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    Wildborn: Spirit Animals, Book 1
    Wildborn: Spirit Animals, Book 1
    Wildborn: Spirit Animals, Book 1
    Audiobook5 hours

    Wildborn: Spirit Animals, Book 1

    Written by Brandon Mull

    Narrated by Nicola Barber

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    #1 New York Times bestseller Brandon Mull launches Scholastic's brand-new multiplatform phenomenon.

    Four children separated by vast distances all undergo the same ritual, watched by cloaked strangers. Four flashes of light erupt, and from them emerge the unmistakable shapes of incredible beasts - a wolf, a leopard, a panda, a falcon. Suddenly the paths of these children - and the world - have been changed forever.

    Enter the world of Erdas, where every child who comes of age must discover if they have a spirit animal, a rare bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. A dark force has risen from distant and long-forgotten lands, and has begun an onslaught that will ravage the world. Now the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers . . . and on you.

    Part engrossing book series, part action role-playing game - discover your spirit animal and join the adventure in Fall 2013.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScholastic
    Release dateSep 10, 2013
    ISBN9780545643610
    Wildborn: Spirit Animals, Book 1
    Author

    Brandon Mull

    Brandon Mull is the author of the New York Times, USA TODAY, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Beyonders and Fablehaven series, as well as the bestselling Five Kingdoms, Candy Shop Wars, and Dragonwatch series. He resides in Utah, in a happy little valley near the mouth of a canyon. Brandon’s greatest regret is that he has but one life to give for Gondor.

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    Reviews for Wildborn

    4.5/5

    403 ratings31 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      really good listen. good original story, or at least I have yet to read something like it.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The person or personS reading it did wonderful voices, and the story was just downright enjoyable! Cheers!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book is amazing you need to listen to it

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I loved it great awesome book I love
      The animals.keep making them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Spoiler alert for the series!,!The violence is needed so anyone who use that to say the book is bad is flat dumb. This is my personal second favorite book series of all time! Barely second to hatchet I remember checking out book one in my school library because the cover looked cool. I then kept asking my parents for the next books and the story line became better and better. Usually I don’t get sad while Reading books, but several sections in this series had me hit with nuclear bombs and poison tipped arrows straight in the feels
      Like when Tarik’s spirit animal died.
      Some books are boring, sloppy made, and don’t have a even half good story line. This is no where near that. From start to finish, this series gave everything a book needs and more. I kinda want a wolf spirit animal now, but who doesn’t? Love this series, definetly recomend

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      this series is so awesome i am listening it for the fourth time!!!!!!!!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      (My reviews usually have spoilers so if you haven’t read the book don’t read my reviews)

      This book is awesome! But the people who think this book is to violent I think your wrong. There is 2 reasons to this. 1, in the battle at the end of this book it is violent because it is needed. It shows this so it convinces Abeke that she are on the wrong side and makes a conflict in the future. 2, you want a book that isn’t just defeat evil! Glorious victory! (*caugh* bad plot *caugh*). I realize that books like that aren’t necessarily bad, but if you want story that is developed (little to no plot-holes) there has to be motivation like a death. You want a book that has a developed plot like Unwanteds, or Warriors (also check those books out). If you like this book check Rangers Aprentice by John Flanagan (sorry if I spelled that wrong).

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      AMAZING I LOVED ALL OF THIS BOOK KEEP MAKING THEM??

