Traveler Blog Tour : Q+A with Arwen Elys Dayton

Today I'm thrilled to welcome author Arwen Elys Dayton back to the blog as part of the promotional tour for book two of her young adult fantasy series, Traveler. I asked Arwen to talk a little bit about the Seekers themselves - their purpose and history and what they're meant to stand for since the first book sees everything that Seekers are supposed to be turned upside down. Arwen put a video response together which is really exciting (I've never had an author do a video specifically for my blog before so I may have fangirled a little when I watched it the first time), but I've included the transcript below as well just in case the video doesn't work for some of you.

Be sure and check out the bottom of the post as well for a complete list of participating blogs so you can follow along on the tour!

TRANSCRIPT: ARWEN ELYS DAYTON AND SUPERNATURAL SNARK

Today I am here at Supernatural Snark to answer “What is the ideal Seeker?”

A little explanation of the story…

SEEKER is the story of three teenagers who have spent most of their lives training for what they think is a noble purpose – to be Seekers - only to discover that their families are actually turning them into assassins. In TRAVELER, as they try to break away from this fate, or maybe embrace it, they discover that the world of Seekers is larger than they’d realized, and they become entangled in a plan begun generations ago that immediately threatens their very survival.

If not assassins, what are Seekers supposed to be?

Seekers are not who Quin thought they were. So what did she think they were?

Seekers have interesting weapons and tools that take them out of our normal world, through hidden dimensions, and then back into our world somewhere else. Quin believes Seekers should use these things for good.

For Quin, a Seeker is: someone who cares about others more than herself; someone who finds a better way; someone who is courageous in the face of personal danger.

For her, it was something like being a Knight Templar in the Middle Ages. Somebody who has pledged his life to putting other before himself and to doing good. And she really thought she was going to be the modern version of that.

So it was a huge blow to discover that her father was actually turning her into somebody who was greedy, cowardly, and vicious.

In TRAVELER, Quin is very much trying to break away from her father’s version of what it means to be a Seeker, and discover can she change things back to the way they should be.

Will she make it? Let’s find out.

Thank you so much to Supernatural Snark for having me.

• • • • • • • • • • •

If you have questions about writing…

If you’re interested in being a writer, I do a weekly video called ONE QUESTION TWO MINUTES where I take questions about writing from readers and try to answer them as best I can. Feel free to send me your own questions at ArwenDayton.com.

Thanks so much Arwen!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

TRAVELER

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. She was trained to be an assassin. 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. They are long-vanished Seeker families, shadowy alliances, and something else: a sinister plan begun generations ago with the power to end the legacy forever. And it might destroy them all.

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

ARWEN ELYS DAYTON

ARWEN ELYS DAYTON is the author of SEEKER and TRAVELER. She spends moths doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid at Giza, Hong Kong and its many islands, and lots of ruined castles in Scotland.

You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @arwenelysdayton, and check out her video series about writing, 1 QUESTION, 2 MINUTES, at arwendayton.com and on YouTube bit.ly/1mLcdIn.

Website • Facebook • Twitter 

And don't forget to check out all the participating blogs on this tour! 

January 11 - Seeing Double in Neverland

January 11 - The Cover Contessa

January 12 -  Once Upon A Twilight

January 12 - Two Chicks on Books

January 13 - Take Me Away to a Great Read

January 13 - Lytherus

January 14 - Book Blather

January 14 - Supernatural Snark

January 15 - Bookish Lifestyle

January 15 - The Eater of Books

January 16 - Adventures in YA Publishing

January 16 - Page Turners

January 17 - Winterhaven Books

January 17 - Black Dog Speaks

January 18 - A Dream Within A Dream

January 18 - Sci Fi Fan Letter

January 19 - Mundie Moms

January 19 - The Reading Nook Reviews

 

Review: Seeker

SEEKER
Seeker #1
Arwen Elys Dayton
Young Adult/Fantasy
448 Pages
Delacorte BFYR
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)
The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor.
 
As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world.
 
And she'll be with the boy she loves--who's also her best friend.
 
But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes.

Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.
 
And now it's too late to walk away.

