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Seekers: Return to the Wild #1
Island of Shadows
The journey home begins. . . .
Toklo, Kallik, and Lusa survived the perilous mission that brought them together, and now it’s time for them to find their way home. Kallik and Lusa are ready to be among their own kinds again, but Toklo, devastated by the loss of their companion Ujurak, feels hopeless and afraid of what’s to come.
When the group reaches a shadowy island covered in mountains and ice, Kallik is sure they’re almost back to the Frozen Sea. But a terrifying accident leads them into a maze of abandoned tunnels, unlike anything they’ve ever seen before—making them question their path once again.
The bears grow desperate for a sign to guide them, and when they meet a cub who has lost his whole family, Toklo believes the cub has been sent by Ujurak. But the others are unsure. Can they trust their new companion? Or could he be hiding something that will endanger them all?
Toklo, Kallik, and Lusa survived the perilous mission that brought them together, and now it’s time for them to find their way home. Kallik and Lusa are ready to be among their own kinds again, but Toklo, devastated by the loss of their companion Ujurak, feels hopeless and afraid of what’s to come.
When the group reaches a shadowy island covered in mountains and ice, Kallik is sure they’re almost back to the Frozen Sea. But a terrifying accident leads them into a maze of abandoned tunnels, unlike anything they’ve ever seen before—making them question their path once again.
The bears grow desperate for a sign to guide them, and when they meet a cub who has lost his whole family, Toklo believes the cub has been sent by Ujurak. But the others are unsure. Can they trust their new companion? Or could he be hiding something that will endanger them all?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 7, 2012
146 people are currently reading
2259 people want to read
About the author
Erin Hunter
280 books10.8k followersErin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Philip, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
December 8, 2018
Some issues I had:
1. Nanulak is the biggest little shit and kinda ruins everything he touches. I get that that's the point, but he’s soooo overbearing.
2. I love Toklo. He’s a good boi who needs to be protected and loved. But he's so pigheaded. It gets repetitive and is simply upsetting and unpleasant after seven books of him not changing.
3. The plot in general can be repetitive. There’s only so much wandering and hunting I can take before I’m kinda sick of it.
Then again, Hunter always finds a way to make each story interesting and unique. Even with complaints, I still enjoyed it. I’m hoping the series has more action in the coming volumes. There’s a reason that Warriors is the more popular one.
3.25/5 stars
1. Nanulak is the biggest little shit and kinda ruins everything he touches. I get that that's the point, but he’s soooo overbearing.
2. I love Toklo. He’s a good boi who needs to be protected and loved. But he's so pigheaded. It gets repetitive and is simply upsetting and unpleasant after seven books of him not changing.
3. The plot in general can be repetitive. There’s only so much wandering and hunting I can take before I’m kinda sick of it.
Then again, Hunter always finds a way to make each story interesting and unique. Even with complaints, I still enjoyed it. I’m hoping the series has more action in the coming volumes. There’s a reason that Warriors is the more popular one.
3.25/5 stars
April 5, 2012
Okay... well what can I say? Seekers books always bore me to some extent... Also the fact that travel books aren't my favorite adds to that. It took me a while to read this book (not as long as another I am STILL reading, mind you)... Where do I start?
The book begins with Toklo, Kallik, Lusa and Yakone traveling away from Star Island. Ujurak had been killed in the last book of the first series, and know the bears are beginning their journey home. After a terrifying encounter with a ship and many instances when Toklo "killed" Ujurak when he was in other forms, they reach the Island of Shadows.
On this island there is unusual but healthy population of white and brown bears. These two species live so closely together that they even have cubs together. One mixed cub, Nanulak, meets the group and joins them. Toklo feels a bond to Nanulak since Nanulak's family drove him away and he was left to fend for himself. Toklo's brother Tobi had died when they were cubs, and thinking that Toklo would die to, his motehr, Oka also chased him away.
Nanulak is bad news from the beginning. He is afraid of Kallik and Yakone, and his fear soon turns into resentment, and he doesn't respect Lusa at all. As time went on, I wanted to choke the cub. He also didn't believe in Ujurak and didn't think that he and Toklo were actually friends because Ujurak was a shape-shifter.
As time goes on, he does a lot of stupid things like fighting with Yakone, trying to push Kallik off a cliff. All these signs are telling the bears to go back and finally Toklo gets a dream from Ujurak. Ujurak tells him that they have to go back and find Nanulak's family. Nanulak does NOT want to go back at first, but as time goes on, he gets very enthusastic about meeting the bears who chased him away so Toklo can kill them for him in revenge. Obviously, Toklo doesn't want to do this, but is willing to teach them a lesson.
They meet these white bears and the largest turns out to be Nanulak's father even though Nanulak said that that was the bear that had attacked him and driven him away. Nanulak's father and Nanulak's family had actually thought that the cub was dead and had been searching and greiving for him. Nanulak says that he hates him and his mother for not making him white or brown, and then his mother turns up and tries to get him to come back, but says that he hates her. Toklo is obviously angry and says that Nanulak isn't his friend anymore, but offers him forgiveness and then Nanulak leaves...
