Seeker, by Arwen Elys Dayton (2015, Delacorte BFYR), $18.99 ISBN: 9780385744072
Recommended for ages 14+
Quin Kincaid has been training to be a Seeker since she was eight years old. She and her cousin, Shinobu, finally complete their training take their oaths, only to discover that they have been lied to by their families. This is no honorable profession; they have been duped into becoming pawns of Quin’s awful father, Briac. This is only the first secret Quin uncovers about her father – there is so much more, including what really happened to her boyfriend, John’s family, at Briac’s hands.
Seeker could be an epic YA series. There is time travel, intrigue, and layer upon layer of character backstory and world-building. My main issue with the book is that there is so much plot that the story gets muddled. For instance, just grasping what time the main story takes place in can be a frustrating exercise: there are references to airships and cell phones, horses and lands. Is it a post-apocalyptic universe? A steampunk universe? The time travel aspect is introduced late into the story, so I spent a good portion of my reading wondering what was going on and where. I’m still not sure what the relics, called athames, that a good chunk of the plot involves, really do.
The story is told through the viewpoints of four characters. We don’t always get a lot of motivation, with the narrative being told from four points of view. I found one character’s actions seemingly coming out of nowhere, another character’s background making very little sense, and two characters having a massive portal shift erase 18 months of storytelling time.
All in all, this one isn’t my book. It’s got promise, and perhaps the second book in the series will answer some of these questions.
Mom Read It 