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      It keeps the readers attention with how many anvinchers with animals.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Started listening with my 7 and 4 year old boys, but thought it was a little violent for them. I finished it myself. Really great. If I was a teenager I would have loved it even more.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      One of the best books I have ever read!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I gave it three stars because it constantly kept freezing . It was so annoying
    • 5/5
      Spirit animals forever and ever! This is a great audiobook!!!
    • 5/5
      i loved it so much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! spirit animals forever!!! love love
    • 3/5
      I have read book 3 and some of book 4 and I did not like it. It is ill-paced and the charaters seem are devlopment is slow and inconsistent. Also there too many cliff hangers. This book ends with a cliff hanger that isn't developed till book 4.
    • 3/5
      Solid kid's adventure story to start out the newest monster series from scholastic. Good concept and good line-up of authors.
    • 3/5
      My ten-year-old came downstairs all on fire about this book and insisted that I read it. Not seeing any good reason to refuse, I agreed.It was fine? I mean, it used some lazy stereotyping to set up the characters, but there was a lot of world-building and characterization to set-up in a short space, so I guess I can see why it would be easy to use some shortcuts. (Set on a non-Earth planet with unique continents, but of the four main characters, one is clearly Chinese, one African, one British, one American). There was one incident with Native-Americans-who-werent-Native-Americans-but-clearly-were that was a little eye-rally, but mostly it was fine. But really the entire thing felt like a setup for the series more than a complete book on its own.The central concept of being able to connect psychically to a magical animal is certainly most of what got my son interested in this book. There are interesting bits to the characters. I did like the emphasis that each of the kids has different strengths, but they all feel less-than and tend to focus on the things that they DON'T do as well. Plot seemed had-waved and rushed in places.I know, this book isn't FOR ME. But even as a middle grade novel, I was underwhelmed.
    • 4/5
      Short but good. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I didn't like the violence of the final chapters- the book seemed aimed at a younger audience and then the fight scene seemed too graphic for that age.
    • 4/5
      I was not sure what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. Fun MG fantasy with excellent world-building.
    • 2/5
      When I open a book that has a map on the first page, I tend to run screaming in the other direction, but kids who enjoy exploring mythical lands and referring to fake maps will probably get a kick out of this. This series, like 39 Clues, has a different author for each book, and there are some pretty impressive names attached (Maggie Stiefvater, Shannon Hale, Garth Nix). There is an online component, and readers are invited to log in and play the game on their computer using special codes found in the books. They do require an email address. There was a rather violent death scene at the end of book 1 (very descriptive...the words "blood" and "gurgling" were used in the same sentence), so sensitive kids might be overwhelmed by that. I almost teared up a little, and I didn't even LIKE the characters! Despite my personal dislike, I would still recommend this. Here's my review:

      In the land of Erdas, all children who are turning 11 participate in a ceremony where they attempt to call their spirit animal. Not all children summon spirit animals, but those who do are invited to join the semi-secret society called The Greencloaks. Greencloaks get certain powers and enhanced abilities from their spirit animals, and they're just cooler than everyone else. During this particular year, evil is brewing in Erdas and a very scary sounding creature called The Devourer is on the loose again after having been defeated many years ago. When the Devourer was originally defeated, four of the most impressive spirit animals lost their lives. When four ordinary kids summon their spirit animals in Wild Born, they happen to summon those legendary fallen spirit animals, hurtling them into the middle of a frightening war, terrifying enemies, and the mysterious Greencloaks. These four brave kids must struggle to bond with their wild and very famous spirit animals, while deciding who they can trust and who is out to deceive them. Full of action and animals, Spirit Animals Wild Born is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat! (Recommended for grades 4-6. The action and war will definitely appeal to boys, but there are cute animals and lots of girl power to keep adventurous girls interested too.) -EC