MY THOUGHTS
Seeker is one of those unusual books where we reach the final page and find ourselves unable to explain to a friend what actually happened over the course of the story. Events clearly take place and characters' lives are forever altered, but the way in which they're altered loses some of its emotional impact in the haze of confusion surrounding this world, the existence of its magic and the characters' role in wielding it. What starts out as pure fantasy set in Scotland on a medieval estate turns strangely contemporary and then futuristic as we bounce to Hong Kong and London, leaving us a bit adrift in time and place with no real connection to the story itself to help anchor us.

Perhaps the hardest aspect to come to terms with is the lack of information surrounding the Seekers themselves.The synopsis and tagline prepare us for the reveal of an enormous betrayal as to their true purpose, but in the very moment where that truth is to be illuminated in all its startling glory we fade to black and return to Quin and Shinobu only in the aftermath. We can guess as to what happened off page, but with so many other questions regarding the magic and history of the Seekers, being denied a front row seat to a pivotal emotional moment for our protagonists leaves us feeling distinctly detached from the story.

In additional to lack of explanation for a number of Seeker-related things, we also split our attention between four different characters and jump back and forth in time, further disorienting us in a world we're already struggling to make sense of. A romance is also hinted at in the synopsis, but it's so minor an element as to be largely inconsequential, the feelings between Quin and John already established when we meet them and they remain on the surface throughout even as the various relationships between all four narrators begin to shift and change. 

Overall, Seeker leaves us with far more questions than answers, something not entirely uncommon with a first installment, but the questions we're left with are not of the maddeningly brilliant variety that keep us on edge until the next book is in our hands. Instead, they're they kind that leave us on the outside looking in, waiting to be a part of something that has the potential to be spectacular.

Rating: 2.5/5

Find Arwen:

 Website • Twitter • Facebook • Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Seeker Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

Today I'm thrilled to welcome author Arwen Elys Dayton to the blog as part of the promotional tour for her young adult fantasy novel, Seeker. For those of you who read this blog with any frequency, you'll know that YA fantasy is quickly becoming my favorite genre, so the minute I heard about this book I knew it was going on my list. A huge thank you to Arwen for taking the time to answer my questions, and don't forget to check the bottom of the post for all the details on an awesome giveaway!

If you were madly in love with your best friend, as Quin is, what's one small tell you worry would give away your feelings entirely?

In Quin's case, she doesn't much mind if John knows she's madly in love with him. She's so open with him, she wants him to know. So, lucky her. I suppose we can all envy that about her, even though I feel sorry about most of the other things going on in her life.

If it was me, at that age, I would live in constant fear of him realizing how smitten I was. In fact, I'm fairly certain I lived in that constant fear from the age of 13 to at least 16. Usually the boys I was in love with were not my best friends. Honestly, I'm not sure how aware they were of my existence.

Because I was always in a state of terror around my crushes, I would compensate by acting completely disinterested. I'm not sure what I hoped to gain by this—I probably appeared extremely nearsighted and hard of hearing as I stared fixedly at my shirtsleeves during class. Anyway, I wrecked my fake aloofness by constantly blabbing to my friends about how in love I was. These friends immediately reported this to everyone else in class.

Let's say you've been training to be a Seeker alongside Quin your entire life. In what one aspect of training would she put you to shame, and in turn, in what one aspect would you outshine her?

A lot of Seeker training is learning to fight with their strange and unique weapons. The rest of the training is learning to focus your attention and thoughts, to use your mind at its clearest, so you can see your way through any fight or sticky situation.

Even if I trained for my entire life, I think Quin would put me to shame in everything having to do with fighting. Sure, I could learn to use a sword, and I'd probably have a few working muscles after all that time practicing, but I still think I'd be a blubbering puddle of goo on the floor after trying to fight with her. In real life, my sport is running. By myself. Often on an indoor treadmill while watching a TV show. I don't think I'd last very long with someone actively trying to attack me.

I might do all right in the other training, though. My mind has been pretty unruly since grade school, when I started writing stories and my tendency to daydream really took hold. But if I'd been training since childhood, maybe I could reel in the imagination and daydreams. Maybe I could learn to concentrate and be in the present moment, and think my way quickly out of dangerous situations. Would I outshine Quin? Well . . . anything is possible in this daydream you're allowing me to have.

