goes, he tells Malyuta that the baby he holds is a world-walker, a child of the Iron Ash, born to be a shaman. "Keep him, little man, and he will bring you misery!" Ambrosi grows into a beautiful, bright little boy, adored by his father. When Malyuta's beloved wife dies, he finds comfort in his child. Every winter, Malyuta has to leave the village on hunting trips. He leaves Ambrosi behind in the care of his grandparents. At the end of each trip he hurries home, eager to see his son again but on each return finds the villagers fear Ambrosi more and more. The child is uncanny, they say. Malyuta must take him away. Malyuta leaves the village forever, taking Ambrosi with him. From then on, Ambrosi shares his father's life and learns to be a hunter. In their small tent, in the vast frozen darkness of the arctic, Ambrosi dreams that a white bear comes to him. It is the bear-shaman, calling on him to follow his true nature. Ambrosi learns that there can be no peace for him until he accepts that he is a child of the Iron Ash and a world-walker. But he cannot bear to abandon the ageing Malyuta, whom he loves. He promises to become Kuzma's apprentice after his father is dead. But the cruel bear-shaman is not prepared to wait. If Malyuta's life is all that prevents Ambrosi becoming his apprentice, then Malyuta's death will come soon. Is there any way that Ambrosi can protect his father and escape from the bear-shaman? If you like mythic tales with fascinating villains and vivid imagery, then you'll love Susan Price's stark classic. Buy Ghost Song to dream of the northlands today.