So yeah... Okay book, but not my favorites. I hated that little snot Nanulak but maybe reading about his trumendous stupidity kept me reading the book at all...
The book begins with Toklo, Kallik, Lusa and Yakone traveling away from Star Island. Ujurak had been killed in the last book of the first series, and know the bears are beginning their journey home. After a terrifying encounter with a ship and many instances when Toklo "killed" Ujurak when he was in other forms, they reach the Island of Shadows.
On this island there is unusual but healthy population of white and brown bears. These two species live so closely together that they even have cubs together. One mixed cub, Nanulak, meets the group and joins them. Toklo feels a bond to Nanulak since Nanulak's family drove him away and he was left to fend for himself. Toklo's brother Tobi had died when they were cubs, and thinking that Toklo would die to, his motehr, Oka also chased him away.
Nanulak is bad news from the beginning. He is afraid of Kallik and Yakone, and his fear soon turns into resentment, and he doesn't respect Lusa at all. As time went on, I wanted to choke the cub. He also didn't believe in Ujurak and didn't think that he and Toklo were actually friends because Ujurak was a shape-shifter.
As time goes on, he does a lot of stupid things like fighting with Yakone, trying to push Kallik off a cliff. All these signs are telling the bears to go back and finally Toklo gets a dream from Ujurak. Ujurak tells him that they have to go back and find Nanulak's family. Nanulak does NOT want to go back at first, but as time goes on, he gets very enthusastic about meeting the bears who chased him away so Toklo can kill them for him in revenge. Obviously, Toklo doesn't want to do this, but is willing to teach them a lesson.
They meet these white bears and the largest turns out to be Nanulak's father even though Nanulak said that that was the bear that had attacked him and driven him away. Nanulak's father and Nanulak's family had actually thought that the cub was dead and had been searching and greiving for him. Nanulak says that he hates him and his mother for not making him white or brown, and then his mother turns up and tries to get him to come back, but says that he hates her. Toklo is obviously angry and says that Nanulak isn't his friend anymore, but offers him forgiveness and then Nanulak leaves...
So yeah... Okay book, but not my favorites. I hated that little snot Nanulak but maybe reading about his trumendous stupidity kept me reading the book at all...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2012
When I was younger, I read most of Erin Hunger's WARRIORS series and loved them. When I got this book, then, I immediately started reading it, even though I'm probably well out of its target age group. Even so, I enjoyed it. Unlike the WARRIORS series, SEEKERS: ISLAND OF SHADOWS is not about cats, but about bears: Lusa, a black bear; Toklo, a brown bear; and Kallik and Yakone, who are polar bears. They are later joined by Nanulak, a half-brown and half-polar bear. The names were a bit confusing at first, but since these five are the only main characters in the book--there are others, but they feature much less prominently--it was easier as time went on. This was the first book in the series of "Seekers: Return to the Wild", which I think builds off of the series called "Seekers", but the book can stand alone; I wasn't confused about any of the events that took place.
Each chapter is written in close third person, alternately focusing on each of the four original bears. As with Hunter's other books, the language is very creative--"bearlengths" as a unit of distance, "firebeasts" for airplanes or cars, "flatfaces" or "no-claws" for humans, etc. The plot twist at the end was clever, though a bit foreseeable.
Overall, a very enjoyable and fun read!
(Received for free through Goodread's First Reads giveaway program.)
Each chapter is written in close third person, alternately focusing on each of the four original bears. As with Hunter's other books, the language is very creative--"bearlengths" as a unit of distance, "firebeasts" for airplanes or cars, "flatfaces" or "no-claws" for humans, etc. The plot twist at the end was clever, though a bit foreseeable.
Overall, a very enjoyable and fun read!
(Received for free through Goodread's First Reads giveaway program.)
July 15, 2012
7 weeks later we received this book. My son has already started a new series so it will be awhile before he gets around to reading and reviewing it.
My son finally got around to reading this book we received as an ARC. He enjoyed it.
My son finally got around to reading this book we received as an ARC. He enjoyed it.
Want to read
May 13, 2014This is a series my daughter reads and has asked me to join her on. We love it! I think Seekers is much more interesting than Warriors, but my kids like all of Erin Hunter's work. Very flawed, real, dynamic characters that I care deeply about. :)
June 20, 2012
Good continuation of the journey of the bear friends. I was wondering how it could continue after the previous 6 books ended. I'm excited to see where the story goes.
March 19, 2017
Since the collection of ladies that make up the author Erin Hunter are one of my favorites, I was thoroughly expecting to love Seekers Return to the Wild #1: Island of Shadows. Going in to this, I have to admit that I enjoy Warriors far more than I like Seekers, although I haven’t started Survivors (dog series) or the upcoming series Bravelands (so excited for that one!!!!!) so that may change. Anyway, back to the book that we are currently writing about, Island of Shadows is the continuation of the journey of Lusa the black bear, Kallik the polar bear, and Toklo the grizzly bear who at this point in our over-arching narrative are returning home from their quest into the far North to heal the natural world and bring the sprits back. They are joined by some new friends such as Yakone the polar bear and Nanulak the grizzly-polar hybrid, and this, of course, leads to friction, tension, and drama, leading to us discovering themes of racism and what it means to be a family.
