Book review: Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

Quin, Shinobu, and John have been training nearly their entire lives to become Seekers. But after the final test, the favorite-- John-- is out of the running, despite a childhood promise to his dying mother he would one day succeed. Following the oath ceremony, Quin realizes nothing is as it seems, and rather than being a noble decider of good and evil, she is nothing more than an assassin doing someone else's bidding. Even the tools of the Seeker, the Athame that rips holes in the air and allows travel between vast spaces (and, in a sense, time travel) are kept from Quin and Shinobu despite their oaths. John vows revenge, while Quin and Shinobu run from the horrors their lives have become. A loose love triangle emerges, with each person after something they can't quite seem to have: Quin after John, Shinobu after Quin, and John after the Athame that's denied him and a settling of scores for long-ago wrongs done to his family.
Seeker bends and blends genres with a fair amount of success. It's part fantasy, part steampunk, with a little sci-fi and ancient secret society mystery thrown in for spice. The sum of these parts is a thrilling, captivating ride that many teens will  enjoy. The setting is futuristic, with cell phones and TVs mentioned as ancient artifacts. John's family built a steampunk Zeppelin-like ship just for him that floats above London and his home to his paranoid grandfather. The places of the novel (Scotland, London, and Hong Kong) are there mostly in name only; the compound the trio uses to train could just as well be in Russia, or Wisconsin, or France. But teens will certainly relate to the larger questions the book poses: what is good and evil, and how do sacrifices you make (or your parents make) along the way affect whether you're ultimately good or evil? Are the sins of the parents passed on to the children?
I recommend buying several copies of this novel for high school libraries; it will be a hit that readers will want to share with friends. Seeker will also be at the top of my list for book club suggestions at our high school book club.