John Vaillant

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FIRE WEATHERThe Jaguar's Children will be read for a long time to come. It is a major social novel'PHILIPP MEYER, author of The Son'A large, ambitious novel'VANCOUVER SUN'Unforgettable . . . a bold, heartbreaking novel'TORONTO STAR'This is what novels can do - illuminate shadowed lives, enable us to contemplate our own depths of kindness, challenge our beliefs about fate'NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Somewhere north of the US border, Héctor is trapped. The empty water truck, where he is hidden with fourteen other desperate people, has broken down. The exit is sealed and the coyotes seem to have vanished. His friend César has lost consciousness but his phone still has a little battery. With it, Héctor calls and messages 'AnniMac' - the only saved American number. He begs for help, explains their dangerous journey and gradually tells their story, from rural Oaxaca to the fractured city to the distant promise of a safe future in America. As hours turn to days, Héctor waits for a response and fights to hold on to hope. Suspenseful and fiercely compassionate, The Jaguar's Children is a cry to be heard and a defiant reminder of the human will to live. PRAISE FOR JOHN VAILLANT'S FIRE WEATHER'Impossible to put down'CAL FLYN, Sunday Times'Superb and terrifying'KATHERINE RUNDELL, Guardian'A must-read'NICK RENNISON, Daily Mail

A page-turning account of a brutal urban wildfire, and a sweeping exploration of our rapidly changing relationship with fire

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST - A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR - FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION - FINALIST FOR THE PEN/GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION - A stunning account of a colossal wildfire and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind from the award-winning, best-selling author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce - Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, TIME, NPR, Slate, and Smithsonian "Grips like a philosophical thriller, warns like a beacon, and shocks to the core." --Robert Macfarlane, bestselling author of Underland "Riveting, spellbinding, astounding on every page." --David Wallace-Wells, #1 bestselling author of The Uninhabitable Earth In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada's oil industry and America's biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration--the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina--John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world. Fire has been a partner in our evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains. Fire has enabled us to cook our food, defend and heat our homes, and power the machines that drive our titanic economy. Yet this volatile energy source has always threatened to elude our control, and in our new age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in previously unimaginable ways. With masterly prose and a cinematic eye, Vaillant takes us on a riveting journey through the intertwined histories of North America's oil industry and the birth of climate science, to the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern forest fires, and into lives forever changed by these disasters. John Vaillant's urgent work is a book for--and from--our new century of fire, which has only just begun.

*WINNER of the BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION****AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER**** A Pulitzer Prize Finalist * A National Book Award Finalist * A Writers' Trust Award Finalist *'No book feels timelier than John Vaillant's Fire Weather . . . an adrenaline-soaked nightmare that is impossible to put down' Cal Flyn, The Times'Superb and terrifying . . . it reads with pace and flair and a rich, furious clarity' Katherine Rundell, author of Super-InfiniteA gripping account of this century's most intense urban fire, and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between humanity and fire's fierce energy. In May 2016, Fort McMurray, Alberta, the hub of Canada's oil industry, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and drove 90,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores the past and the future of our ever-hotter, more flammable world. For hundreds of millennia, fire has been a partner in our evolution, shaping culture and civilization. Yet in our age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in ways never before witnessed by human beings. With masterly prose and cinematic style, Vaillant delves into the intertwined histories of the oil industry and climate science, the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern wildfires, and the lives forever changed by these disasters. Fire Weather is urgent reading for our new century of fire.'A towering achievement; an immense work of research, reflection and imagination' Robert Macfarlane'Astounding on every page. John Vaillant is one of the great poetic chroniclers of the natural world' David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth'It reads like a thriller . . . I could not put it down' Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST - A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR - FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION - FINALIST FOR THE PEN/GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION - A stunning account of a colossal wildfire and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind from the award-winning, best-selling author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce - Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, TIME, NPR, Slate, and Smithsonian "Grips like a philosophical thriller, warns like a beacon, and shocks to the core." --Robert Macfarlane, bestselling author of Underland "Riveting, spellbinding, astounding on every page." --David Wallace-Wells, #1 bestselling author of The Uninhabitable Earth In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada's oil industry and America's biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration--the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina--John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world. Fire has been a partner in our evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains. Fire has enabled us to cook our food, defend and heat our homes, and power the machines that drive our titanic economy. Yet this volatile energy source has always threatened to elude our control, and in our new age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in previously unimaginable ways. With masterly prose and a cinematic eye, Vaillant takes us on a riveting journey through the intertwined histories of North America's oil industry and the birth of climate science, to the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern forest fires, and into lives forever changed by these disasters. John Vaillant's urgent work is a book for--and from--our new century of fire, which has only just begun.

