The sequel to the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestselling fantasy The Reader, “highly recommended for fans of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart and female-powered adventures.”—School Library JournalHaving barely escaped the clutches of the Guard, Sefia and Archer are back on the run, slipping into the safety of the forest to tend to their wounds and plan their next move. Haunted by painful … plan their next move. Haunted by painful memories, Archer struggles to overcome the trauma of his past with the impressors, whose cruelty plagues him whenever he closes his eyes. But when Sefia and Archer happen upon a crew of impressors in the wilderness, Archer finally finds a way to combat his nightmares: by hunting impressors and freeing the boys they hold captive.
With Sefia’s help, Archer travels across the kingdom of Deliene rescuing boys while she continues to investigate the mysterious Book and the secrets it contains. But the more battles they fight, the more fights Archer craves, until his thirst for violence threatens to transform him from the gentle boy Sefia knows to a grim warrior with a cruel destiny. As Sefia begins to unravel the threads that connect Archer’s fate to her parents’ betrayal of the Guard so long ago, she and Archer must figure out a way to subvert the Guard’s plans before they are ensnared in a war that will pit kingdom against kingdom, leaving their future and the safety of the entire world hanging in the balance.
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Having barely escaped the Guard with their lives, losing those they love on the way, Sefia and Archer embark on an adventure to save more children like Archer, stolen, beaten and abused into being killing machines and challenge the Guard with the help of the Book, the past, and magic to challenge the Guard and ignite a revolution.
Published November 7, 2017, by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers The Speaker by Traci Chee is the second novel in the Sea of Ink and Gold Trilogy following Sefia and Archer, sorceress and warrior as they escape the Guard and fight to save others that would be broken and abused.
The Speaker continues the thoughtful journey of Sefia and Archer as they challenge the darkness and death that follows them on their journey to challenge the reader society. As a novel, it is truly unique because of how the story functions. It’s not enough that the characters are so complex, but the narrative itself offers something to the novel. The story is not linear, going from the past to the present, but again, not in the typical way. Sefia is using magic to look at the history, to read into it and bring the reader into the journey. It’s a story within a story, and adventure within an adventure, painting the story in layers. This novel is nothing but layers about layers, intricately woven together. Chee does this with such control and talent, inserting the perfect story in between the narratives.
The story moves effortlessly, without breaking the pace of the novel. It moves like a steady stream slowing over those rounds that build the tension of the story before carrying on. It’s amazing how smooth the storytelling is and how it moves between narratives.
There’s also the character development. Sefia and Archer have both gone through so much pain, and it has brought them together, has put them on a mission to try and save others from all the pain and abuse they have gone through. It forces them to face the darkness inside them, the darkness that threatens to bubble up and swallow them whole. To see them face the darkness and both grow differently from it is incredible. Chee does an excellent job creating complex characters, characters that are as layered as the storytelling itself. They way they both see the world through their experiences changes and grows alongside them.
It’s a unique adventure filled with the love of reading and the magic that comes with it a different way than the typical novel about books.
AHHHH I was so glad to dive back into this world! The action really picks up in this book as Sephia and Archer are off to new adventures as they try and fight against the Impressors and things that they are learning in The Book. You can see the development of their characters as their relationship deepens and their responsibilities grow. And the secret messages hidden in this book — I want to know what it is!!! I guess I will have to wait until the conclusion of this trilogy…