So distant from our cosy 21st Century world is that harsh and hostile environment of the ice age that it takes a huge leap of imagination to even conceive how our ancestors (albeit distant) were able to survive. How did they understand a punishing world without all the gadgetry to which we have become so accustomed? How did they find food? How did they keep warm without central heating? What did they believe? And what motivated them?

In The Horse Painters Peter Stockwell has managed to create an image of this period that not only captures the bleak other-worldliness of this glacial epoch, but also makes his characters sympathetic and even recognisable as long lost cousins.

The narrative of The Horse Painters tells the story of two teenage brothers, Umalik and Aku, who set out to avenge their sister’s murder. The boys’ mission, however, is not a simple question of blind retribution. In a world still governed by superstition and omens, the death of their sister - whose artistic skills was believed to be key to providing enough animals to hunt - could signal starvation and death for their family.

On their travels through unknown landscapes the brothers encounter unforeseen dangers from wildlife and the elements and meet new people whose friendship helps them survive in this hostile environment. In doing so they learn important lessons about themselves, about the value of comradeship and about their inner wisdom that goes beyond their years.

Although aimed primarily at teenagers, The Horse Painters, in its clear and readable prose, creates a picture of ice-age life that will fascinate adult readers too. The descriptions of the smells and tastes experienced by this hunter-gatherer society conjure up the reality of living in a world before the advent of micro-chipped paraphernalia. We may find the beliefs in superstition and magic somewhat naïve, but, even as 21st Century high-tech dwellers, we have to admit to equal shortcomings in our logical reasoning. And, although life in the ice age may seem to be nasty, brutish and short, there is a certain harmony with, and respect for, the natural world that could be a lesson for us all.

The Horse Painters is a delightful book that grips the imagination of readers, young and old, and transports them to a world that both intrigues through its strangeness and gives comfort through its underlying humanity and kindness.

THE HORSE PAINTERS
Readers Respond
www.the-horse-painters.com

"Peter Stockwell has written a gripping adventure, set in a past so distant that most of us don’t really believe in it, or think that it could have been populated by recognisable humans. The reader is swept along by the action, but also intrigued by the distinct and touching characters who emerge from the mists, along with the mammoths and buffalo. I enjoyed this book very much and I am sure young readers will too."

-Frances Thomas,
Award winning author of Finding Minerva

"I enjoyed The Horse Painters enormously. It’s a vivid recreation of the Ice Age pitched within a gripping narrative: the action starts, literally, on the very first page and never lets up. Young readers will love it."

-Herbie Brennan,
Best Selling author of ‘Faerie Wars.’

"A grand adventure set in the exciting background of Ice Age Europe."

-Joan Wolf,
Author ‘Daughter of the Red Deer.’

"The Horse Painters, set in the ice age, follows the story of young brothers Umalik and Aku as the attempt to catch the boy who murdered their sister and restore the soul of the Horse Painter to their family.

In the novel, the Horse Painter is someone with a gift that allows them to draw animals on the walls of caves and summon those animals to them. In the family of the story it is young Aariak who has the gift, but the jealousy of Uirngut, leads him to murder Aariak in her sleep believing that it will allow the gift to pass to him. As Aariak is only person in the family with the gift her killer must be caught and killed in order to bring the soul of the Horse Painter back to the family and save them from starvation.

Umalik, as the eldest of the two brothers believes it is up to him to track his sister’s killer despite the knowledge of danger on the hunt. With his pet wolf accompanying him and his younger brother Aku, the journey takes them through perils of the wild, dangers of other humans and the conditions of the ice age weather as they track down Uirngut.

There is often the question of what makes a book for children for children. Since the arrival of Harry Potter the definite line between fiction for children and adults has blurred significantly. After reading The Horse Painters, I feel I am a little clearer on where the line is drawn. The story is one that has been told many times in many ways, the avenging of a death, but it is the telling that makes this a unique piece. There have not been a great deal of prehistoric novels for any reading market that have included characters that say anything more than "Ug", but Peter Stockwell has done just that. He has taken the murder thriller storyline and transformed it into a children’s adventure set in a time long forgotten.

The writing is simple, the characters are complex enough to pull the readers in and draw on the emotions and the story moves quickly from one incident to the next ensuring that even the most hyperactive early teen could be pulled into the story and encouraged to leave the computer alone for a few hours. The images of the ice age period are brought vividly to life through the scenes of the brothers among bison and lions, their meeting with Gardel the Hunter, right through to the finale and the hint of further stories to come.

The book is aimed at early teen readers, but like so many other stories there is no reason why adults cannot enjoy the book just as much as children. There is enough action and drama to sustain interest and it is currently a pretty unique idea and the characters could certainly have plenty of mileage in them yet."

-Highly recommended by Anthony Lund,
Allbooks Review

"The Horse Painters is a tale of survival in the wild country during the Ice Age. Each creature needed to be cunning to survive in a cold world where animals roamed the earth.

This book is so artistically written, there is no need for illustrations.

Aariak has the spirit of the horse painter. When she draws animals on the wall of caves, her drawings bring animals to her family for food. A jealous boy who desires her gift kills the horse painter in her sleep.

