Seeker is a well thought and incredibly fun steampunk novel with a likeable main cast of characters. Despite the deliberately Victorian style language, it reads quickly and is easy to keep up with.

My only gripe with the book is it takes a very long time to get where it’s going so to speak. The main plot takes a great deal of time to set up, but it’s well worth the wait!

Seeker” is a first-person fantasy novel with a rich, Regency-era flavor and a bewitching touch of strangeness. It is a sumptuous tale set in a world so vividly and authentically drawn that you’ll tumble right through the pages

Setting: The novel takes place in a world where ancient leviathans have stirred from their long slumber. Their scent song marks where they might be found, but only to those with the means to somewhat hear , the Sentinel Archivists.

Protagonist: Our main character is Shay Bluefaltlow, who finds herself training to become a specialist in this unique field. However, she is forced into indentured servitude in the city of Fivedock.

Companions: Shay’s new companions include a belligerent surgeon, a remarkable little boy, and a formidable Sentinel Archivist tasked with teaching her the terrifying ways of the trade.

Challenges: Shay’s unanticipated position requires forbidden knowledge, a sickening transformation, and the strongest constitution. She’s desperate to impress her superiors.

Betrayal and Secrets: When war subsumes the Concord, the office of the Sentinel Archivist is threatened by a terrible betrayal. And Shay has secrets of her own.

Samuel Griffin weaves an evocative fantasy that combines enchanting prose with a relentless engine of a story, leaving readers breathless. If you enjoy Fantasy with a touch of mystery and historical flair, “Seeker”might be a captivating read for you

“Seeker” is a delightful blend of fantasy and historical fiction. Samuel Griffin’s storytelling prowess shines through, making this a promising start to The Sentinel Archives series. If you enjoy richly detailed worlds, complex characters, and a touch of magic, don’t miss this enchanting read!

A surprise to be sure but a welcome one! I didn't have many expectations going into Seeker, but this was a well-written, exciting and thoroughly capable debut in the flintlock fantasy sub-genre, with an intriguing and novel conceit focusing on the hunt for mythical colossi thought extinct by many. Shay was a likeable and engaging protagonist, and though her numerous failures over the course of the story were sometimes cloying, they added a real sense of reality and intended long term storytelling over what I hope will be a long-running series.

I did feel at times that the world building was lacking a touch, the city of Fivedocks and the threat from the conspiracy not completely integrated into Griffin's narrative, but the overarching sense was one of future books in mind, and setting up the next books to come. Definitely one to watch!

Shay is an orphan, in the remote city of Quom, when the unexpected happens - a stranger buys her contract from the orphanage and takes her away to the city of Fivedock. Fearing the worst during her indenture, Shay - who, far from being mistreated, finds herself being educated to a level she'd never dreamed of - attempts to escape. Her attempt backfires, and she is told the story behind her being chosen; she is to be a Seeker, a person with the specialized skills needed to deal with Sentinels, mysterious beings of uncertain origin who have significant impact on the world of the Concord. So great is the influence of the Sentinels that Shay and her benefactors seek their intervention in a war between various states.

This is an interesting novel, with an unusual premise, in that the origin of the Sentinels, or much other information about them at all, is never explained; rather it is understood by the Sentinel Archivist, who is training Shay to assist her, using a mysterious substance that changes her perceptions, and, ultimately, her body, so that she is able, in some small way, to communicate with the Sentinels. Along the way, the orphan Shay learns about family and friendship, and, sadly, betrayal. I enjoyed this novel, although I did sometimes find the language usage a bit stilted, with its use of archaic terms that suited the story but were sometimes hard to decipher, adding to the ambience created by the author, but subtracting from the willful suspension of reality that the best stories create. Recommended for teen and adult readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Seeker
Is a Flintlock Fantasy, a genre I am unfamiliar with but intrigued to read.
Shay is bought as an indentured servant from an orphanage and taken to a strange land. It is very mysterious but she is treated well. After she tries to escape and is found out, Shay starts working with the Archivist and is told it is important and dangerous work . But she is still in the dark about why she has been chosen and does not feel qualified. She is naively trusting and doesn’t have much consideration for others. It was hard to like her. But she did develop some good qualities in the second half of the book.
The novel is charmingly written in an old fashioned style. But it was also frustrating to - possibly because the narration is from Shay so we really only see her point of view and she is a young girl.
The first half is slow paced but it is worth it to persevere.