Before we get to that, though, let’s talk about our characters and why they make this book so much more interesting than normal. I love the way that Hunter (will be referring to the group of ladies as a single person for clarity’s sake) uses animals to bring forth and talk about issues that are plaguing our society. In this case, it is different forms of bears, and she uses them to symbolize the varying different people who make up our society and their relationships with each other. She acknowledges the fact that the bears have different habitats, beliefs, diets, and ways of conducting themselves, but also shows how it is possible for them to get along if they agree to accept each other and work together. By doing this, she is subtly suggesting the same would be true of us, as a society, if we would agree to accept each other and work together. The fact that the entrance of new individuals into this group of bears creates so much trouble is a reflection of our own society as well. For instance, when immigrants from new places and cultures come into our sphere, we get hostile and standoffish. By showing how the bears work through these issues, we are introduced to the concept that maybe we should make an effort to learn about the new people coming into our sphere so that we can all get along, understand each other, and become an integrated and working society.
With that understanding of what Hunter is trying to accomplish with her overall narrative, we can move on to the direct themes that she is discussing in this book- the aforementioned themes of racism and what it means to be a family. When our group meets the grizzly-polar hybrid Nanulak, he tells them that the reason why he is alone as a cub because his family ran him off because of his mixed ancestry, and they believed him, at first, especially after an older male polar bear attacks and chases them because they have Nanulak with them. Later, when they meet a hybrid grizzly/polar family that is happy and accepting of Nanulak, they grow confused. This confusion persists until the final pages of the book, but I won’t spoil what happens. I will, however, address the point that I think Hunter is trying to accomplish with this motif. I think she is addressing the point that some see mixed-race couples as an offense and will constantly harass them whereas others see them as a natural occurrence that happens with multiple races live in the same area. She is trying to point out that we should be accepting of others even when they aren’t like us, a point that I address in the preceding paragraph. This leads me to the other point that I think she is trying to make- what it means to be a family. Over the course of this story, she shows multiple instances of family in varying different sizes and shapes. She is, again, trying to introduce to children (this is a middle grade book) that families come in many different guises and as long as they feel they belong and are accepted, they can call that place and people their family. Important concepts to show to children, I think!
When it comes down to it, I greatly enjoyed this story, although not as much as I have enjoyed others of Hunter’s. I am giving it a solid 4 stars and will be picking up the others if I can find them in my local library.
September 8, 2017
This book is about bears that are traveling to get home. They are headed for the Frozen Sea. They also have to get over their friend, Urgak’s, death. Tolko is hurt most of all by Urgak’s death. Tolko thinks that he has found a cub that will make Urgak’s death easier. This cub’s name is Nakula and even though Tolko thinks that he is a great cub the rest of them think that he could be hiding something. They finally have a battle between Tolko and a bear that wants to hurt Nakula supposedly. After this battle you learn a deep secret that Nakula has.
I have read another series called Warriors by the same author. I like the Warriors books a little bit more, because they had a little bit more action, with other animals. Warriors has badgers, for example, which four Warriors cats couldn’t take on, but a bear could fight single handedly. There aren’t any natural enemies for bears that are that powerful. So it’s not as exciting. Anyway, I really liked this book and although I haven’t read the series before, I want to keep reading books in this series.
I have read another series called Warriors by the same author. I like the Warriors books a little bit more, because they had a little bit more action, with other animals. Warriors has badgers, for example, which four Warriors cats couldn’t take on, but a bear could fight single handedly. There aren’t any natural enemies for bears that are that powerful. So it’s not as exciting. Anyway, I really liked this book and although I haven’t read the series before, I want to keep reading books in this series.
February 21, 2018
Really Good(awesome) !!!
February 20, 2019
what a intersecting book
December 5, 2019
This book is so inspiring and attractive like I never want to stop reading it thanks Erin Hunter for writing this.
January 18, 2020
It was
Awesoooome
Awesoooome
April 25, 2020
I really, really love Yakone and Kallik. They are so cute together.
Nanulak was getting on my nerves. I'm so glad that he's gone now. I can't wait for the next book!
Nanulak was getting on my nerves. I'm so glad that he's gone now. I can't wait for the next book!
November 2, 2020
Good storyline. I just didn’t like the book. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t like it.
November 9, 2020
Nanulak is so annoying and frustrating!!! Interesting character overall, but I hate his personality so much!!
February 1, 2021
good book
September 11, 2021
wtf what was wrong with Nanunak. he gave me such violent aggression
January 1, 2023
4 stars
June 14, 2023
my favorite part is when the black bear took a white bear in
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2023
Love the Seekers Series. They're awesome!!
November 28, 2023
Absolutely wonderful! I love Erin Hunter's books. I could never put the books down!
