January 15, 2017
The Seeker trilogy concludes.Quin, Shinobu, and John are still separated from one another, working at slightly less cross-purposes than they were before. After two volumes full of memory loss and murder sprees, the three young Seekers all just want to defeat the chaotic, destructive forces of the Middle Dread. Shinobu's been captured by a sweet-looking, grandmotherly, but vicious torturer who's doing her best to keep him off-balance and violent. John and the Young Dread rescue ancient Seekers they find frozen in time and stashed in the hidden dimensions of no-space. Quin's traveling with a not-particularly-sane young man she met in no-space who knows a strange amount about the history of the Seekers and tells her of events that occurred in the (nonexistent) country "England in the year 506." Brief chapters alternate through the perspectives of the trio and several other characters, slowing the adventure's momentum. Quin and John, both white, and biracial (white Scottish father, Japanese mother) Shinobu travel via airship and no-space around a world of lazy stereotypes: Africa's a jungle full of child soldiers and slave wives, Hong Kong's stocked with bright-eyed mystical healers, a Norwegian child asks if other children "vill come to be vis us?" Centuries of violence climax in a cinematic--but haphazard--feel-good conclusion. Just as plodding as the first two volumes. (Science fiction. 12-14)
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January 1, 2018
In the third and final book (�cf2]Seeker�cf1]; �cf2]Traveler�cf1]), Seekers Quin, Shinobu, and John work to end the conflict among Seeker factions, channel their powers for good, and exert control over their own destinies. Sweeping world-building sometimes overwhelms the story, and depictions of the mundane world are flattened to the point of stereotype. Nevertheless, the scrappy, thoughtful characters and well-structured plot will keep readers invested.
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)