Book 1

Seeker

by Samuel Griffin

Published 1 September 2023
'Today I am equipped with the knowledge that my future was to be far greater, more exciting, and more disturbing than anything so simple as my young imagination could then conjure. Indeed, looking back, my forecast was positively quaint. I ask myself a question often, and it is this: if I had understood all that was to befall me, would I have run, that day, or exulted?

I find I do not know.'


Ancient leviathans have stirred from their long slumber. Their scent song marks where they might be found, but only to those with the means to somewhat hear it: Sentinel Archivists.


Shay Bluefaltlow finds herself training to become such a specialist when she is bought into indentured servitude. Her new home, the city of Fivedock, is strange and bewildering, as are her new companions: a belligerent surgeon, a remarkable little boy, and a formidable Sentinel Archivist tasked with teaching Shay the terrifying ways of the trade.

Her unanticipated position requires forbidden knowledge, a terrible bargain and the strongest constitution. Shay is certain she is unequal to the prodigious task, but desperate to impress her superiors.

When war subsumes the Concord, the office of the Sentinel Archivist is dismantled by a terrible betrayal. And Shay has secrets of her own...

Packed with era detail to bring the world to vivid life, realistic, but with strong fantastical elements, a rich regency voice, and a bewitching touch of strangeness, Seeker is an immersive first-person novel for adults.

Naomi Novik meets Georgette Heyer and Bernard Cornwell in this sumptuous tale by the dazzling new voice in Flintlock Fantasy, Samuel Griffin.

Griffin does for regency era fantasy what Robin Hobb did for medieval: this isn't just a fiction, this is a living and breathing world you dunk yourself in. An intimate journey with real characters. With incredibly accomplished, enchanting prose, and a beating heart of a story.