April 21, 2024
At first, I didn't really think this next sub series was needed, and I thought this book was going to be three stars, but after the climax hit, it changed my mind and has become four stars to me!
August 5, 2024
Good
Kept me reading I enjoyed reading a bears point of view It was enlightening to see their point of view
Kept me reading I enjoyed reading a bears point of view It was enlightening to see their point of view
March 8, 2012
I recevied this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This book was enjoyable enough. I received it accidentally from the publisher - I had won a different book - but since it was here, I thought I'd give it a try. So with that said, it is not a book I normally would have picked up, and I have obviously not read the entire series before it.
The story moved along quickly, despite the lack of action. The plot was very slow for me. It was about Bears trekking across the icey Canada landscape. There isn't much you can do with that. A bear fell a couple times...and they hunted and rested a lot. Not very exciting.
I was also a little lost since I had not read the first series about these bears. I didn't know who Ujurak was, so when the entire book focuses on their grief regarding this bear, I was sick of reading about it. I wasn't connected to that bear, so I didn't understand how the entire book had them greiving their friend. I understand a bit of sadness, but they should have moved on like half way through the book because of the amount of time this book spanned.
They also met a new character who was obnoxious. I think you were supposed to hate him. But the way the character was built, it just felt like a very fake obnoxious-ness. I didn't really believe his personality. I did hate the character, but not for the reasons the author wanted me to. I hated the character because he felt very fake. And the "racism" that was a part of this bear really bothered me. Maybe the author wanted to make a statement that your color doesn't make you who you are...but boy it was annoying. Racism doesn't exist very much anymore, and all this bear made me think was about those people who claim "You hate me because I'm black!"...which isn't the case...it's only in your own mind that people think that.
I also felt like this book was written more for middle school YA than highschool/college YA. About half the dialgue felt forced. It didn't just flow from the characters like it should have...but again, this is about bears...and I'm not sure how bears would really talk. But there were times where the author spelled out everything that was going on. Nothing was left up to the reader to deduce. It always bothers me when the author has to specifically say something because they don't think the reader will deduce that feeling on their own. But what that does is it pulls me out of the story because I had already figured that out. I don't have the book with me right now, otherewise I would give examples. But if this book was written for middle schoolers, perhaps they need that leading because they haven't had as much reading experience to pick up on that. But for me, I didn't like it.
The author also used a lot of the same words often. I can't even tell you how many times the word "belly" was in that book. Everytime they were hungry the word belly was used. "His belly ached", "He needed to fill his belly", etc. Find some synonyms! Or just don't talk about how hungry they are so often if you're going to use the same word all the time. Now, in the book's defense, this was an uncorrected proof I was reading, so I sure how the editor figured out to use some synonyms before the book is published.
But overall the story was enjoyable enough. I was able to push through the book. It wasn't like pulling teeth. It was kind of fun to see how they view the world - the zoo, humans, guns, etc. The story moved along well enough. I enjoyed seeing how all the different kinds of bears are part of their own family now. It's a neat dynamic.
With all of this said, it wasn't a book I normally would have read. I don't think I will pick up any of the sequels to this book. But I'm glad I read it. It is nice to change up the types of books I read. Try something different. Maybe I'd have liked it. I think this might be a good book for a middle schooler who enjoys animals. It's a quick easy read.
This book was enjoyable enough. I received it accidentally from the publisher - I had won a different book - but since it was here, I thought I'd give it a try. So with that said, it is not a book I normally would have picked up, and I have obviously not read the entire series before it.
The story moved along quickly, despite the lack of action. The plot was very slow for me. It was about Bears trekking across the icey Canada landscape. There isn't much you can do with that. A bear fell a couple times...and they hunted and rested a lot. Not very exciting.
I was also a little lost since I had not read the first series about these bears. I didn't know who Ujurak was, so when the entire book focuses on their grief regarding this bear, I was sick of reading about it. I wasn't connected to that bear, so I didn't understand how the entire book had them greiving their friend. I understand a bit of sadness, but they should have moved on like half way through the book because of the amount of time this book spanned.
They also met a new character who was obnoxious. I think you were supposed to hate him. But the way the character was built, it just felt like a very fake obnoxious-ness. I didn't really believe his personality. I did hate the character, but not for the reasons the author wanted me to. I hated the character because he felt very fake. And the "racism" that was a part of this bear really bothered me. Maybe the author wanted to make a statement that your color doesn't make you who you are...but boy it was annoying. Racism doesn't exist very much anymore, and all this bear made me think was about those people who claim "You hate me because I'm black!"...which isn't the case...it's only in your own mind that people think that.
I also felt like this book was written more for middle school YA than highschool/college YA. About half the dialgue felt forced. It didn't just flow from the characters like it should have...but again, this is about bears...and I'm not sure how bears would really talk. But there were times where the author spelled out everything that was going on. Nothing was left up to the reader to deduce. It always bothers me when the author has to specifically say something because they don't think the reader will deduce that feeling on their own. But what that does is it pulls me out of the story because I had already figured that out. I don't have the book with me right now, otherewise I would give examples. But if this book was written for middle schoolers, perhaps they need that leading because they haven't had as much reading experience to pick up on that. But for me, I didn't like it.
