SEEKER (Seeker, #1)

by Arwen Elys Dayton

Quin Kincaid has been put through years of brutal training for what she thinks is the noble purpose of becoming a revered ‘Seeker’.

Only when it’s too late does she discover she will be using her new-found knowledge and training to become an assassin. Quin's new role will take her around the globe, from a remote estate in Scotland to a bustling, futuristic Hong Kong where the past she thought she had escaped will finally catch up with her.

• ISBN10: 0552570559
• ISBN13: 9780552570558
• Publish Date: 12 February 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
• Imprint: Corgi Childrens
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I wrestled with Seeker. I fell in love with the cover and the general description from the minute the email from NetGalley hit my inbox. And then I saw reviews coming in and the fear started to creep in and then the dread. Most of the reviews I read were not positive, but I was determined to start Seeker with an open mind. Many times I love books that others do not. Heck, after a time even Gone Girl grew on me. So there was a chance that Seeker wasn't all that bad, right?

Seeker wasn't exactly bad. The book is written well. The Scottish property Quin, Shinobu, and John lived on came alive for me. The weapons they used—the whip sword and disruptor—were amazing weapons that instilled fear and wonder in me. The Dreads had me mystified by their inaction, but I wanted to figure them out. By the end of the book, I figured that the Seekers were a League of Assassins that started with good intentions and then somehow were lead astray as the centuries went on. But I still struggled.

And here's where I struggled. Time. When does this book take place? Obviously the athames offered the ability to move through time and space. The whip sword and disruptor seem advanced, but it appeared Quin and her family were roughing it in the Scottish highlands. I almost thought it was like the 1700s or thereabouts, and then an airship arrived. Fast forward to London and it seems pretty up and coming technology-wise. Fast forward again to Hong Kong and it seems even more advanced than London and ages ahead of Scotland. The book is out of time and place. This left me feeling disoriented not being able to pin down a time and knowing a bit of what to expect from the people, the place or the technology.

Four different points of view. Now each character did have a unique voice, but I'm not sure the different voices were needed because they all know about the same amount about their predicament which amounts to NOTHING. No one added knowledge to the plot. They all just dumped their confusion out and it just sat there going no where. No one was working together. And at the end, all the jumping caused a lot of actions to be rehashed as characters encountered each other. See the end of Chapter 46 (Quin's POV) and the start of Chapter 47 (John's POV). When this would happen all I could think was, "Get on with it! I've read this already!"

I think Seeker had the potential to be a good book. The basic premise of a secret society controlling events throughout time and space and the corruption within is compelling. I'm just not sure it was executed properly. The lack of time and place and a group of characters who know nothing about the nature of the society accompanied with a group of angry adults not willing to share even a shred of history about the organization leads to a major, bloated disappointment in the end. Seeker receives a thumbs down.

I received this book for free in exchange for a honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews.

[violetpeanut]

Seeker is quite the thrill-ride. It's an action packed fantasy with some steampunk-ish elements and a touch of mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed it but there were a couple of issues that kept this from being a 5 star read for me.

From the start, Seeker is exciting. There are great fight scenes and there's always something happening. We jump right from one event to the next at a fast pace which definitely kept me reading. I had to see what would happen next. There's nothing overly graphic, but there's quite a bit of violence.

I loved these characters! I think it's refreshing to see characters who react to crazy situations in realistic ways. Without giving anything away, these characters all find out some horrible things about their families and about what being a Seeker really means. As a result, they each turn to various forms of self-destructive behavior to cope. They're all strong characters but are still vulnerable teens trying to figure out what it is they want and how to deal with what their reality is.

The book is split into three parts. The first is about Quin, Shinobu and John training and testing to become Seekers and the direct aftermath. The second is an "Interlude" in which we are shown flashbacks that fill in some of the back story. The third is set a year and a half after the first part. Many reviews I've read have had a problem with this. For many readers, it felt disjointed and hurt the flow of the book. While I can see their point, I would encourage readers to give it a chance and push through it. While it does slow the pace a little bit, by the end of the book you'll realize that you have all the pieces you need to get to that "Aha!" moment when everything fits together.

