The Seeker (The Watcher's Quest) [Hardcover]

Margaret Buffie (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Series: The Watcher?s Quest

Here is the second volume of Margaret Buffie's Watcher's Quest trilogy. Emma's Earth mother, Leto, is dying. Longing to be reunited with her human daughter, Ailla, who was stolen at birth, she has lost her will to live. Emma has pledged to find the missing child and restore order to her adopted family's life. But the quest becomes a dangerous race when Emma realizes she isn't the only one searching for Ailla.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-Buffie picks up the action shortly after the conclusion of The Watcher (Kids Can, 2000). Emma, raised as human, now knows herself to be an alien Watcher, sent to Earth to protect her changeling sister, Summer, now the queen of Argadnel. The protagonist finds herself involved in the interplanetary gaming between Fergus of Cleave and his rivals, playing a magical board game to earn her freedom, and the chance to search for her mother's true daughter, Ailla, whose presence may restore her mother's health. With her friend Tom, a Watcher who has been transformed into a bird by Fergus, and a series of allies and enemies, Emma travels through alien worlds in a real-life game where Ailla is the prize. Emma is a headstrong, appealing narrator, and Buffie uses her first-person perspective to smoothly provide background for readers unfamiliar with the first volume. The characters have depth and complex motivations, keeping the protagonist and readers guessing about who her true friends may be. While the initial slow pacing may be daunting, this is a good choice for sophisticated fantasy readers, with a strong appeal for gaming fans looking for a darker, more complex story than Diana Wynne Jones's The Homeward Bounders (Greenwillow, 2002).
Beth L. Meister, Yeshiva of Central Queens, Flushing, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. In this sequel to The Watcher (2000), Emma has been transported to Argadnel, an island kingdom where her changeling sister, Summer, is now the queen. Their mother, who is grieving for her missing husband and real child, lies near death, so Emma determines to rescue her lost sister and arrange for their father's return. Her quest is complicated by various fantastic creatures, which may be allies of Fergus and Rhona, who are involved in an intricate power game. An appended glossary of characters and place names will help readers keep track of the enormous cast, and early chapters explain the events from the first novel in the Watcher's Quest trilogy. Buffie's ability to keep the story moving without a lag in the action also helps this book to stand on its own. A welcome choice for fantasy buffs. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Kids Can Press (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553373588
• ISBN-13: 978-1553373582
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,181,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My new blog/website is at http://margaretbuffie.com

It is both a blog and a website. For teachers and students, you just have to click on the tabs which indicate my books. I also have a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section on the site. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Biography:

Award winning author, Margaret Buffie, was born and raised in the west end of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the U of Manitoba. An artist for many years, Margaret began writing a story that had intrigued her for a long time - and two years later, "Who is Frances Rain?" was published and quickly became a bestseller. Margaret has published nine more books for young adults. Her new novel is "Winter Shadows".
Margaret works at her home in Winnipeg during the winter and on the veranda of her cottage in north western Ontario in the summer months.
Her books have been published in the United States, Norway, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, China and other countries.
Margaret is the recipient of the prestigious Vicky Metcalf Award for Body of Work (For writing inspirational to Canadian Youth); The Young Adult Canadian Book Award; is a two time winner of the McNally Robinson Book for Young People award, and has been shortlisted for many other awards and honours.

From Margaret: I'm pleased to say that my latest novel WINTER SHADOWS has won The Silver Nautilus Award, May 2011. This award is awarded to "distinguished literary and heartfelt contributions to spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, green values, responsible leadership and positive social change as well as to the worlds of art, creativity and inspirational reading for adults, children, teens and young adults."
Silver Nautilus Book Awards Winners are carefully selected in a unique three-tier judging process by experienced teams of book reviewers, librarians, authors, editors, book store owners, and leaders in the publishing industry.

WINTER SHADOWS was also nominated for the Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year award, as well as The McNally Robinson Book for Young People award.

Five of my books are now available on KINDLE: They are, "Winter Shadows", "The Watcher", "The Seeker", "The Finder", and "Angels Turn Their Backs".

Once again, my new website/blog is at http://www.margaretbuffie.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good Read, July 6, 2004

By 

Melinda Howard (Lennon, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seeker (Paperback)

This book is about a girl named Emma who has resently found that she is a watcher. (check book 1. The Watcher) and now she is on a quest to save her dying human mother from illess by bringer her human father to another world and discovering where her lost human sister is all the while beating a great game player at his own game and finding out many secrets and mysterys along the way. with some unexpected firends, Emma finds what she really didnt know she needed to find. this is an amazing story and i would recomend it to anyone over 13.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emma's dangerous new game, February 3, 2003

By 

Nancy E. "Nancy" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Seeker (The Watcher's Quest) (Hardcover)

I remember a couple years ago when I first picked up the book, The Watcher. My mother saw it in a library and thought that it would be a good book for me. Well, she was right and my pitiful amazon review is still up for it today. Seeker: Watcher's Quest, is not only the sequel to The Watcher but it is also the second book in The Watcher's Trilogy. I'm not sure when the third book, Finder, comes out but I highly recommend that you read Seeker as soon as possible.

Emma is in training to become watcher, a protector of some sorts who watches over her obligations. Unfortunately since she was born on Earth and raised as a human she often lets her strong human emotions take control. Emma is facing a huge problem, the woman that she grew up believing was her mother, Leto, is dying of grief. Emma believes that if she can find the child that was taken from her mother and replaced with Summer, the young Queen who Leto still views as her own daughter, her mother will survive. Unfortunately to do that Emma must set out on a complicated quest set out by the evil game player Fergus. And she only has eight days to do it. Armed only with her wits, her friends, and whatever she may find on the way Emma is facing a daunting task, a task that she appears to be losing. Can Emma find her sister in time?

This book was very exciting with amazing new creatures and characters. One of my favorite new characters is Cill, the nervous little leaf creature who accidentally gets dragged on this quest. I was also happy to see a lot of character development happen with Emma as she learns more about the still strange new world around her. The book ties up a lot of loose ends from the end of The Watcher but also leaves a lot of things open that will be resolved in Finder. Margaret Buffie is a talented author who doesn't get the credit she deserves. If you've already read The Watcher I highly recommend picking this one up as well. If you haven't read the Watcher you could probably read this book as well, although it would completely spoil the ending to the first book in the trilogy. Still I highly recommend reading this book, regardless of your age. It's an exciting work of sci-fi/fantasy that you'll stay up way to late finishing.

5.0 out of 5 stars Margaret Buffie does it again, March 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seeker (Paperback)

I remember picking up "The Watcher" in a bookstore a couple of years ago. At that time, I wasn't sure what I thought about it, but as soon as I finished... well, needless to say, I read it again right away.

When I discovered that there was a sequel to "The Watcher", I couldn't wait to read it! When I finally got a copy, I sat down with it and finished it off the first day. It picked up a few months after "The Watcher", giving lots of background information and not allowing the reader to get lost. It was an amazing book. I really felt that I could sympathize with Emma, and I was pleased to read that Tom was still around. The book has a great fantasy-adventure storyline, and the new characters fit in seamlessly with the old. The ending was very satisfying, and left a few details unanswered- a reason to read the next book (when it comes out)!

I would recommend "The Seeker" to all fantasy lovers, regardless of age. It has a bit for everyone, I think. However, I would say that readers should read the prequel first.