The author also used a lot of the same words often. I can't even tell you how many times the word "belly" was in that book. Everytime they were hungry the word belly was used. "His belly ached", "He needed to fill his belly", etc. Find some synonyms! Or just don't talk about how hungry they are so often if you're going to use the same word all the time. Now, in the book's defense, this was an uncorrected proof I was reading, so I sure how the editor figured out to use some synonyms before the book is published.
But overall the story was enjoyable enough. I was able to push through the book. It wasn't like pulling teeth. It was kind of fun to see how they view the world - the zoo, humans, guns, etc. The story moved along well enough. I enjoyed seeing how all the different kinds of bears are part of their own family now. It's a neat dynamic.
With all of this said, it wasn't a book I normally would have read. I don't think I will pick up any of the sequels to this book. But I'm glad I read it. It is nice to change up the types of books I read. Try something different. Maybe I'd have liked it. I think this might be a good book for a middle schooler who enjoys animals. It's a quick easy read.
May 5, 2012
I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads
I registered for the book because I've been curious about the Warriors books for some time now (it's hard for me to resist stories told by cats) and although Seekers didn't have the same draw (I guess bears don't do it for me) I figured it would be an example of the writing style and perhaps my 9-year old son might be interested. Having read it, I'm still willing to give Warriors a shot, but if this Seekers book is any indication, this is really not an all-ages kind of series.
Although this book is #1 in the "Return to the Wild" series, it is very obviously a continuation of an ongoing series. Judging from the end papers, that appears to be the pattern--multiple "series" of 6 books each. I'm just anal retentive enough that I detest starting a series in the middle (though my son seems to have no issues with it), and even if this is told with continuing characters, I expect a book with a "1" on it to sufficiently stand on its own as a starting point for anyone. Sadly, I don't feel that's the case here.
Apparently the point of the Return to the Wild series is to take this group of bears from wherever they got to in the last series (which, while I got what they did at the end of that quest, I never got a feeling for what got them going on the quest in the first place) back home. They're also in mourning for the friend they lost on the way. While I feel like I got a decent sense of each bear's personality, and I recognize how special the bear they lost was through the experiences of the core three, I still empathized with the newer members of the group who couldn't quite get why everyone kept going on and on about him.
The primary downfall of Island of Shadows is that NOTHING HAPPENS. There's a lot of walking and hunting, and sleeping, and...that's about it. They pick up a new, young-ish brown/white mixed race bear who claims his brown bear mother drove him off and the white bears attacked him for being mixed. Since this book ends with the group meeting up with the bear's family and learning the truth of his situation, I assume that storyline was meant to be the primary plot point, but...I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to learn from it or what the experience did to help them on their way home. I'm always happy if my kids' books can feed them a bit of good morals in guise of an entertaining story, so I was hopeful that this would turn out to be a good lesson on mixed-race relations and racial bigotry, but there was just no clear outcome/lesson.
The young bear has a huge chip on his shoulder even though his family obviously loves him, and with the exception of a single grumpy older bear, none of the other bears encountered on the island seem to have a problem with race relations. I can empathize with a young boy trying to find his identity, and his negative attitude gives the rest of the group (made up of two white bears, a brown bear, and a black bear) plenty of opportunities for a "what's his problem?" response, but he's just so locked into his own prejudices that he's completely oblivious to what other people are saying. So there's plenty of good examples of tolerance and acceptance, but there's no resolution or learning moment--he basically just runs off with a "nobody understands" pout and that's the end of it. Which brings me back to "what was the point?"
As tedious as I found it, I have to wonder what would keep an active boy with a short attention span reading it and wanting to continue with the series. If my son does read it and has a positive response, I'll be happy to amend my review.
I registered for the book because I've been curious about the Warriors books for some time now (it's hard for me to resist stories told by cats) and although Seekers didn't have the same draw (I guess bears don't do it for me) I figured it would be an example of the writing style and perhaps my 9-year old son might be interested. Having read it, I'm still willing to give Warriors a shot, but if this Seekers book is any indication, this is really not an all-ages kind of series.
Although this book is #1 in the "Return to the Wild" series, it is very obviously a continuation of an ongoing series. Judging from the end papers, that appears to be the pattern--multiple "series" of 6 books each. I'm just anal retentive enough that I detest starting a series in the middle (though my son seems to have no issues with it), and even if this is told with continuing characters, I expect a book with a "1" on it to sufficiently stand on its own as a starting point for anyone. Sadly, I don't feel that's the case here.
Apparently the point of the Return to the Wild series is to take this group of bears from wherever they got to in the last series (which, while I got what they did at the end of that quest, I never got a feeling for what got them going on the quest in the first place) back home. They're also in mourning for the friend they lost on the way. While I feel like I got a decent sense of each bear's personality, and I recognize how special the bear they lost was through the experiences of the core three, I still empathized with the newer members of the group who couldn't quite get why everyone kept going on and on about him.