My biggest problem with this book is in the world-building. It really needed so much more to flesh it out and make it seem completely real. If asked when this book was set, I don't know that I could give you a good answer. Maybe sometime in the future? Maybe an alternate present-day? I'm not really sure. I wanted to know so much more about the history of the Seekers and why they were started to begin with. We're told it's such an honor and about these special families who are Seekers, but we don't really know anything else. We're shown hints here and there about the history but nothing is explained enough for me to be satisfied. I'm holding out hope that these hints were just seeds and that they'll grow into more as this series continues.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Tons of action, realistic characters that I loved and an interesting plot that kept me guessing. I wish there was more detail in the history and general world-building but it didn't bother me enough to take away from my general enjoyment of the book and I suspect we'll learn more in the next book. I do not agree with the comparisons to The Hunger Games and A Game of Thrones, but I still think it's worth a read if you're looking for some adventure with family drama and fantasy elements.

[tweetybugshouse]

This book i feel had a lot of potential to be a great book it totally leaves you baffled as to what a seeker really is, but i have a feeling it not a good thing. I had to pick it up and put it down quite a few times parts of it where very interesting while others frustrated me as you did not a get a very big picture of what that author was trying to tell you. I gave it 3 stars as i did finish it and it intrigued me enough that i am hoping with the next book we be given more details and that the author is just not solid it where they were going with the story. I say give it a try as i had very vast opinions from my friends on what they though was going on in the story and maybe that was the author intention all along.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

3.5 stars

Source Netgalley

I have mixed feelings about Seeker. On one hand, the book is ambitious, well-written, and imaginative. It is a young adult fantasy novel that has a rare amount of world-building and an unusual amount of diversity. On the other hand, the novel gets so caught up in its own world-building, in its own show and its own message that “TONS OF THINGS ARE AT STAKE AND THERE ARE MORAL QUESTIONS,” that it never adequately deals with any of the moral questions it purports to be raising. In a sense, this is a book that is well-constructed but is too often about nothing interesting at all.

The novel opens strongly. There is action and a bit of mystery, as the three protagonists John, Quin, and Shinobu are engaged in a deadly training battle, right before they will go “THERE” and take their oaths to become Seekers. Their training grounds in Scotland are strangely medieval, but readers eventually get hints that Seeker takes place in a futuristic world. The first transition between these two distinct settings is admittedly clunky, but as the book progresses the two atmospheres blend, and it becomes apparent that Dayton put a lot of thought into constructing her world.

She also clearly put some thought into creating the magic. Some things remain unclear and frustrating, however. For instance, “THERE” is never referred to as anything else, which is ridiculous. Yes, in public the Seekers might wish to be somewhat circumspect while talking about their magical abilities, but as they never refer to “THERE” as something more specific even among themselves, the impression the reader is left with is that the Seekers do not actually understand where or what “THERE” is at all, even though they ostensibly have hundreds of years of Seeker lore and history in which they could have theorized about this. The contrast between this complex history, which Dayton seems to have richly imagined, and the Seekers’ refusal to acknowledge to utilize or acknowledge it, makes the Seekers as whole seem childish rather than stern and magical.

On an individual level, most of the characters are also annoying. Dayton aims for complexity, but just about every character comes out markedly on the “disagreeable” or “selfish” side of the personality spectrum. And while I don’t believe characters “have to” or “should” be “likable” in order for a book to be good, I’ll admit it makes it difficult for me as a reader to feel an investment in the supposed problems of characters I intensely dislike.

Which leads me to the main flaw of the book: The entire premise, the thing readers are supposed to care about, is that the Seekers have an evil secret that will absolutely destroy the protagonists and maybe the world once it is revealed. This is absurdly overstated. It turns out that the major moral “dilemma” that the majority of the characters lose sleep over is whether it is acceptable to murder innocent people for profit. No. No it is not. This is not an interesting moral “puzzle” for characters to spend an entire book attempting to come to terms with. Practically no reader is going to see this a gray issue! Also, these characters are people who were literally raised on the concept that they would be the good-doers of the world (with the idea that “good-doers” SAVE people in fact), which makes it particularly unbelievable that any of them think this is a gray issue.