*WINNER of the BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION* ***AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*** 'Astounding on every page. John Vaillant is one of the great poetic chroniclers of the natural world' David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth 'No book feels timelier than John Vaillant's Fire Weather . . . an adrenaline-soaked nightmare that is impossible to put down' Cal Flyn, The Times A gripping account of this century's most intense urban fire, and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between humanity and fire's fierce energy. In May 2016, Fort McMurray, Alberta, the hub of Canada's oil industry, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and drove 90,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores the past and the future of our ever-hotter, more flammable world.

"Extraordinary ... The horrors of a single passage over the border blossom into a human history of sorrow and suffering, all of it beginning with the thirst to be free." -- NPR " A] heartbreaker ... Wrenching ... with a voice fresh and plangent enough to disarm resistance." -- Boston Globe "Fearless." -- Globe and Mail Hector is trapped. The water truck, sealed to hide its human cargo, has broken down. The coyotes have taken all the passengers' money for a mechanic and have not returned. Hector finds a name in his friend Cesar's phone: Annimac. A name with an American number. He must reach her, both for rescue and to pass along the message Cesar has come so far to deliver. But are his messages going through? Over four days, as water and food run low, Hector tells how he came to this desperate place. His story takes us from Oaxaca -- its rich culture, its rapid change -- to the dangers of the border, exposing the tangled ties between Mexico and El Norte. And it reminds us of the power of storytelling and the power of hope, as Hector fights to ensure his message makes it out of the truck and into the world. Both an outstanding suspense novel and an arresting window into the relationship between two great cultures, The Jaguar's Children shows how deeply interconnected all of us, always, are. "This is what novels can do -- illuminate shadowed lives, enable us to contemplate our own depths of kindness, challenge our beliefs about fate." -- Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times Book Review

En mann blir funnet død i sørøstre Russland, drept av en tiger. Siden tigre vanligvis ikke dreper mennesker får tigerinspektøren Jurij Trusj i oppdrag å finne ut hva som har skjedd. Han mener det virker som om drapet var nøye planlagt, som om tigeren søkte hevn. Kort tid etter slår tigeren til igjen, og dermed starter jakten. Boken gir et innblikk i samfunnsutviklingen i Russland de siste tyve årene, og demonstrerer hvor viktig det er å ta vare på naturen.

**From the author of the 2023 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction winning Fire Weather**'An unbelievable tale, expertly told' Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain'A superb book ' Daily Mail · 'Masterful . . . mesmerising, rangy and relentless' Sunday TelegraphA man-eating tiger is hunting villagers in the snowy forests of Far Eastern Russia. A small team of men and their dogs must hunt the tiger in turn. As evidence mounts, it becomes clear that the tiger's attacks aren't random: it is seeking revenge. Injured, starving and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again. As he tracks the tiger's deadly progress, John Vaillant draws an unforgettable portrait of a distant and brutal region, over 5,000 miles from Moscow. In the harsh depths of winter in Primorye, a gripping tale of man and nature unfolds.'Exciting, memorable - and perfectly, impeccably right . . . a tale of astonishing power and vigour' Simon Winchester, author of The Surgeon of Crowthorne'Extraordinary . . . a brilliantly told tale of man and nature' New York Review of Books

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A gripping story of man pitted against nature's most fearsome and efficient predator. This "travelogue about tiger poaching in Russia's far east opens up a new genre ... the] conservation thriller" (Nature). Outside a remote village in Russia's Far East a man-eating tiger is on the prowl. The tiger isn't just killing people, it's murdering them, almost as if it has a vendetta. A team of trackers is dispatched to hunt down the tiger before it strikes again. They know the creature is cunning, injured, and starving, making it even more dangerous. As John Vaillant re-creates these extraordinary events, he gives us an unforgettable and masterful work of narrative nonfiction that combines a riveting portrait of a stark and mysterious region of the world and its people, with the natural history of nature's most deadly predator.

_____________________________________On a bleak winter night in 1997, a British Columbia timber scout named Grant Hadwin committed an act of shocking violence: he destroyed the legendary Golden Spruce of the Queen Charlotte Islands.

When a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Northwest, they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. Five months earlier, logger-turned-activist Grant Hadwin had plunged naked into a river in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands, towing a chainsaw. When his night's work was done, a unique Sitka spruce, 165 feet tall and covered with luminous golden needles, teetered on its stump. Two days later it fell. As vividly as John Krakauer puts readers on Everest, John Vaillant takes us into the heart of North America's last great forest.