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March 24, 2015
I have to admit right here at the top that finishing reading this book, and then deciding what to write about it, was - unfortunately - quite a struggle for me.Seeker has many intriguing elements and it seemed like a story I would normally eat right up, but I never could connect with the characters or the plot. When I did finally finish it, I decided it would be interesting to simply explore my reactions and try my hand at a positive negative review. So here goes....
This book begins with Quin, Shinobu and John, three young adults who've spent their lives preparing to become powerful, extremely deadly, expertly-skilled assassins called Seekers. As they near completion of their training, they eagerly anticipate saving lives, helping the world and generally being awesome-superhero-type people. But they soon discover the shocking truth, which is the reality of being a Seeker means becoming a pawn in a corrupt world where murder, greed and ruthlessness rule. Hence the book's tagline "The Truth Will End Them All". Once the trio find out what they've been thrust into, they each attempt to break free, resulting in betrayal, murder and dangerous, globe-crossing chaos.
So yes, this is definitely the type of book I look forward to reading and would usually dig. But I did not enjoy Seeker. For starters, the chapters use the character names as titles and jump back and forth to the point of views of each of the three MCs (plus some side players every once in a while). This writing style felt pretty haphazard and didn't work for me because I couldn't appreciate any of the characters so being spread thinly inside all of their minds didn't help. The plot didn't grab me either since I could never find anything about which to feel good. Once Quin, Shinobu and John identified the evil path they were on, they never really turned positive enough to make me root for any of them. There was also a weird love triangle between the three but John actually turns bad around the middle of the book so we wonder why he and Quin are even an option. On the other hand, Quin and Shinobu are third cousins or half-third cousins or something so they really shouldn't be together either. Ultimately, rather than having a romance angle that increased the likability of these characters, it actually made them worse.
What was most interesting to me personally about this whole experience was I wanted to stop reading this novel. It's the first time that's happened. I've never "DNFed" a book (Did Not Finish, as they say in the book blog world). I kept thinking it would just take me a few more weeks to power through and one never knows what might come up or change in the story so might as well keep going. Seeker never perked up, yet I'm still glad I finished because I felt good about giving it a full try. Personally, I don't think DNFing is a good idea. A started book deserves to be finished. Unless it goes to some heinously repulsive place you never saw coming and you want to burn it immediately. But this seems unlikely. Many book reviewers disagree with me though, and if you Google a few blogs, you'll likely find some interesting articles on why it's OK to bail on a book. If you are curious about that sort of thing.
Anyways, back to it. Did I like anything about Seeker? Sure, there were a couple of things. The Seekers are a centuries old tradition with multiple families making up their ranks. I suppose this is the origin of the corruption and evil that has jacked up the soup - too many cooks in the kitchen. Anyways, during all this time there have been these mystical beings called Dreads who are meant to watch over the Seekers, approve the new trainees, and deal out Seeker justice when needed. They are super-humans of some sort with special sensory and body powers that make them supremely skilled, unbeatable warriors. Strangely and frustratingly, we don't know if they are alien or what, perhaps that will be revealed in later books. Either way, the Dreads were cool. Particularly the Young Dread, as she's called, who's really a girl named Maud. She may be 15 yrs old, but she might also really be 115....or even 615. We never know since the Dreads spend part of their lives resting in limbo. I don't know why, incidentally, this was just another part of the plot that didn't connect for me. Maud was probably my favorite character though, if I had to choose one. Mostly because she's mysteriously aloof yet she starts to come around to her human sensibilities as she realizes the Seeker system is corrupt and sees that one of the Dreads may be part of the problem.
I was also mildly intrigued by these neat stone knives called "athames" that everyone wants to keep their hands on, Dreads and Seekers alike. These ancient artifacts allow wormhole-type travel when the user adjusts knobs on the handle to a particular set of coordinates and then cuts a hole in time and space to jump through. It's kind of a familiar and overused concept, but it worked OK here, although the characters just used the athames to move around the world, not to go to outer space or to other time periods or planets or anything. Although this reminds me that the book's "genre-defying" blend of sci-fi, fantasy and contemporary really didn't come off that well for me. A bit like mixing all the characters' perspectives up, using a lot of different genres made for a messy, somewhat confusing read.
I mostly enjoyed the very end of the book where Quin and Shinobu (who were really liking each other by then and close to hooking up, even though they are related, still weirded out by this) attack a flying airship over the city of London. The Dreads descend upon the ship at the same time because John is on it and he's basically become everyone's enemy. This big final confrontation is written quite well and there is plenty of action and excitement. Of course we are then left with plenty of mysteries to be solved by the rest of the series.
Thinking about this showdown on the airship, I realize that Seeker reads more like a novelization of a movie and not so much as a book that may become a movie some day. In fact, there is already hype out there that this will be a major motion picture. And, if done big, with good stars, I think it would be a smashing success. So it could be the rare case where the movie will turn out better than the book! And I hope Miss Dayton was paid nicely for the film rights since there are certainly several unique, creative, Hollywood-worthy concepts in her novel.
Actually, it occurs to me just now that the rest of the series may turn out to be phenomenal, who knows. I honestly wish the best for Miss Dayton and I respect the fact that different tastes for different folks means there are plenty of readers who enjoyed - and will enjoy - this book. Maybe someday we will look at the whole multi-book Seeker storyline and see something amazing. However, I didn't connect with and therefore can't recommend this first book.
Up next I have an advanced reader’s copy of “Dead Wake” by Erik Larson which weaves a narrative non-fiction story around the sinking of the Lusitania. Very much looking forward to it since I’ve truly enjoyed two other Larson books - The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck. Both of which I read before I started doing reviews, but I still HIGHLY recommended them. Especially “White City”. And I'm also excited about my advance copy of Shadow Scales, the sequel to Seraphina which I recently read, liked and reviewed. So hopefully I’ll have some great write-ups coming for you soon!
