Customer Reviews

The Watcher (The Watcher's Quest)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The summer that her parents move to Grandpa MacFey's farm, 15-year-old Emma finds that nothing will ever be the same again. Her mother has become the keeper of her dead father's bees, her father is building a strange sculpture in a nearby field, and her sister Summer is fading away.

Who are The Watchers? Emma knows that they are not the people she has grown up with --- or are they? She alone in her family has the strange birthmark, two moons with an arrow shaft through them. When Tom Krift comes to work for her father, Emma discovers that he also bears the birthmark.

Is her father's sculpture, which he has named Bruide Henge, a portal to another world? Who are the strange people who have suddenly appeared in the village and who inhabit Emma's dreams? Emma seeks answers from Tom Krift who claims that he too is a Watcher and that they must save Summer. Can she trust him, or is he part of the plot to harm her sister and her family?

Emma's life spins out of control when she takes a job caring for an eccentric elderly neighbor and becomes involved in the board game Fidchell. Emma proves herself a worthy opponent. However, does she have the courage to play out the real game of life and death that will draw in each member of her family as she tries to understand her role in this frightening new magical world? Once again, Winnipeg writer and artist Margaret Buffie has taken seeming ordinary people and thrust them into a bizarre, magical world to create a frightening and intriguing story.


--- Reviewed by Audrey Marie Danielson

In The Watcher, 15 yr old Emma finds out that she, like others of her kind, was literaly bred to watch over important children; hence the name. In the begining of the book, Emma thinks she is an ordinary teen with a weird family. Then she gets strange dreams about diferent worlds, and a child;the niece of the dead king of some wierd world. While taking care of an elderly neighbor, she finds out that she is not who she thinks she is. Things only get wierder when a classmate, Tom Krift, starts geting interested in her fathers plexiglass henge. It is Tom that tells her that her sister is wanted,as is she.

The Watcher by Margaret Buffie is not to be compared to that of James Howe's. In this watcher, a young girl (who never quite belonged) finds out, after a series of troubling events, that she is a watcher. A character in a deadly game in another deadly world. Margaret Howe has an excellent sense of creativity and originality, as shown in this storyline. But the bright story is somewhat dulled by the characters and the setting. But the storyline is not one to be sneezed at --- while I was reading this book (though I found myself skipping through certain boring descriptions) I was held by the story itself, and the fact that this author had the creativity to dream up such a marvelous plot. With alternative universes of purple sands and orange moons, Buffie holds the readers eye and never fails to let go. So indeed this is worth a read or two (despite the open ending), especially if you've read her other works (considering Buffie's writing style is evident in all her novels).

Emma's always knew she's been different than her escentric thinkign family. WHen it comes to appearence her fair skin and blond hair a big contrast to her darker, tanner, family. When it comes to personality she's alwasy been much more serious and organized. But when she takes a new job helping out on an elderly man's house her life takes a magical turn. Suddenly everythign she know's is a lie. Her past is a mystery and she has a casue she never thought existed.

I absolutely loved this book. It was orginal, magical, and hearful. Emma is someone you can totally relate to. If your a fan of books that take place when the normal clashes with the supernatural this is definatly a book for you. This is the first book I've read by this author but definatly not the last! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm almost 15 and a pretty average reader and I didn't find Watcher the least bit confusing. It was easy to follow and I couldn't put it down. The places Emma goes to and the people she meets I thought were amazing. I didn't want it to end. Yes, the ending is a mix of happy and sad, but I found it more than satisfying. It's pretty clear to most readers, I bet, that there's a second Watcher book coming after this.

This book is great! When I first got it from the library, it seemed strange, but once you read it this book is amazing! When Emma starts having dreams, she doesn't understand how they are linked to the board game she played with the old man. And why does strange Tom Krift seem to be where ever she is? This book is worthwhile to read!

I got The Watcher for Christmas and was so excited as she's my favorite writer. I think this is her best yet. Different than the others, it holds its own for sure. Exciting and fast paced and best of all beautifully written, like a painting using words. All of the characters are great, but Emma herself steals your heart, as she is brave and so alone in her need to protect her family. I highly recommend it.

I just got this book recently and it was fantastic, in all senses of the word. I hope the next one is as good. Emma has a lot of fixing to do to make her family safe again. Looks like the next one in the series is called The Seeker. Hope I'm right! I can hardly wait for it to come out.