Received arc from Panthe press and Netgalley for honest read and review,this review is my own.
His is the first book I have read from Samuel Griffin and going by the blurb it somewhere good.
I died enjoy the story and the main character Shay was a very good lead role,but I felt like I could not really connect to her and the story was a little bit slow in points, but I did enjoy it and I am looking forward to reading more.

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC, however it is with great regret that I did not finish this book.  Typically I read quickly, especially a book that is under 300 pages but at just over 60% of this book I had to wave the white flag and stop.  It's rare that I DNF a book and had yet to do so with an ARC until now.  The writing style is flowery and the plot is lost to me.  I have read my fair share of epic and high fantasy books over the years but this was hard to follow.  There are things mentioned in the book that don't give me enough information to understand what things are and assume I will know since they are not explained thoroughly.  I thought as I continued further into the book things would click and I would better understand the plot.  I paused reading several times due to a lack of interest.

After reading more than half the book, I still have no idea what the protagonist is doing other than her superiors are withholding the purpose of her training and she is impatiently waiting to find out. At this point, I should understand the world the protagonist is living in, her purpose in the story, and what lies ahead.  For a short book, I assumed the storyline would be fast and furious but it was not.  I fear that if I continue with the hopes of getting more information as I had gotten to the point where I stopped, it will leave me still confused and inevitably cause me to give it a low star rating in a book review.  With that said, I will not leave a review or give a star rating since I have no idea what else happens in the story or how it ends, and feel it would not be fair to do.  Perhaps others enjoy this style of writing which will help raise the star rating, but mine would bring it down.  I would like to avoid assisting in tanking the book before it's released.  Thank you again for the opportunity to read this book and hope that it resonates better with other readers.

Thank you, NetGalley and Panthe Press, for my free copy for review.

The novel's world-building is set in the Regency Era and exudes an academic vibe, drawing readers into a captivating and immersive setting. Fiverstock is a place that will undoubtedly beckon readers to explore its intricacies.

The protagonist, Shay, is shrouded in mystery as she embarks on a quest to unravel the circumstances of her adoption from the Orphanage and the purpose behind it. Her inquisitive nature and kind-hearted demeanor, and her need to be accepted make her a truly endearing character.

While the story's pacing may not be everyone's cup of tea, as it tends to drag in the middle, there are moments where the narrative becomes a bit complex, making it challenging to follow. However, this fantasy novel holds promising appeal for fantasy enthusiasts.

Sadly this book was just not for me, I try not to DNF books but I just couldn't get into this at all.

I appreciate especially in fantasy that you need to do a lot of world and character building especially if it's going to be a series of books but I just found this too wordy and slow.

From reading some of the other reviews it seems that it does pick up later in the story so I might go back and revisit this at some point,

Thank you to Panthe Press and NetGalley for the arc.

This is a very enjoyable & atmospheric book - plucky orphans, strong competent women, gruff men with a heart of gold, mysterious powerful beings lurking on the sidelines, political intrigue & betrayal, all wrapped up in a really engaging flintlock fantasy world! The cover art & illustrations throughout are also really impressive.

This book left a lot of room to grow for later instalments in the series, and I was very happy to be given the chance to read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley & Panthe Press (in exchange for an honest review).

The world-building was gradual but very good by the second half of the book, and I love the unique lore that Griffin has created here. I would’ve loved to know more about the bled, about the Sentinels and their history, as well as the history of the Archivists - although the ongoing mystery surrounding everything only made the story feel more compelling.

It did feel like quite a slow read at times, which I think was in part due to the writing style: both the elevated regency-style language and the unusual syntax. While the chosen vocabulary & grammatical structure meant I had to read quite a few parts of each chapter very closely (often multiple times) to parse the full meaning, they did also go a long way to instilling an appropriate atmosphere! There were also quite a few typos and instances of characters’ names being misspelled (sometimes very incorrectly - eg Bamshott instead of Bamcroft) but that is to be expected in a pre-publication ARC.