The primary downfall of Island of Shadows is that NOTHING HAPPENS. There's a lot of walking and hunting, and sleeping, and...that's about it. They pick up a new, young-ish brown/white mixed race bear who claims his brown bear mother drove him off and the white bears attacked him for being mixed. Since this book ends with the group meeting up with the bear's family and learning the truth of his situation, I assume that storyline was meant to be the primary plot point, but...I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to learn from it or what the experience did to help them on their way home. I'm always happy if my kids' books can feed them a bit of good morals in guise of an entertaining story, so I was hopeful that this would turn out to be a good lesson on mixed-race relations and racial bigotry, but there was just no clear outcome/lesson.
The young bear has a huge chip on his shoulder even though his family obviously loves him, and with the exception of a single grumpy older bear, none of the other bears encountered on the island seem to have a problem with race relations. I can empathize with a young boy trying to find his identity, and his negative attitude gives the rest of the group (made up of two white bears, a brown bear, and a black bear) plenty of opportunities for a "what's his problem?" response, but he's just so locked into his own prejudices that he's completely oblivious to what other people are saying. So there's plenty of good examples of tolerance and acceptance, but there's no resolution or learning moment--he basically just runs off with a "nobody understands" pout and that's the end of it. Which brings me back to "what was the point?"
As tedious as I found it, I have to wonder what would keep an active boy with a short attention span reading it and wanting to continue with the series. If my son does read it and has a positive response, I'll be happy to amend my review.
August 8, 2025
Low three stars. The second and final arc of Seekers is not off to a good start.
This book had the usual Erin writing style. In other words, it was alright. Seekers never feels as comfortable to read for me as Warriors does, and this book also did have a couple silly errors that made it a bit worse, like referring to the wrong bear in a few instances. This book also did feel a bit too blunt in some cases, as in it tried to spell out some character development that would probably have been better left to interpretation. But overall, there wasn’t anything wrong with the writing style, and I didn’t hate it.
The plot; however, was a big fat mess. Guess what? Another book about walking! But this time, let’s purposefully backtrack several times and base the main plot around an unlikable character who was obviously two-faced, but have the entire cast be *mostly* oblivious to it so we can have conflict but no one connecting the dots. Ugh. The pacing was also weird in this one; the first part of the journey felt too quick, the middle with Nanulak WAY too long, and the end super rushed. Just a mess all around, and the plot wasn’t even interesting.
The characters were just bad, even for Seekers standards.
Lusa did nothing, but at least she kind of had common sense. There’s nothing to comment on really.
Yakone was actually ok. This book probably should have had more focus on him, since he left his whole life behind in this one, but he wasn’t bad at least. His relationship with Kallik is cute, too.
Kallik. Oh my gosh. She, as a character, was also alright in this one, but nothing special. But the fact that the Erins, the writers of the book, not only tried to spell out her personality to us but completely misidentified her entire arc is unbelievable. Essentially, they tried to use a dream sequence with Ujurak to show how Kallik is always the peacekeeper of the group, and that she should continue to be like that. . . Peacekeeper? Seriously? Just no. That is LUSA. LUSA. The black bear? Whose entire personality is being chipper and happy and keeping the peace between the brown bear and white bear who are always fighting? How did they make that mistake? Or worse, did the writers actually think that was the purpose of Kallik’s arc? I’m floored that they not only directly told us a character’s arc, purpose, and growth, but they also GOT IT WRONG. How do you even do that? Ugh.
And Toklo. He was also annoying, but for a different reason. He kind of had a reason to trust Nanulak, but Nanulak was so blatantly different from Tobi and Ujurak, and written as so unlikable, that I find it hard to believe Toklo was stupid enough to trust him. The ending being rushed didn’t help either, but whatever. Toklo was not great in this one.
Nanulak was kind of the real villain in this book. I think I’ve already made my thoughts on him clear. If he was going to be some kind of twist villain, then he should have been less obviously bad. Just another subpar unnecessary inclusion in the book, in my opinion.
Yeah. This entire series was kind of unnecessary. ‘Spirits in the Stars’ wasn’t the best ending to the series, but it was definitely better than this book. I really hope (but heavily doubt) that the rest of Return to the Wild is stronger and the series can end on a good note.
SERIES RATINGS:
Island of Shadows: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Melting Sea: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
River of Lost Bears: ⭐️⭐️
Forest of Wolves: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Burning Horizon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Longest Day: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book had the usual Erin writing style. In other words, it was alright. Seekers never feels as comfortable to read for me as Warriors does, and this book also did have a couple silly errors that made it a bit worse, like referring to the wrong bear in a few instances. This book also did feel a bit too blunt in some cases, as in it tried to spell out some character development that would probably have been better left to interpretation. But overall, there wasn’t anything wrong with the writing style, and I didn’t hate it.
The plot; however, was a big fat mess. Guess what? Another book about walking! But this time, let’s purposefully backtrack several times and base the main plot around an unlikable character who was obviously two-faced, but have the entire cast be *mostly* oblivious to it so we can have conflict but no one connecting the dots. Ugh. The pacing was also weird in this one; the first part of the journey felt too quick, the middle with Nanulak WAY too long, and the end super rushed. Just a mess all around, and the plot wasn’t even interesting.