Thus, it turns out that the characters who are really interesting, who actually have complicated ethical problems to solve are not the protagonists at all; they are the minor characters. I will admit to really loving Maud, and if the entire book had been about her instead, I would have found it more compelling. In the first place, Maud was raised with a more nuanced understanding of morality. In the second place, the questions she is facing are themselves more nuanced. Finally, she has a more complicated standing in the world than John, Quin, and Shinobu, and she has to learn to define for herself what her role is, and when she should become involved with the events around her.

There are things that Seeker deserves a lot of credit for. It is well-constructed, in terms of world-building, pacing, alternating character points-of-view, and so forth. It envisions a unique futuristic world and a unique system of magic. It attempts to draw complex characters. However, since it falls so flat on moral complexity and it so soundly fails to deliver on its promised hard-hitting premise of the Seekers’ deadly secret, I find myself quite uninterested in reading any more of this tale. This is the only book of the series I’ll read.

[shannonmiz]

The concept of Seeker is pretty amazing. On the surface, it sounds like a pretty intense ride. And it might have been, but I honestly had absolutely no freaking clue what was happening. For a solid 40% I thought I was being Punk'd. (Google, my young'uns.)

The story is told through multiple POVs in third person. I usually have a hard time with that particular style, so that wasn't a great start. I often feel detached from the characters, and this situation was no different. But we'll get to that. Let's start out with the basics. You have Quin, Shinobu, and John who are all training to become Seekers. There isn't really an explanation about what a Seeker is but they are hoping to pass a final test and take their Seeker oath. Quin and Shinobu are distant cousins (half-third cousins, which, if you ask me isn't even a "thing", and you really aren't related at all) who grew up together. Quin's parents Briac and Fiona and Shinobu's father Alistair live on this big old farm, and John has been training with them for quite some time.

But here's where things get weird. At first, I thought we were in Scotland somewhere a long time ago. Because Alistair speaks like someone in a bad production of a Charles Dickens play, and they live on this farm with seemingly no modern amenities and strange weapons. But then, we learn that Shinobu's mother died in a car accident, and there's talk of "film stars", so now I am wondering if this is supposed to be modern day, or 1920, or the future, or... you get the gist.

Then there is the business of becoming a Seeker. Basically, Quin thinks a Seeker is a good thing, and apparently, she'd been lied to. Her father, Briac, told her (and Shinobu and John) all these lovely tales about helping people as a Seeker. She finds out, after taking the oath, that things were not as they'd seemed. The reader has no idea what has happened that makes her feel this way, though it is easy to surmise that bad stuff went down. As this is happening, the athame is introduced. What is that, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine. Some important, ancient Seeker thing, I suppose. It is just super important. For reasons.
 

The thing is, since there was such little insight into the characters themselves, and I had absolutely no sense of their personalities, I didn't care at all what was going on. This led to my first potential abandonment of the book. But I thought I should give it more of a chance. There were a lot of action scenes and then... we were in Hong Kong. 


Some kind of strange, alternate, or future, or who actually knows Hong Kong. Things have happened, it is 18 months later, and Quin is some kind of healer, while Shinobu is apparently a drug addict. Maybe it fits their personalities really well, but I have no idea what their personalities are. Then John comes back around, and this athame comes back into play. (Also, I googled it, it's a sword. Or a ritual knife. Google doesn't even know, apparently.) Around this time, a whole bunch of random family members and friends are brought into the mix, and I could not possibly have cared less. I didn't know a thing about the characters I was already reading about, and now you're throwing the population of Hong Kong itself at me?



And this is where I really thought I'd have to abandon ship. I felt like maybe I was the one taking Shinobu's drugs, because what was going on here!? But alas, I gave it one last chance, and by the time I'd reached 71%, I knew I was in it, I might as well finish.

Right around that 71% mark, something incredible happened: I started to care a bit! I was kind of starting to enjoy the story a bit, and things were getting a little exciting! The last 30% wasn't bad. It was entertaining, and full of action, but it didn't answer many of my questions. And for the several that were answered, new ones were left in their place.

There was a bit of romance, but only a very minimal amount. I still have no idea what was going on. Yet somehow, I am oddly pulled to want to continue reading this series. After reading so much about these people (448 pages is kind of a lot in a world you do not understand), I guess I am hoping for some answers? That, or I have lost my mind. You decide.

