The Seer

Children's Literature - Julia Beiker

This science fiction novel takes the reader off the planet earth and shows how difficult life can be for a teen like Jacob. He wants to find a place where he will be accepted for who he has become, and he wants to find out what happened to his friend Delaney. It seems simple until he ventures out of Harmony and into a world that only takes care of itself. What a hard lesson for Jacob to learn when his food and water supply are low and he only has a general clue which way to go. Another complication is that he is still adjusting from being blind. Without family or friends to help, Jacob has to learn to trust a complete stranger, Xander, who has basically turned his back on the world. How will these two come to terms with their inner struggles? Will Jacob be able to locate his friend Delaney, or has she been a victim of this new world? The first two chapters slowed down the story with too much inner thought and needed more action. My biggest problem with the story was that Jacob relied too much on Xander to solve his problems with Delaney. Yes, Jacob comes into his independence, but Xander gives him too big a safety net. I do appreciate David Stahler's creative twist on a teen's need to be different and how running away from your problems only takes you back. This is book two in the "Truesight Trilogy."

KLIATT - Paula Rohrlick

Truesight, the previous volume, is a dystophic SF tale (reminiscent of The Giver) about Harmony, a community of people genetically engineered to be blind. The protagonist, a young teenager named Jacob, unexpectedly regains his sight and starts to question his society's values. In The Seer, Jacob, haunted by disturbing dreams that give him glimpses of the future, runs away, hoping to find other Seers in the city and to locate his friend, Delaney, who had previously run off. He encounters a mysterious man named Xander, who helps him get to the city and find Delaney. Jacob discovers she is now "the Rim's hottest new star," her musical talent exploited by the greedy Mixel Corporation and her eyes replaced by crystal orbs. Jacob and Xander set out to rescue her, but is returning to Harmony really a good idea? The rescue-the-girl plot is rather predictable, but readers curious about Jacob's fate will want to continue the saga.

Kirkus Reviews

Newly sighted Jacob discovers the world of Seers in this sequel to Truesight (2004). Exiled from Harmony, the all-blind community in which he was raised, Jacob treks through the wilderness until he finds Melville, the city of sighted people. There he is befriended by Xander, retired mercenary with a tragic history. Exploring Melville with Xander, Jacob finds his also-exiled friend Delaney, who has become an overnight sensation as a pianist. But the glory of Delaney's stardom and the shine and polish of Melville conceal corruption and selfishness. Delaney needs rescuing from the same soulless corporation responsible for Xander's solitary grief. Meanwhile, Jacob's been having visions of a terrifying future. The overlay here between metaphorical and genuine blindness is so heavy-handed as to lead to occasional inappropriate linkages between the two. Luckily, it's only blindness that Stahler handles ham-handedly, and this volume of Jacob's trilogy focuses on non-vision-related themes. These newer mysteries compel; perhaps the trilogy's conclusion will continue along this route. (Fiction. 11-13)