- Adventure
- The Last Wild collection
- Ages 9–12
The Last Wild
Part of the collectionThe Last Wild→A gripping, moving eco-adventure trilogy — a mute boy who can talk to animals leads the last wild creatures in a fight to survive.
- Books3 / 3
- Arcs1
- Span2013–2015
- StatusComplete
The series
At a glance.
The complete Last Wild trilogy by Piers Torday, following Kester Jaynes — a boy who hasn't spoken since his mother died and who discovers he can talk to animals — as he becomes the last hope of the surviving wild. Book one sends him out of a locked institution and across a plague-ravaged land to find a cure and his vet father, dodging the cullers sent to exterminate every last beast. Book two turns darker as an angry underground wild rises to make war on humankind, and only Kester can broker peace. The finale takes the fight across the ocean on a last, desperate quest to stop the end of everything. Rich with humour, breathless action and unforgettable animal voices, and winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, it is an eco-adventure with real emotional stakes that ultimately offers hope.
A gripping, moving eco-adventure trilogy — a mute boy who can talk to animals leads the last wild creatures in a fight to survive.
Primary themes
Overall tone
- Exciting
- Adventurous
- Suspenseful
- Dark
Read the trilogy in publication order (1, 2, 3). The stand-alone prequel The Wild Before can be read at any point.
One arc
The shape of the series.
- INarrative arcBooks 1–3 · 2013–2015Moderate sensitivity
The Last Wild trilogy
Kester, a boy who can talk to animals, leads the last wild creatures across a ruined world in a fight to survive.
Kester Jaynes's story runs as one continuous arc. In book one he escapes Spectrum Hall and crosses a plague-ravaged land to find his vet father and a cure, following a ragtag wild led by a proud stag and a bossy cockroach. In book two an angry dark wild rises beneath the city to make war on humankind, and Kester — caught between mankind's final cull and an underground rebellion bent on revenge — is the only one who can broker peace; it won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. The finale takes the adventure across the sea on a last, desperate quest to stop the end of all things. Bigger and darker with each book, it keeps its humour, heart and unforgettable animal voices, and ends not on fear but on hope.
Fit check
Right for your reader?
Where the series lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- 15
- 17
- 19
- Best fit · 9–12
- Read aloud · 8–12
- Independent · 9–12
Reluctant-reader friendliness
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Adult crossover
High
Grows with the reader
Not especially
Sensitivity envelope
Moderate overall, and consistent.
Content notes
- Animal harm
- Death of character
- Death of parent
- Grief
- Scary imagery
- Violence
- War or conflict
In the same universe
Sister series.
Where it sits
In conversation with other series.
About the author