    • 4/5
      I did not have high hopes upon picking up this book. However, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. There are four teens who are paired with spirit animals which seems to be a rare gift in their world. Their animals are each a beast from legend. The beasts that they have called each played an important role in the last battle with the Devourer. And it seems as if there is a war coming that will determine the fate of Erdas. The four teens are unique as are their relationship with their spirit animals.
    • 2/5
      Listen to audiobook; plot wasn't clear as to who/what evil force is threatening their homes
    • 4/5
      This is another one of those books that I am reading because my son read it and wants me to read it too. It was a good start to a new middle grade fantasy series. My eight year old son loves this series and I also thought it was a good start to a new series. This is the first book in the Spirit Animals series; there are currently seven books in this series.This book introduces us to four different kids. The first is Conor who ends up bonded to the wolf Briggan much to his surprise. We also meet Akebe who finds herself bonded with Uzara the leopard and quickly develops an excellent relationship with Uzara. Then we meet Meilin who is the daughter of a General and has trained to fight much of her life; she is bounded to a giant panda named Jhi and they have a rocky start to their relationship. Lastly we meet Rollan who is a thief who bonds with the Falcon Essix. The four of these kids must learn to work with their bond animals and with each other if they are going to prevent Erdas from falling into war and darkness.This book pretty much just introduces the four main characters and sets up the story for continuation in the next book. Honestly the introduction of the four kids was a bit repetitive for me, but my son really enjoyed it. The four kids do have very distinct personalities and were fun to learn about. The Spirit Animals were interesting as well; my favorite was Jhi the giant panda who, despite her bumbling appearance, seems to be wise beyond her years. I also enjoyed Briggan and how fun loving he was.The kids are basically struggling to learn how to bond with their Spirit Animals. Connor and Briggan seem to have the easiest time of it but Connor can’t get Briggan into passive form. Jhi and Meilin have no rapport together and Meilin keeps Jhi in passive form (as a tattoo on her arm) for a good portion of the story. Akebe and and Uzara seems to work together fairly well. Rollan and his falcon Essix have a much more distant relationship. The book is easy to read, well written, and engaging. It is fairly predictable and I thought the first half of the book (where everyone is introduced) was a bit slow. However, my eight year old loved this story and the way the characters were introduced. So I think this is going to be a book that is better for younger readers.I enjoyed the last portion of the book a lot more. Our characters finally come together and we start to get glimpses of the bigger issues in Erdas and the larger story.Overall this is a great start to a new fantasy series for middle grade aged readers. My eight year old really loved it. I found that the beginning of the story was fairly repetitive, predictable, and not all that creative. However, I am not the intended audience (although I do read a ton of middle grade books). I think this is a series that is going to be great for kids, I did enjoy the end of the story so I am going to read the next couple books and then evaluate whether it’s a good series for adults too.On a side note this book is being marketing as a “multi-platform” experience. So the book does include codes for an online game where you create a character in the world of Erdas. That is something we haven’t looked at doing yet, but I do plan to set it up so that my son can try that out as well.
    • 3/5
      Across the world of Erdas, four children have summoned spirit animals -- and not just any spirit animals, but four of the Great Beasts. In an upcoming conflict between good and evil, these four youngsters and their animals will be key players.This initial book in the Spirit Animals series sets the stage for the rest of the series, and also shows the four children facing their first quest and battle. I think this series will probably be as popular as other multi-author, multi-platform efforts. I read (or rather, listened to) this one in order to stay current with popular kids' books, but I will probably not continue with the series.
    • 4/5
      This book is a lot like Animorphs is you like that series. It is about 4 kids around a different world who summon 4 beasts that weren't supposed to be summoned. The 4 kids go on an adventure to combine the 4 beasts together but the evil is also trying to stop them at the same time. I hope you read this book.
    • 5/5
      An enjoyable start to a series.
    • 3/5
      2.5 Stars. I really wanted to like this one, and I was liking it until halfway through, and then I started to get bored. I think it may have been more me and my frame of mind than the book.
    • 4/5
