Review of “Seekers - Smoke Mountain,” by Erin Hunter

“Seekers - Smoke Mountain,” by Erin Hunter is the third book in the Seekers series, about a group of bears on a quest to save all bearkind from human damage to the environment.

In  “Seekers - The Quest Begins” and “Seekers - Great Bear Lake” Erin Hunter introduced readers to Kallik, an orphaned polar bear; and Lusa, a black bear who escaped from a human zoo to find Toklo, a grizzly bear cub.  The fourth bear in this diverse group, Ujurak, is truly unique.  He is shapeshifter who can take on the form of any other animal.  However he prefers to be a small bear cub.

In the first two books these four bears met up and made the perilous journey to Great Bear Lake, a place where grizzlies, polar bears, and black bears meet together each year.  Along the way they experienced the dangers and destruction of the environment.  Human cities and roads are everywhere.  Between human hunters and speeding cars on highways no animal is safe anymore.  Even the habitat and food of the animals are being destroyed by animals.  Ujurak the shapeshifter experiences the full force of this human abuse as he tries out the bodies of different animals.

But Kallik, Lusa, Toklo, and Ujurak have hope.  Ujurak says that he can lead them to the Last Great Wilderness, where there are no humans, plenty of prey, and lots of space for all bears.

On the last leg of the journey the four bears will face the greatest dangers yet.  At Great Bear Lake they met up with Taqqiq, Kallik’s brother.  Kallik is happy to find her long lost brother, but she is shocked by his new attitude.  Hardship and hunger have hardened Taqqiq into a mean, pessimistic bear who doesn’t mind stealing from others.  Kallik, Lusa, Toklo, and Ujurak let Taqqiq come with them on the journey but his constant complaining and negative comments disturb the peace of the group.

The tension inside the group of bears is supplemented by the danger of the landscape they must traverse.  The four bears will have to sneak through a human town and cross a wide river if they are to continue their journey.  And on the other side of the river lie treacherous oil fields and hunters who want bear pelts.

But the Last Great Wilderness beckons, so Kallik, Lusa, Toklo, and Ujurak press on.

“Seekers - Smoke Mountain” continues the series satisfactorily.  Erin Hunter does a good job of spreading out the action so that it moves along at a reasonable pace.  One of the problems that tends to plague series with many books such as this one is that they can get monotonous, making readers ask “Are we there yet?”  However, Erin Hunter manages to mix in new scenes and action so that the journey doesn’t get boring.

Although this may be a slight spoiler I must say that the Seekers series is not over yet.  Though the four bears think the Last Great Wilderness is their ultimate destination they will discover that it is nothing more than a stopping point.  I might have realized this from the start if I had bothered to closely inspect the map in the front of each book.  Even the map in the first book of the series shows the entire journey.  From the map in “Seekers - Smoke Mountain” it is clear that the next book will take the four bears out over sea ice to a new island.

The first three books have cover art that features Kallik, Lusa, and Toklo respectively.  I can only assume that the fourth book will feature Ujurak.  This shapeshifting bear is definitely the most strange, and so far his shapeshifting ability and history hasn’t been developed very much.  “Seekers - Great Bear Lake” featured one scene in which one of the other bears asked Ujurak if he has a mother.  The answer to that question hints that Ujurak may be more unusual than the reader can imagine.  I am definitely interested in seeing what happens next.

“Seekers - Smoke Mountain” is another great book in a wonderful series that does a wonderful job of exploring the behavior of both bears and humans.  I highly recommend it to all fantasy and animal lovers.

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