The secondary characters were not always developed as thoroughly as I would have liked, and one or two were dropped in with seemingly no introduction or follow-up - but I wonder if this was a deliberate choice to give some of them room for growth in upcoming books. It was also an interesting reflection of the fact that we are being told all of this through Shay’s lens of experience, with her often only giving those characters attention when they have some part to play in her immediate goals - so it perhaps reflects quite accurately what she herself feels is relevant to know or say about them.

I also have to applaud the names (places as well as people) used in this book - they were consistently very well chosen! Shay Bluefaltlow is a fantastic fantasy MC name, Fivedock is a solid choice for a city, but hats off especially to Peck and to Felicity Hapeworth-Arksthrotle.

I really enjoyed this book, and would especially recommend it to anyone who is a fan of flintlock fantasy and isn’t put off by regency-style language.

Finally, not really any major Content Warnings for this book, but potentially for very brief mentions/moments of alcohol abuse, torture and bereavement.

I really enjoyed this book!

I love the way it's written, the style, choice of words and first person narration really fit so well.

The pace is rather slow and a lot of the book is just stage setting, which I do enjoy to read. I usually dislike slow pace, but this was very well done slow pace, that it didn't feel slow until I taught about how little happened.

It's a rather mysterious book and we don't know any more then Shay knows. We learn of everything through her eyes and experience her frustration when others keep her in the dark.

I look forward to the next book, and to learn more about the Seekers, Sentinels and the world.

Rating: 3.5/5
I received eARC for my honest opinion.

First let me say, that just because this book was not for me, shouldn’t determine if you should read it or not. The book was good, but I just had a hard time connecting with the main character and the pace at the start of the book was slow, you will see more action in the ending. I did enjoy the world building, the attention to detail with the setting up the scenes was done well. I thought the characters were interesting and I really wanted to like the MFC, Shay but I just didn’t feel like I could connect with her and that is a big thing for me when I read a book. I love a good character connection because I feel as though I am right there with them on adventures.

The writing is very lyrical and helped to make this a whimsical tale. It will draw you in and keep you engaged throughout the book.

I really wish that I would have loved this book more and I know a lot of people will.

I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Fantasy novel with a taste for mystery - quite good.

Shay is educated into a role of archivist, a role dealing with mysterious and powerful creatures called Sentinels. Most of the book deals with her development as a person and as an archivist. There are a few other interesting and well-developed characters. It’s only towards the end that some real action takes place. The whole effect of the book is that the sentences are quite elaborate, giving a feel similar to the 19th century novelists. It didn’t really work for me and I’m not sure that I am interested enough to read further volumes. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

These is a read that really gave me all the feelings of reading the old “classic” fantasies. A world i could really get lost in and so well built up across vast sprawling lands . It had the backbone of good vs evil we know so well, but in a way that felt new and already timeless at the same time. I hope this book gets the hype it really deserves.
Our main character shay is so human in her nature it makes her almost annoyingly relatable as she makes mistakes so many of us would make, and we watcher her learn and grow from these and encournter unfamiliar siutations and have to apply those life lessons learned the hard way to these situations.
The world itself, phenomenal. Weve got new lands and cultures that feel distinct from each other but still complete as a whole, and its just so beautifully well developed and written. It has feelings of fantasy but also regecy and steampunk all at once, and id happily read whole books just describing the world.
And yet the characters are also beautifully crafted and the relationships with other and the way they play off one another and grow and interact
This really feels like a book that will stand the test of time and o hope it one days becomes another classic that people will read and pass on to their kids!
I already want the next book!!

A uniquely written debut story, with well-developed characters and just enough magic to make it a fantasy.

Like many, I found it a bit difficult to get into with the prose, with it adding an almost sluggish feel to the initial pace of the story. It took a few attempts for it to click, before it finally did around the halfway mark. After that, the plot picked up pace and it became an enjoyable read.