If fourteen year old Umalik and his twelve year old brother Aku can’t kill the murderer and return the spirit of the horse painter to their family, all will be lost.

The young boys meet up with freezing conditions, starvation, wild animals and dangerous men on their quest. Will they be killed by hungry animals? Will their family starve before they get back? Should they go home without the horse painter’s spirit?

There is adventure at every turn in The Horse Painters. I recommend this book to adventure lovers of any age. This would also be an enjoyable read for a young boy with a flashlight under his covers, or a classroom of fourth through sixth graders."

-Jill Ammon Vanderwood, author,
What’s It Like Living Green?: Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live

"Are you ready to go back to the Ice Age and become part of the life and culture of the times as seen through author, Peter Stockwell, in his gripping story, The Horse Painters?

Inside this book you will travel back to a time when life was hard, survival the name of the game, where The Horse Painter is probably the most important element in their lives.
What or who is, The Horse Painter? It is a person with a gift, one that allows them to draw animals and actually bring them into the open so the tribe may hunt them and survive. They also can commune with animals. Interesting to say the least.

We meet a family and in this family the young girl, Aariak, has this gift, but is killed by one of another clan in the belief that now he will possess her gift.
Now, a member of Aariak’s family must kill the killer in order to get the gift back. The oldest son, Umalik, is the only one slightly capable of accomplishing this task. Although the odds are against this young boy, he has to try. So begins his journey,one where he will encounter near death from animal, man and elements. Exciting! And he has a surprise companion on this journey, one who proves to be invaluable to the success. Along the way he meets many interesting people, some helpful and some dangerous. Will he succeed?

In all honesty I am usually not one who is over interested in any books that take me back in time, but this one definitely has me rethinking my mindset. I was totally absorbed in the story right from the beginning. I believe it is because the author took the time to make the characters come alive, brought you into their world, their beliefs and their raw emotions as the story unfolded.

The characters were not those who grunted and hit everyone with a big club, but had structure in their world, emotions, meaning and purpose. This all in keeping with what you would expect the local to look like with the extreme conditions that existed. Very good job!

I was very pleased with this book. It had a great storyline, characters that touched on both sides from good to evil, and some that were quite colourful, and an ending that promised more adventures in the future. I believe young readers will find themselves plunging headlong into this read and not come up for air until they travel the entire road. Well done."

-Shirley Priscilla Johnson,
Author/Reviewer

"The Horse Painters is a children’s book set long ago in the last Ice Age. It opens with Umalik and Aariak, brother and sister, making for a large cave where there are drawings on the walls of bison and deer and other animals too. Many of the pictures are drawn by the girl, Aariak, for she possesses magical powers, because the animals she draws are attracted to the cave, making them easier to hunt.
One night another youth, Uirngut, comes to their cave and cowardly slays the sister and in so doing takes the magical powers for himself. He flees across the frozen wastes, knowing that Umalik and his younger brother Aku, will not let the matter rest. Their semi tame wolf goes along too, eager and keen to share in the adventure; a timid creature apparently, though perhaps he is just waiting for a chance to show what he can really do.
So the scene is set as they track the murderer through the snow and ice, hunt animals to eat to stay alive, as they bump into other interesting characters along the way.
In places you can almost smell the odours of drying animal hides and wood-smoke and passing herds of bison and mammoth; feel the icy cold winds that blow across the country, and see the frozen breath oozing from the shivering characters and, the many animals that populate the book.
The story is divided into two parts, the second part introducing more new characters and it all ends when... ah... but I couldn’t possibly say anymore about that, could I?
The Horse Painters is aimed at children aged between 8 and 12 and we could well see them enjoying these tales. We liked the cover too. That features a real cave drawing from thousands of years ago."

-David Carter,
Author ‘Drift and Badger and the Search for Uncle Mo’

"What do you think life might have been like in prehistoric times, say after the great flood when huge climatic changes were occurring on earth and the weather was steadily getting colder? Umalik is a fourteen-year-old boy whose mother has died. He and his twelve-year-old brother Aku live in a cave with their father, grandfather and eighteen year old sister Aariak who is the community’s animal painter. Her drawings are believed to bring the animals that the people need to hunt for food. However, a strange young man named Uirngut, about Aariak’s age, wants to be the community’s animal painter, so he kills Aariak and then flees.

Justice must be meted out. Yet Grandfather is too old and sick, Father too busy hunting for the family’s food, and Aku is too young. So it falls on Umalik to find Uirngut and punish him for his terrible deed. As Umalik makes his way with their pet Wolf through the worsening conditions Aku sneaks off and follows him. Along the way they meet an older couple named Gardel and Gretel who save them from freezing in the snow. The two boys finally locate Uirngut with three other young men for whom he claims to be the shaman. Will Umalik be able to defeat Uirngut and also protect Aku? And if they do, will the boys ever make it back home?

I shall readily admit that I found this book a fascinating read. The plot moves along at a pace which keeps the reader turning the pages to find out what will happen next. Some people might object to the idea of seeking vengeance, but remember that this was a primitive society in which the only way to obtain justice was through personal revenge. But more importantly, embedded in the story is the important lesson that disputes are best settled not by fighting but by talking."

-Wayne S. Walker,
Reviewer.Stories for Children Magazine