The characters were just bad, even for Seekers standards.
Lusa did nothing, but at least she kind of had common sense. There’s nothing to comment on really.
Yakone was actually ok. This book probably should have had more focus on him, since he left his whole life behind in this one, but he wasn’t bad at least. His relationship with Kallik is cute, too.
Kallik. Oh my gosh. She, as a character, was also alright in this one, but nothing special. But the fact that the Erins, the writers of the book, not only tried to spell out her personality to us but completely misidentified her entire arc is unbelievable. Essentially, they tried to use a dream sequence with Ujurak to show how Kallik is always the peacekeeper of the group, and that she should continue to be like that. . . Peacekeeper? Seriously? Just no. That is LUSA. LUSA. The black bear? Whose entire personality is being chipper and happy and keeping the peace between the brown bear and white bear who are always fighting? How did they make that mistake? Or worse, did the writers actually think that was the purpose of Kallik’s arc? I’m floored that they not only directly told us a character’s arc, purpose, and growth, but they also GOT IT WRONG. How do you even do that? Ugh.
And Toklo. He was also annoying, but for a different reason. He kind of had a reason to trust Nanulak, but Nanulak was so blatantly different from Tobi and Ujurak, and written as so unlikable, that I find it hard to believe Toklo was stupid enough to trust him. The ending being rushed didn’t help either, but whatever. Toklo was not great in this one.
Nanulak was kind of the real villain in this book. I think I’ve already made my thoughts on him clear. If he was going to be some kind of twist villain, then he should have been less obviously bad. Just another subpar unnecessary inclusion in the book, in my opinion.
Yeah. This entire series was kind of unnecessary. ‘Spirits in the Stars’ wasn’t the best ending to the series, but it was definitely better than this book. I really hope (but heavily doubt) that the rest of Return to the Wild is stronger and the series can end on a good note.
SERIES RATINGS:
Island of Shadows: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Melting Sea: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
River of Lost Bears: ⭐️⭐️
Forest of Wolves: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Burning Horizon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Longest Day: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2015
This is a dual review for "Island of Shadows" and "The Melting Sea". Small spoilers within, but honestly the stuff I mention is obvious.
I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, and that's fine, but I loved Seekers more than Warriors. The bears actually behaved like bears while showing just enough anthropomorphism to appeal to a wider audience. I liked the message; I liked the language; I liked the eagerness; I liked the respect. Warriors, while definitely fun to dive into, had cats that did not act like any cat I've ever met. Both series had problems, but Warriors, to me, was much more fundamentally flawed. Even though I liked the first series, I never felt a huge urge to read the others because I felt Firepaw's story was wrapped up nicely.
Seekers left us hanging a little bit more. By the final installment, the journey was only half over. They might have made it to the Endless Ice, but they still had to get BACK and find homes for themselves. Usually you just get an epilogue or a few final chapters about the "return trip"; exploration into it is very, very rare in quest stories. I was curious, so I turned to the continuation arc with trepidation.
What I found is... ehh. It doesn't take any wild nose dives in quality, but something is definitely lacking. Wild behaviors that used to be acceptable are suddenly vilified. Yes, it was terrible when Toklo's mother abandoned him, but that sort of thing happens, and that's the sense the first series tried to leave us with. It looks awful from our point of view, but these are not people. They're bears. They steal food off each other, they chase strangers from their territories, they kill and eat cubs if they're starving. That's just how it is. A bear even tells Kallik something like, "it's a sad story. But we all have sad stories now."
Now our main heroes have to go out of their way to help other bears. Now they scold adults for driving off cubs and stealing food. Suddenly it's wrong for a starving bear to scavenge from man, not because humans are dangerous, but because Ujurak said so in a dream. They become less and less animal as Return to the Wild continues, and that's without talking about the weak plots with even weaker resolutions.
Even though "Shadows" and "Melting" were both compelling in their own rights, they felt forced. They aren't being truthful to the story. Why couldn't Kallik and her honey stay on the ice? Why aren't the bears allowed to grow and go home? I don't think this journey has an ending at all.
I was starting to read "River of the Lost Bears", but my interest rapidly faded, and I didn't get to the halfway point. I would happily reread Seekers again, but I don't plan on adding the continuations to my personal library.
Honestly, these are sins a younger reader could probably forgive, but I think they would still feel that Seekers arc 2 is much more padded than its predecessor.
I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, and that's fine, but I loved Seekers more than Warriors. The bears actually behaved like bears while showing just enough anthropomorphism to appeal to a wider audience. I liked the message; I liked the language; I liked the eagerness; I liked the respect. Warriors, while definitely fun to dive into, had cats that did not act like any cat I've ever met. Both series had problems, but Warriors, to me, was much more fundamentally flawed. Even though I liked the first series, I never felt a huge urge to read the others because I felt Firepaw's story was wrapped up nicely.