Happy Reading!
This book begins with Quin, Shinobu and John, three young adults who've spent their lives preparing to become powerful, extremely deadly, expertly-skilled assassins called Seekers. As they near completion of their training, they eagerly anticipate saving lives, helping the world and generally being awesome-superhero-type people. But they soon discover the shocking truth, which is the reality of being a Seeker means becoming a pawn in a corrupt world where murder, greed and ruthlessness rule. Hence the book's tagline "The Truth Will End Them All". Once the trio find out what they've been thrust into, they each attempt to break free, resulting in betrayal, murder and dangerous, globe-crossing chaos.
So yes, this is definitely the type of book I look forward to reading and would usually dig. But I did not enjoy Seeker. For starters, the chapters use the character names as titles and jump back and forth to the point of views of each of the three MCs (plus some side players every once in a while). This writing style felt pretty haphazard and didn't work for me because I couldn't appreciate any of the characters so being spread thinly inside all of their minds didn't help. The plot didn't grab me either since I could never find anything about which to feel good. Once Quin, Shinobu and John identified the evil path they were on, they never really turned positive enough to make me root for any of them. There was also a weird love triangle between the three but John actually turns bad around the middle of the book so we wonder why he and Quin are even an option. On the other hand, Quin and Shinobu are third cousins or half-third cousins or something so they really shouldn't be together either. Ultimately, rather than having a romance angle that increased the likability of these characters, it actually made them worse.
What was most interesting to me personally about this whole experience was I wanted to stop reading this novel. It's the first time that's happened. I've never "DNFed" a book (Did Not Finish, as they say in the book blog world). I kept thinking it would just take me a few more weeks to power through and one never knows what might come up or change in the story so might as well keep going. Seeker never perked up, yet I'm still glad I finished because I felt good about giving it a full try. Personally, I don't think DNFing is a good idea. A started book deserves to be finished. Unless it goes to some heinously repulsive place you never saw coming and you want to burn it immediately. But this seems unlikely. Many book reviewers disagree with me though, and if you Google a few blogs, you'll likely find some interesting articles on why it's OK to bail on a book. If you are curious about that sort of thing.
Anyways, back to it. Did I like anything about Seeker? Sure, there were a couple of things. The Seekers are a centuries old tradition with multiple families making up their ranks. I suppose this is the origin of the corruption and evil that has jacked up the soup - too many cooks in the kitchen. Anyways, during all this time there have been these mystical beings called Dreads who are meant to watch over the Seekers, approve the new trainees, and deal out Seeker justice when needed. They are super-humans of some sort with special sensory and body powers that make them supremely skilled, unbeatable warriors. Strangely and frustratingly, we don't know if they are alien or what, perhaps that will be revealed in later books. Either way, the Dreads were cool. Particularly the Young Dread, as she's called, who's really a girl named Maud. She may be 15 yrs old, but she might also really be 115....or even 615. We never know since the Dreads spend part of their lives resting in limbo. I don't know why, incidentally, this was just another part of the plot that didn't connect for me. Maud was probably my favorite character though, if I had to choose one. Mostly because she's mysteriously aloof yet she starts to come around to her human sensibilities as she realizes the Seeker system is corrupt and sees that one of the Dreads may be part of the problem.
I was also mildly intrigued by these neat stone knives called "athames" that everyone wants to keep their hands on, Dreads and Seekers alike. These ancient artifacts allow wormhole-type travel when the user adjusts knobs on the handle to a particular set of coordinates and then cuts a hole in time and space to jump through. It's kind of a familiar and overused concept, but it worked OK here, although the characters just used the athames to move around the world, not to go to outer space or to other time periods or planets or anything. Although this reminds me that the book's "genre-defying" blend of sci-fi, fantasy and contemporary really didn't come off that well for me. A bit like mixing all the characters' perspectives up, using a lot of different genres made for a messy, somewhat confusing read.
I mostly enjoyed the very end of the book where Quin and Shinobu (who were really liking each other by then and close to hooking up, even though they are related, still weirded out by this) attack a flying airship over the city of London. The Dreads descend upon the ship at the same time because John is on it and he's basically become everyone's enemy. This big final confrontation is written quite well and there is plenty of action and excitement. Of course we are then left with plenty of mysteries to be solved by the rest of the series.
Thinking about this showdown on the airship, I realize that Seeker reads more like a novelization of a movie and not so much as a book that may become a movie some day. In fact, there is already hype out there that this will be a major motion picture. And, if done big, with good stars, I think it would be a smashing success. So it could be the rare case where the movie will turn out better than the book! And I hope Miss Dayton was paid nicely for the film rights since there are certainly several unique, creative, Hollywood-worthy concepts in her novel.
Actually, it occurs to me just now that the rest of the series may turn out to be phenomenal, who knows. I honestly wish the best for Miss Dayton and I respect the fact that different tastes for different folks means there are plenty of readers who enjoyed - and will enjoy - this book. Maybe someday we will look at the whole multi-book Seeker storyline and see something amazing. However, I didn't connect with and therefore can't recommend this first book.
Up next I have an advanced reader’s copy of “Dead Wake” by Erik Larson which weaves a narrative non-fiction story around the sinking of the Lusitania. Very much looking forward to it since I’ve truly enjoyed two other Larson books - The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck. Both of which I read before I started doing reviews, but I still HIGHLY recommended them. Especially “White City”. And I'm also excited about my advance copy of Shadow Scales, the sequel to Seraphina which I recently read, liked and reviewed. So hopefully I’ll have some great write-ups coming for you soon!
Happy Reading!