Traveler

By: Arwen Elys Dayton

Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwen

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

For fans of Game of Thrones and Marie Lu: Traveler, the sequel to Seeker.

Quin Kincaid is a Seeker. Her legacy is an honor, an ancient role passed down for generations. But what she learned on her Oath night changed her world forever.

Quin pledged her life to deception. Her legacy as a Seeker is not noble but savage. Her father, a killer. Her uncle, a liar. Her mother, a casualty. And the boy she once loved is out for vengeance, with her family in his sights.

Yet Quin is not alone. Shinobu, her oldest companion, might now be the only person she can trust. The only one who wants answers as desperately as she does.

But the deeper they dig into the past, the darker things become. There are long-vanished Seeker families, shadowy alliances, and something else: A sinister plan begun generations ago, with the power to end the legacy forever.

The past is close. And it will destroy them all.

©2016 Arwen Elys Dayton (P)2016 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"An action-packed read with plenty of surprising turns. Readers of Kami Garcia, Tahereh Mafi, and Marie Lu will appreciate [Traveler]." (Booklist)

It's getting better

Traveler was better than its predecessor, I’ll give it that. But I came into the book with such low expectations from the first, that I’m likely grading on a curve.

Shinobu and Quin are back in Hong Kong, but this time it’s Shinobu who’s on the mend after the latest battle. They're being hunted by a strange duo who have all the attributes of Seekers, but aren't Seekers. The boys are after the athame of the Dreads that was given to Quin. But again, we readers are left wondering…why? Although the details are starting to trickle in thanks to Catherine’s journal, there are still WAY more questions than answers. Apparently, history is getting ready to repeat itself.

There are several more POVs in this book, so now we have Quin, Shinobu, John, Maud (the Young Dread), Nott (one of the boys hunting Quin and Shinobu), and Catherine (told from past, as Catherine is John’s dead mother). While these POVs certainly help shed some light on WTH is going on, the constant shift of characters is jarring. The story gets a lot more complex, from Seeker to Traveler, which I’m still not sure is a good thing. The Middle Dread is dead, but he built an army of young boys called Watchers who will stop at nothing to get the athame from Quin.

Moving on to the romance aspect, I cannot even tell you how glad I am that there is no love triangle. There was the hint of one in Seeker, where John and Shinobu are both presented as potential love interests. But in this book, it's all Shinobu, and it's almost impossible for John to make an appearance as a love interest, given his complete despicability as a person. I like how defined and definite Shinobu and Quin's relationship feels. It is very solid in this book and thankfully, Quin has the good sense to tell John where to shove it when he tries to crawl back to her, claiming to be deeply in love with her (despite the fact that he kidnapped Quin’s mother, beats Quin on more than three occasions, and facilitated the death of Shinobu’s father).

The ending is predictable, but has a pretty decent cliffhanger. I continue to have mixed feelings about this series. I absolutely did not like the first book. Reading Traveler was less of a struggle than Seeker and I enjoyed it from time to time. There were also more answers in Traveler and it starts to make sense, which makes this book much more enjoyable.

Excellent sequel!

Would you consider the audio edition of Traveler to be better than the print version?

I prefer audio while running vs. having to change hands all the time.

What did you like best about this story?

The visual adventurous journey it took me on

Which character – as performed by Katharine McEwen – was your favorite?

I look forward to seeing Quin on the big screen!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

That never happens in my case.

Any additional comments?

Give it a shot -- it starts out well!

I love this series!!

I loved this series. I haven't been able to sit down and read or listen to a book since my child was born 3 years ago. I first read Seeker and was hooked!!

sometime these kids thought processes are childish

in there violent lives one would think diffetently towards survival. problems from their choices should be minimized. And the actual

Seeking time to Travel back and get it Right

This is beginning to get very convoluted and mixed up. The actin is Great when. You have it , other than that. No way... S..L..O..W..
And the back and forth between times and stories was confusing as all get out.

don't waste your money

The story is poorly structured. it gets so boring it's easy to lose interest in it.