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Summary and Reviews of Seeker by William Nicholson

Seeker by William Nicholson

Seeker

Book One Of The Noble Warriors

by William Nicholson
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  • First Published:
  • May 1, 2006, 432 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2007, 448 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

A coming-of-age story about courage, friendship, desire, and faith.

This first novel in the Noble Warriors sequence begins when sixteen-year-old Seeker's older brother is publicly humiliated and - with no explanation - exiled from the Nomana, a revered order of warrior monks. Seeker refuses to believe that his beloved older brother is capable of committing a betrayal that would warrant such severe consequences, so he sets off alone on a journey to rescue his brother and find out at last what really happened.

Along the way he meets two other young people who are on quests of their own, and in a shocking turn of events, the three are soon caught up in a harrowing and bloody race to save the Nomana - and themselves - from destruction.

An epic coming-of-age story about courage, friendship, desire, and faith, Seeker marks the beginning of a riveting new series.

Sunrise

Seeker woke earlier than usual, long before dawn, and lay in the darkness thinking about the day ahead. It was high summer, with less than a week to go before the longest day of the year. In school it was the day of the monthly ­test.

And it was his sixteenth ­birthday.

Unable to sleep, he rose and dressed quietly so as not to wake his parents, and went out into the silent street. By the light of the stars, he made his way to the steps that zigzagged up the steep hillside, and began to climb. As he did so he watched the eastern sky, and saw there the first pale silver gleams on the horizon that heralded the coming ­dawn.

He had decided to watch the sun ­rise.

At the top of the steps the path flattened out and led into the stone­-­flagged Nom square. To his right rose the great dark mass of the Nom, the castle­-­monastery that dominated the island; to his left, the avenue of old ...

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

The storyline is familiar: Boy consigned to boring life seeks adventure, discovers that (despite the fact that his family never thought him up to much) he's actually the chosen one who's destined to save his world from imminent destruction, meets traveling companions (including capable and determined female) and sets off on quest. However, as we all know, it's not what you tell, it's the way you tell it, and William Nicholson tells a very good story, one that will keep the 12+ age group reading long after bedtime...continued

Full Review Members Only (259 words)

(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).

Media Reviews

The Guardian (UK)
.... A timeless piece of storytelling, unencumbered by being shackled too closely to our own world.

All trilogies pose a challenge for the author - how to close the story's arc in one volume while leaving enough open to drive the narrative into the next. Seeker achieves an admirable balance, and while the exploits in Anacrea and Radiance close satisfyingly, Seeker's true adventure is still to come.

Children's Literature
At times Nicholson's story relies a tad too much on coincidence, but the characters are interesting, flawed, and courageous.

Reader Reviews

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Beyond the Book



William Nicholson lives in Sussex in the South of England with his wife, Virginia, and their three children. He has written two books for adults, The Society of Others (very good IMHO) and The Trial of True Love (not so good), and The Wind Singer - a trilogy for children that received very strong reviews and won two prestigious UK Awards (the Smarties Gold Award and the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2001 - the former being a very popular chocolate candy similar to M&Ms, the latter being a very popular long-running BBC program for children).

He has also written many TV dramas, including Shadowlands (the life of CS Lewis). His adaptation of Shadowlands for the stage won the Evening Standard Best Play of 1990 and went on ...

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Read-Alikes

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Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live

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