If you could pluck an element of Seeker's fantasy world from the realm of fiction and bring it into our reality, what's the first thing you'd wish into existence?

This is such a great question! The whipsword. That's what I'd want. At rest, the whipsword looks like a coiled whip made from a black, oily, rubbery sort of material. But when in use, the material can be cracked out into solid, straight form and then manipulated infinitely in shape—so it can become any sword or knife you can imagine, and you can change its form as you fight to suit the moment. It's also "tuned" to you as the user, so it won't harm your own flesh, even if you grab the blade. I would love to have one!

After taking her oath to become a Seeker, Quin's reality shifts, taking everything she thought she knew about friends, family and her lifelong dream with it. Is there anything in particular about the writing of Seeker that caught you off guard, changing what you thought you knew of how the story would unfold?

Maud, the Young Dread, caught me off guard. At first I saw her as a minor character, someone who would lend a sinister gravity to the chapters she was in. Very quickly, she became much more than that.

Her indeterminate age, her history—beginning centuries ago—her silent, deliberate way of moving, and her capability for intense action. All these things came together to make her, in some ways, the backbone of Seeker. This was a surprise at first, but now I can't image the world without her presence.

Quin finds herself in a bit of a love triangle between Shinobu and John. If you could make yourself the top point of a love triangle, what two characters from any piece of fiction would you most want to complete your other two points?

This is another great question. It's very hard for me to imagine myself as the top point of a love triangle, even with ordinary people as the other two points (see above question #1), but since you're allowing me to let my mind run wild . . .

I have to get these two out of the way, because I've been in love with them since I was 10 years old:

Paul Atriedes from Dune and Theseus from The King Must Die, which might be my favorite book of all time.

But now I want to select two gentlemen from more recent fiction, and say Four from Divergent and Jace from The Mortal Instruments. I'd like to have them in a room together, just to see what might happen. Feels like it would be explosive!

In Seeker, I never set out to make a love triangle exactly. I don't see Quin as the sort of person who would go back and forth between two boys, unable to make up her mind. It's more a case of three characters with conflicting and overlapping feelings for each other. All of them are experiencing dangerous, life-altering situations, trying to figure out who they are and how they can live with themselves. A lot of emotions come into the mix, including, of course, love and hate and jealously and attraction.

Thank you for these thought-provoking questions!

*Jenny dreams of being the top point of a Four/Jace love tirangle*;-)

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

SEEKER

(releases February 10th from Delacorte)

Their Legacy is…A calling. An Honor. A lie.

The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor.

As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world.

And she’ll be with the boy she loves—who is also her best friend.

But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes.

Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.

And now it’s too late to walk away.

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • • •

ARWEN ELYS DAYTON

Arwen Elys Dayton spends months doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid (which she explored by a single fading flashlight when researching Resurrection), Hong Kong and its many islands, and lots of ruined castles in Scotland. She enjoys creating complete worlds inhabited by characters who charm, frustrate or inspire.

Arwen lives with her husband and their three children on the West Coast of the United States. You can follow her @arwenelysdayton on Twitter and Instagram.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Instagram

• • • • • • • • • • • •

GIVEAWAY

5 winners will receive finished copies of SEEKER, US only.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check out all the participating blogs for more interviews, reviews, guest posts and more!

2/9/2015- Spiced Latte Reads- Review

2/9/2015- Supernatural Snark- Interview

2/9/2015- The Cover Contessa- Guest Post 

 

2/10/2015- Once Upon A Twilight- Review

2/10/2015- Reading YA Rocks- Guest Post

2/10/2015- The Eater of Books!- Interview 

 

2/11/2015- WinterHaven Books - Review

2/11/2015- Paranormal Book Club- Interview

2/11/2015- Literary Meanderings- Guest Post 

 

2/12/2015- A Dream Within A Dream- Review

2/12/2015- I'd So Rather Be Reading- Guest Post

2/12/2015- Bookhounds ya- Interview

 

2/13/2015- Bookish- Review

2/13/2015- Bewitched Bookworms- Interview

2/13/2015- Nerdophiles- Guest Post