Seekers left us hanging a little bit more. By the final installment, the journey was only half over. They might have made it to the Endless Ice, but they still had to get BACK and find homes for themselves. Usually you just get an epilogue or a few final chapters about the "return trip"; exploration into it is very, very rare in quest stories. I was curious, so I turned to the continuation arc with trepidation.
What I found is... ehh. It doesn't take any wild nose dives in quality, but something is definitely lacking. Wild behaviors that used to be acceptable are suddenly vilified. Yes, it was terrible when Toklo's mother abandoned him, but that sort of thing happens, and that's the sense the first series tried to leave us with. It looks awful from our point of view, but these are not people. They're bears. They steal food off each other, they chase strangers from their territories, they kill and eat cubs if they're starving. That's just how it is. A bear even tells Kallik something like, "it's a sad story. But we all have sad stories now."
Now our main heroes have to go out of their way to help other bears. Now they scold adults for driving off cubs and stealing food. Suddenly it's wrong for a starving bear to scavenge from man, not because humans are dangerous, but because Ujurak said so in a dream. They become less and less animal as Return to the Wild continues, and that's without talking about the weak plots with even weaker resolutions.
Even though "Shadows" and "Melting" were both compelling in their own rights, they felt forced. They aren't being truthful to the story. Why couldn't Kallik and her honey stay on the ice? Why aren't the bears allowed to grow and go home? I don't think this journey has an ending at all.
I was starting to read "River of the Lost Bears", but my interest rapidly faded, and I didn't get to the halfway point. I would happily reread Seekers again, but I don't plan on adding the continuations to my personal library.
Honestly, these are sins a younger reader could probably forgive, but I think they would still feel that Seekers arc 2 is much more padded than its predecessor.
June 4, 2024
Great start to the series, I've missed my babies!
Some things worth noting:
- I felt so bad for Toklo throughtout the whole book, especially the end
- Lusa is still best girl
- Kallik and Yakone are adorable
- I didn't think much on Tikaani (was that her name?) and Toklo's interaction. Will she ever appear again?
- The whole journey was stressful
- Whenever Nanulak spoke I thought of the 'Grasp Child Firmly' meme
Look forward to the next book!
Some things worth noting:
- I felt so bad for Toklo throughtout the whole book, especially the end
- Lusa is still best girl
- Kallik and Yakone are adorable
- I didn't think much on Tikaani (was that her name?) and Toklo's interaction. Will she ever appear again?
- The whole journey was stressful
- Whenever Nanulak spoke I thought of the 'Grasp Child Firmly' meme
Look forward to the next book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2012
I won a copy on Goodreads Firstreads.
Toklo, Kalik and Lusa have finished their quest and now it is time for the three bears to return home.Joined by Yakone and Nanulak, they take the first steps to returning to where they belong.Grieving over the loss of their friend,Ujurak,they look for signs to help them find their way. Along the way, they have to learn to adapt to the new members in their group.Ultimately they have to learn to accept not only others for who they are but themselves as well.
I have not read the earlier quest of the Seekers.This caused me to feel at a loss for most of the book.While this book does stand by itself, having read the earlier series would only help to apprecaite this one.The bears at time act very bearr-like and at others not like bears at all.The maps provided were not much help since they seemed to be more geared to the earlier series as well.The scale was much too large for this trip and unfortunately most of the trip was lost between the pages.
I would recommend this series to younger readers especially if they are familiar with the first quest.
Toklo, Kalik and Lusa have finished their quest and now it is time for the three bears to return home.Joined by Yakone and Nanulak, they take the first steps to returning to where they belong.Grieving over the loss of their friend,Ujurak,they look for signs to help them find their way. Along the way, they have to learn to adapt to the new members in their group.Ultimately they have to learn to accept not only others for who they are but themselves as well.
I have not read the earlier quest of the Seekers.This caused me to feel at a loss for most of the book.While this book does stand by itself, having read the earlier series would only help to apprecaite this one.The bears at time act very bearr-like and at others not like bears at all.The maps provided were not much help since they seemed to be more geared to the earlier series as well.The scale was much too large for this trip and unfortunately most of the trip was lost between the pages.
I would recommend this series to younger readers especially if they are familiar with the first quest.
February 25, 2022
In the German version, there were some tiny problems with the Grammar.Also, some chapter titles' were ,,reversed", that means the names of the bears weren't corespondly with the form from the story, for example if in the chapter the writer wrote about Kallik, the title of the chapter was Lusa or something like that. There were three chapters by me with that issue: Chapter 10(instead of Lusa the title was Kallik), Chapter 23(instead of Kallik the title was this time Lusa), and Chapter 26(instead of Kallik the title was again Lusa). Again,this problems were by me,that doesn't mean that this is in other books too. From all of it I personally like Yakone's appearance in the series.He's a strong bear and ready to save all of his teammates in any situation, and he just left his family alone to go with Kallik and her friends (I personally suggest to read band 6 if You haven't, because it's ,my opinion,one of the greatest book in the series). The End could've be done a little bit better and happier, but the rest is OK and (pretty) exciting.
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