Seeker (Noble Warriors)

Seeker (Noble Warriors)

When his older brother is sent into exile for an act of betrayal he did not commit, Seeker heads out to rescue his brother and clear his name, but when the land of Nomana is threatened from external forces, Seeker and his new traveling companions must find a way to save their land from what appears to be its pending demise. 100,000 first printing. Grade 7 Up–The Noble Warriors (Nomana) are dedicated to protecting the All and Only god who, according to prophecy, will be killed by the Assassin. Once a year, pilgrims are allowed on the island of Anacrea and accepted into the Nomana. Seeker after Truth, 16, has wanted to join the Noble Warriors all of his life even though his father is intent on him being a scholar. When he enters an open door into the monastery, he sees his brother being publicly humiliated and cast out of the Nomana. Soon two pilgrims arrive who will change Seeker's life forever: Morning Star, who can sense a person's colors and interpret what they mean, and The Wildman, a spiker (outlaw) who is looking for power and peace. After all three teenagers are rejected by the Nomana, Seeker formulates a plan to ensure their acceptance. Written in the same style as Christopher Paolini's Eragon (Knopf, 2003) and Terry Brooks's The Sword of Shannara (Ballantine, 1983), the quest itself will form the characters into the people they were always meant to be. A novel of friendship, loyalty, and accomplishment, Seeker will draw readers into the conflict between believing with the eyes or with the heart. –June H. Keuhn, Corning East High School, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Gr. 6-9. If one were to categorize fantasies with respect to religion, Nicholson's first entry in his new Noble Warriors series would side with C. S. Lewis, not Philip Pullman: its 16-year-old hero vows to protect his compassionate, monotheistic religion from destruction, even as his rejection by its exclusive sect of warrior-monks tests his faith. Seeker's quest brings him to the culturally distinct city of Radiance, where evildoers plot to send a suicide bomber into the Noble Warriors' stronghold. Tight plotting and numerous perspectives, including those of a devout shepherd girl, a not-quite-reformed bandit, and Seeker's elder brother (a shamefully defrocked Noble Warrior), lend the novel a cinematic breadth perfectly consistent with Nicholson's background as a Hollywood screenplay writer. Less appealing is the often heavy-handed moralizing, particularly apparent in the portrayal of Radiance's mercenary citizens, who offer human sacrifices to prove their wealth and status. All the same, readers with a strong belief in their own god may welcome a novel that depicts such unswerving devotion in young people, and fans of Nicholson's Wind Singer trilogy will find many of its same attractions reincarnated here. Jennifer Mattson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved William Nicholson is the author of the acclaimed Wind on Fire trilogy as well as the screenplays for Gladiator and Shadowlands . He lives in Sussex, England. William Nicholson is the author of the acclaimed Wind on Fire trilogy as well as the screenplays for Gladiator and Shadowlands . He lives in Sussex, England.