      Wild Born BOOK REVIEW Author (Last name first): Mull, BrandonTitle of the Book: Wild Born (Spirit Animals #1)Publisher: ScholasticDate of Publication:2013ISBN# 978-054522439Price:$12.99Grade Level:Upper El/MiddleNumber of Pages: 224VOYA Rating: 3Q 4P Recommended This is the first book of a new series along the same lines of the 39 Clues books. This first book is written by Brandon Mull and he sets the series up by introducing the characters and the setting. Conor is a sheep herder, who bonds with a wolf named Briggan. Akebe bonds with a leopard named Uzara. Meilin is a trained fighter and is bonded with Jhi a gentle panda. Finally, Rollan bonds with a falcon named Essix; although this particular bonding does not seem to be going well. They are on the world of Erdas and when a child turns 11, they drink a sip of the Nectar, which determines which Spirit Animal they are bonded with.This is a quick paced fantasy series. Each character has their strengths and weaknesses. They have been tasked to fight the evil in their world. This book definitely appeals to the upper elementary and middle school crowd. There are animals, fantasy and adventure awaiting readers. There is a code in each book that corresponds with an on-line role playing game. When the reader finishes the book, they can continue the adventure on-line with their own spirit animal. I think the vocabulary in this book is a bit challenging. It would be difficult for struggling readers. It’s a good book to teach about the fantasy genre and also about series books. I think it’s a great book to engage those kids who would rather play video games than read, because they can do both with this book. It will be a popular addition to a school library.
    • 4/5
      I'm sure this book series is going to be the next big thing in middle grade/YA fiction. Each book in the series, published by Scholastic, will be written by different authors who will inject their brilliance into each book, spinning a new and exciting tale every time. The first book is written by Brandon Mull. Get ready for the second book, which is sure to be amazing by the one-and-only Maggie Stiefvater!I will come right out and admit that I was hesitant with this book. The title alone was enough to make me grimace. In my head, I was worried I was going to have to read a story about kids who turned into animals or a less intense version of something like having an animal soul like in The Golden Compass. What I did not expect was the story to have a real reason behind one's ability to have a spirit animal. I like the thought put into how you get a spirit animal. I also like the fact that not everyone gets one. This is not a world where every kid at the age of 11 gets a spirit animal.To be able to "produce" a spirit animal, children at the age of 11 drink a special nectar. If they are chosen, an animal will appear out of the sky in a dramatic and awe-inspiring way, in front of the entire community. The animals radiate power. They are independent and must have their trust earned by their respective humans. The four creatures you see on the cover are four of the "Great Beasts"--ancient spirit animals who were destroyed a long time ago, and have been "resurrected" by these four kids.War is breaking out everywhere and these four kids, with the help of these ancient animals, can make all the difference. They set out on an epic adventure to train and hopefully to help save the world. This book is fast-moving, exciting, and full of danger and of the unexpected. The book is told from the alternating points of view of the characters, giving the reader the chance to identify with each of the characters and to experience their very different adventures as they learn to work with the animals.Although the book is set in a mythological far off world, the kids deal with social issues that readers will certainly be able to identify with. Issues such as self-doubt, confidence, identity issues, loyalty, morality, learning to trust, learning to fit in, and learning to be a leader and to work with others are all prevalent.Unlike many stories today of heroic children, I liked that this book does not ignore the importance of adults/parental figures. While the children must mature quickly and they have the fate of the world resting on their shoulders, the adults are present to guide them on their journey. The kids are learning to be heroes and survivors, but they do so under the watchful eyes of the adults who are very much needed. The kids are equal with the adults and are very important to the mission. Readers will enjoy the freedom, the adventures, and the necessity of the children's presence. Parents can appreciate that these fictional children need their parents/need adult guidance just as children do in reality. This is not a story of rebelliousness or carelessness.I love how realistic and logical this seems--you can't just throw kids into the world and have them come out as invincible. What a refreshing take! These kids are given a lot of responsibility and have the freedom and independence all kids crave, but there are still adult protectors; there are still people to give guidance and to lend a hand.I also noticed there is a diverse group of characters: a street-boy/orphan, the wealthy daughter of a military man, a palace servant, and a middle-class/youngest daughter. This book celebrates diversity, and I love that. Rich or poor, important or common, anyone can be a hero!The characters are good role models for other kids. For example, when one of the heroes, Abeke, gets led astray, she must decide what is right and wrong--who is good and who is evil. From Abeke, readers can learn to trust their instincts. These children learn to sense right and wrong as they continue to develop their own moral compasses. Moreover, in this dystopian world, the characters make the decision to sacrifice personal happiness for the greater good, for their friends, for others' happiness. They learn to take the hard road, because it will lead to a better world. There's certainly a lot of good life lessons to be taken from these characters!If all these good things are not enough to persuade you, the book is also an interactive online game! There's a code with each book to register and live the adventure yourself. Very cool! Embrace a kid's love of technology while ALSO getting them reading and off the computer. Brilliant!Spirit Animals is everything in an adventure you've ever wanted and more. Fans of Animorphs and Pokemon will enjoy this story. The books are sure to be a huge success, particularly with boys who love fantasy/magic, and adventure stories, with a bit of [age-appropriate] danger and violence. Who knows... maybe we'll even see a TV series out of this? I honestly wouldn't be surprised.
    • 4/5
      Good book, I will be reading the next one in this series soon.