Everflame

Everflame by Dylan Lee Peters, 2012

     When Eveneye and Whiteclaw discover a human child while returning from a nighttime fishing excursion the two bears decide to rescue it from the wolves trying to make it their dinner. The bears take the boy home to their mountain fortress, Grey Mountain, and Eveneye asks the king to keep the human child: something about the boy makes him think he could be the bridge between humans and the bears. However, the king doesn't see anything special in the human child who was abandoned and left to be devoured by wolves and forbids Eveneye to keep him.
     Eveneye challenges the king and succeeds him as the next ruler of the Grey Mountain. They boy is named Evercloud and he grows as many young creatures do; in harmony with his world. But when he is a young man, some unknown thing appears in the sky to threaten the bears' sense of safety.
     Evercloud and his cousin, Riverpaw, petition King Eveneye for the chance to explore the mysterious shape in the sky--a shadowy ball of lightning. Despite his desire to keep his son at home, Eveneye sends Whiteclaw with the two youngsters on a mission to find the Ancients who ruled the land in time before history. The Ancients will know how to deal with the thing in the sky.
     The trio begin their quest at a nearby human village where they meet Ben and Thomas Floyd, two brothers who protect and guide them on their quest. The Floyd family, however, is hiding something. The newly enlarged quest sets out toward the mountains where they hope to free Tutoro, one of the four Ancients--the Ancient of Air.
     Hot on their trail is a cloaked Messenger, a man who travels the country answering to no one but the voice that gives him power. He believes he is on a holy mission and the horrific acts he commits are orders from his mystical patron. The Messenger kidnaps Old Man Floyd's daughter, Iolana, and forces her to lead him to the others.
     When the two voyages meet the Floyds' secret is revealed and the Messenger and his Tyrant escape the vengeance that would save the world. The quest continues in the second novel: Everflame 2: The Burning Man.
     Peters' book is an interesting take on sentient animals; the bears are much like traditional human characters and have growth like any other novelist's creation. However, their society is superficial; they live and survive but have little more than survival on the agenda. The appearance of the Tyrant and resulting quest provide reason for action in an otherwise unchanging landscape. Everflame is accessible and readily understood by most readers, it is a quick read and an appropriate age group would be young teens.