This is a great book, with a rich world-building background that you will love to soak in.

Shay was raised in a children's home, with no memory of her parents. One day a man comes and "purchases" her, though she has no idea what for. All she knows is that they have to travel a fair way to him, to the busy capital city of Fivedocks, a hub of commerce and intrigue. There she begins to study a lesson plan that he, a doctor, sets out for her. But it is in her nature to push, to want to know more, and in that push, she is introduced to the reason she was bought there. She is to be a Sentinel Archivist, someone who tracks the mighty creatures, the Sentinels, who move through the world and can cause destruction in their wake. But this post is far from easy and encourages her to delve into magics that she did not know she had a talent for.

This book was fantastic, though it took me a bit to get into the first-person narrative. But once I had, I loved the story, the complex world design (quite unlike anything I could think of) and some rather fun political machinations going on in the background. Overall, this was a fun read and I can't wait for the next book to come out.

I'm very very sorry to do this, but it's a DNF from me.
This story feels very YA, but the writing style doesn't lend itself to the plot and the story.
As a parent of children who read YA books, my test is whether the book is something that they would enjoy. Whilst the book's characters sit firmly in YA territory, I found the writing style stifling, so much so that at points I felt like I was reading something that was written in the 19th century.
The world building and plot aren't sufficiently well defined to engage me. Whilst I didn't mind the characters, there is a lack of definition that prevents me to engage with them and immerse myself in the story. Although I have gotten just over halfway through this book, I still don't really understand what exactly Shay's job or quest is, and at this point I feel like I have lost the interest to put more energy into doing so.
There is a distinct lack of action which makes the pace sluggish. I had high hopes for the ball scene and the events surrounding the mission, but again this failed to feel exciting or engaging. I rarely DNF a book, but after trying very hard for over 2 weeks and getting only to 52% of this book, I must admit defeat and move on. Thanks to Netgalley, the Author and Publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Firstly, I'm grateful for the publisher in allowing me to read this before publication, for this is a interesting novel. Written in an original way, the author captures the reader's attention slowly and draws you into the created world. The characterisation is strong but the challenge is that for a first book in a proposed trilogy, there's a lot of setting up scenes, characters and sub plots.
As a result there isn't a great deal of action, as I feel the author is always thinking about that second book and scoping this book accordingly. What the author has achieved though, is to create sufficient promise and interest for me to anticipate and to read the second and third book.

While the premise of the novel intrigued me the execution of the story lagged behind. The last quarter of the book was the strongest. I liked the unique voice of the protagonist, but it just was too slow and at times disjointed for my taste. It is hard to build a new fictional world without being full of exposition, so I appreciated that was avoided but I wanted some explanation which would have allowed the plot to flow better.

When I was a very troubled, stuttering child with undiagnosed mental illness, I opened up my world through the likes of Tolkien, Stephen R Donaldson and later - the larger tomes of Stephen King and Clive Barker. The epic sprawling quests and adventures spoke to me and allowed me escape as well as a vocabulary that would free me from my stutter.

Those books hold an incredibly special place in my heart as part of my DNA and as saviours of my life.

"Seeker" took me back to those times. The wonder of fictional discovery and long lexicological roads. The beautifully crafted prose, the character depth, the - at times - feeling of doom and that nothing is going to go right for the protagonist. All of it whisked me back to the linguistic escapades I traversed through pages many years back.

There's good versus evil. There's injustice and backstabbing. There's strange foods and creatures, places and cultures.

If you want a quick read, this isn't for you. If you prefer simplistic writing, also a nope. However, if you want to lose yourself across vast, fantastical lands and go on adventures with Shay - as you watch her grow and make mistakes and you say NO! at times - and discover huge leviathons amidst epic battles; then please, PLEASE read this book.

It astounds me that this is a debut. How does a human without decades of books behind them arrive with something as huge as this?

I'm so ready to see the further adventures of Shay. I was there when she was sold, I stood watching as she grew up, I cringed at her human mistakes.

Samuel Griffin, take a bow, man. This is something to be proud of.