Bottom Line: If you are the kind of person who can handle a lot of unknowns in a story, then maybe give it a go. I needed more world building, more character development, more insight into what was going on with the plot. It is still a really unique and creative book, but it ended up mostly giving me a headache.

**I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review**
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight

[Beth C.]

You have been raised to be special, brought up on stories and tales of what it means to be different. You've trained your entire life, seen your father as an example of what you want to be, and pitied your mother for what she is. You finally take that final step to become what you've dreamed about...only to find out that it was all wrong. Everything you thought you knew, is no longer what it was. Your love, your friendships, your family...all changed irreparably in the time that it takes to be bound as a Seeker. All of us have choices, and many are made for specific reasons. At what point do those choices, in the name of what's good, turn us into what we swore we would never become?

Seeker is an interesting young adult fantasy with a strong female character. She is not flawless, but her faults are human and make her real. The writing flows well and the pace is fairly quick-moving. Once things really kick into gear (and it doesn't take long), everything just flies. There were a few times when a phrase as written seemed a bit jarring and unnatural for what the story was, but it was brief and did not affect the overall story at all.

It's obvious with the ending that this is the first in a series, though I'm not sure how many will be coming. I would guess a trilogy, but I'm not certain. There is a sense of closure for this book, but there is also a knowledge that the world is, as yet, incomplete. It's been a while since I had to force myself to put down a book so I could go to bed, as was the case here. I look forward to the sequel, due Spring of 2016.

[kimbacaffeinate]

No feeling it and I wanted to. I may revisit.

[Katie King]

**I received my copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

Abandoned.

Once in a while, there comes a book that you just can't finish. It might be that the plot is terrible or there's too much exposition. No matter how hard you try, you can't get past the shortcomings long enough to actually read the words on the pages. Seeker is one of those books for me. I gave up on it at 65% after trying to read it for like six months, maybe even longer than that. SIX MONTHS! That is a long time to try to read the same book.

At first the story was interesting, but then as things went on and got more complicated, I realized nothing was being explained and I was pretty lost. Quin and her friends Shinobu (guess what race he is, go on) and John are Seekers-in-training, which seem like arbitrators of justice or something. They all live and train on a grand estate in Scotland/not-Scotland owned by Quin's dad, who is also their teacher. They go to take their final test and swear their oath, but John (who has a classic I'll-never-be-good-enough chip on his shoulder) fails and decides to get revenge by setting fire to the whole place (or something). Quin and Shinobu also realize that Seekers are just assassins. In the ensuing chaos, Quin and Shinobu jump in a portal to...Hong Kong/not-Hong Kong/someplace...where they live separate lives for 18 months or something until John finds them again.

That's the whole story for 65% of the book! So much of it is intertwined with random backstory that not only has unclear relevance, but is spouted off and then skipped over like it was so obvious what it meant. "Blah blah, he held my mom captive and she's this ghost of a corpse now, okay back to my revenge"...what?!?! Then there was the whole portal time jump or whatever (see, I don't even know what it was) and I'm not sure where in time the rest of the story took place. It says 18 months later, but 18 months from when? From when they landed in Hong Kong/not-Hong Kong but where in time was Scotland/not-Scotland taking place? Several hundred years earlier? In the earlier part in Scotland/not-Scotland, I got the impression they dressed and lived like they were in 1600s or something but they had some pretty advanced technology in Hong Kong/not-Hong Kong. Did they time jump? Did they portal jump? Did they do both? I have no idea.

To top it all off, there is a lot of random stuff with Quin's mommy and daddy issues and her random love triangle (or maybe not? It was hard to tell!) that was confusing. I have no idea what or how or why anything was happening, because nothing was really explained. Are Quin and John in love or is he just lusting after her? Does Quin feel something for Shinobu or is John just paranoid jealous? Are Quin's parents in love or does her dad just let her mom live there? Is Quin's mom a drunk or is she actually someone we should care about? What do all the words the characters keep using mean??

From what I THINK might have been going on, this could've been really good, but it was really poorly executed. Like SO poorly executed that I don't know how anyone could read this and understand anything. How do you categorize this book? How do you read it and come away with a good handle on the plot? It's like the author had a ton of ideas but didn't know how or didn't want to try to integrate them all, so they just DUMPED it all in one book and closed their laptop for the day. Needless to say, it didn't work.