Tiger Wars by Steve Backshall Review

Reviewed by Rachael Richardson

Steve Backshall is probably best known as the presenter of the children’s TV show ‘Deadly Sixty’, so it’s probably no surprise that his first foray into the world of fiction is aimed primarily at a young audience. ‘Tiger Wars’ is the interwoven story of Sinter and Sakar set against a background of illegal tiger poaching.

There’s obviously a barrelful of morals and meaning here, however the ‘message’, such as it is, is not overdone or overplayed, with the tiger poaching in particular handled with surprising realism for an audience so relatively young. This aspect of the story avoided the obvious trap of coming across as ‘preachy’ and manages to remain both factual and well written. The writing itself is good, particularly for someone used to writing non-fiction, and while sometimes overly simplistic this is understandable given the target readership. Overall one of the great strengths of the book is the pieces of science and factual information that are slipped into the narrative with an appreciable level of skill.

The lead characters are well-drawn and realistically portrayed for the most part; Sinter in particular is a well-rounded character, especially as a female character being written by a male author. Saker’s character is equally good, but his story-arc relies on an amnesia plot device that is a little obvious and clichéd. While our heroes are largely well portrayed, the villains of the piece are generic in the extreme. Their blandness is a definite reason why the book drags more than a little in the middle.

Overall, ‘Tiger Wars’ is a good book. More than likely a great book for its chosen audience who will be less distracted by its relatively minor weaknesses. A book I would be happy to see my children reading.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £4.99 (paperback)

Available to buy from Amazon here.