The Talent Seekers (Princelings of the East #5)

Humphrey is on the run. He has no friends, no past, no purpose, and no future. He’s just a guinea pig trying to find his way west in a world of dark forests, wild hills, strong castles, and assorted vagabonds and other nameless things that might or might not begin with the letter V.

White Horse Castle has a proud past but an uncertain future. The new king, Benson, is trying to hold his realm together against the avaricious intentions of his neighbour, Lord Colman of Castle Deeping. Fortunately, White Horse Castle has a secret. It knows that there are special guinea pig people out there… people who need a purpose… people with skills and talents that could be put to good use. The trouble is, how to find them?

In the fifth book in the Princelings series, we find the young outcast from the Lost City of Arbor travelling west as his mother suggested. He is rounded up amongst other exiles, but escapes, and finds himself among people that could be his friends, something he has never had before. But they are under threat, and Humphrey’s adventures twist and turn as he is called to his destiny by an unknown force, one that calls to his special hearing skills. He meets other talented individuals and learns to be a team, to work with others for the common good.

It’s a tale of greed, of fighting, of cruelty and of a darker place than the ones we’ve met so far in the Princelings world. Heroes and heroines emerge from the unlikeliest of places to find laughter and friendship and a place where they belong.

The Talent Seekers is a fantasy adventure story with paranormal influences and some pitched battles. It is set in the months between the Prologue and the Epilogue of the Princelings and the Lost City, but with otherwise little connection to the previous stories in the series. It’s suitable for readers aged 10 and upwards.