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Jango: Book Two of the Noble Warriors Kindle Edition
Seeker, Morning Star, and the Wildman are about to discover that the Nomana, the mysterious warrior sect they were so desperate to join, is not what it appeared to be. Deeply disillusioned, the three escape and head off on quests they think are separate but soon become intertwined—and desperately life threatening.
Fortunately, they have acquired the remarkable physical skills of the Noble Warriors, for they are certainly going to need them. The mighty warlord of the Orlan nation is gathering his forces and has vowed to destroy the entire island of Anacrea—and everything and everyone that crosses his path.
Includes a teaser to the third book in the sequence, Noman.
- Reading age12 - 18 years
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 12
- Lexile measure730L
- PublisherHMH Books for Young Readers
- Publication dateApril 1, 2008
- ISBN-13978-0152061609
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Review
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Secret Skill
SEEKER ADOPTED THE COMBAT STANCE KNOWN AS THE Tranquil Alert: feet a pace apart and flat on the ground, arms loose at his sides, head erect, balanced and steady. He softened the focus of his gaze so that his eyes became sensitive to the smallest movement. He calmed his breathing until his breaths were slow and even. For a single brief moment he attended to the feelings in his bare feet: the prick of grit on the worn pavers, the slickness of water on stone.
A chill winter rain was falling steadily from the gray sky. It soaked into his hair and his tunic and formed puddles among the loose stones of the courtyard.
He heard his teacher’s intake of breath and knew he was about to be given the first command. He exhaled a single long slow breath and slid into the attack stance called the Hammer and Nail. Two fingers of his right hand were the nail, tingling and still by his side. The entire combined force of his being, which his teachers called “the lir,” was the hammer. He had chosen his weapon and his initiating strike.
“Pay respect!”
The scratchy voice came from his combat teacher, a short middle-aged Noma with a sleepy face. All his features—his eyebrows, his cheeks, the corners of his mouth—seemed to droop downwards, and his heavily lidded eyes were half closed. However, as Seeker well knew, he was far from sleepy.
Obediently Seeker bowed, first his upper body from the waist, then his head: paying respect. Only as he straightened up did he allow himself to see his opponent, standing a pace away from him in the rainy courtyard, beneath the shadow of the high dome of the Nom.
It was the Wildman: his friend and fellow novice, and the only one of their group of eight he had never yet defeated. In the course of nine months of training, during which Seeker had felt his body grow strong and the lir flow to his command, he and the Wildman had met in combat fourteen times, and he had lost every bout. He had never yet, facing the Wildman, achieved that sudden overwhelming strike which breaks the opponent’s guard and shatters his concentration. With Jobal he could do it, and with Felice, but never with the Wildman.
His friend was now also straightening up from the respect. Their eyes met, unseeing as strangers. Seeker tracked for clues over the Wildman’s beautiful rain-streaked face.
The throat. He’ll strike for my throat.
It was the Wildman’s usual move. But he was so fast and so strong that knowing it was coming was not enough. Seeker’s mind moved smoothly and rapidly, using the few seconds now left to him. When the teacher gave the second command, the combat would begin. It would last for one, or two, or possibly three strikes—no more. Trained Nomana did not require lengthy bouts. Each fighter had at his disposal a single devastating blow, the blow into which his lir was concentrated, like the force of a great river funneled into a narrow jet. If this win-all or lose-all blow was struck too soon, or fell wide, the fight was lost. Timing was all.
Seeker’s web of feelings, instincts, and thoughts fused into a single bright blade of decision. Roll the attack, play the riposte, follow with the kill. His plan formed, he let his entire body hang loose, dangle in the rain, swing in the wind.
Don’t think. Never think.
React into action.
Meet your plan like a stranger.
Surprise yourself.
So much teaching. So much training. “Know everything and then forget everything,” their teacher told them.
To one side stood the line of silent novices, watching the combat that was about to begin. Morning Star, third in line, watched like the rest, hands clasped before her, silent in the rain. A thought flickered in Seeker’s brain.
Who does she want to win? Me, or the Wildman?
On the other side rose the stone pillars of the cloister, and beyond, the great outer wall of the Nom. Slots pierced this wall at intervals, and through the slots could be glimpsed the sea, stretching away, horizonless, into the iron gray sky.
The voice of the combat teacher sounded as if from far off.
“Engage.”
The Wildman struck first, for the throat, as Seeker had guessed. Seeker swayed back, outreaching the strike hand, and stabbed at the crook of the attacking arm, but only playing the riposte. If the Wildman went for the kill now, Seeker knew he would break him.
No time to hesitate. On he flowed, pouring his lir into the about-to-be-launched strike, begging the Wildman to make his throw now, at the bait moment, when he seemed so vulnerable, on the second strike, which had always been the Wildman’s strike of choice.
But not today. With dismay Seeker realized he had committed, and the Wildman had not. His timing was off. In his frustration Seeker lost perfect concentration and felt the lir spreading from the two speeding fingers over his right hand and up his arm, dissipating his force. His blow powered through, hammer on nail, and caught the Wildman’s left shoulder, rocking him back, but it was not enough to break him.
At once Seeker sucked back what lir was left and locked himself to the ground, but even as he did so the Wildman struck, the heel of his hand to Seeker’s brow: the kill blow. Not all his power was in the strike, of course. Seeker was not killed. But he was broken.
He fell as he must, crippled by pure force and by shame. The Wildman had pulled his blow and had still broken him. The impact of the wave of power rippled from his stunned brow all the way down to his stomach, making him want to retch.
“Withdraw.”
The teacher called the moves as if nothing of any significance had taken place. Seeker rose and bowed, a little shakily, and resumed his place in the line of silent novices, as did the Wildman. They stood still, hands clasped before them, maintaining the rigid discipline that had been drilled into them.
Their sleepy-eyed teacher now proceeded with the analysis, dabbing at his wet head with one end of his badan. His name was Chance.
“What did he do wrong? You.”
He pointed at Morning Star.
“He committed too soon,” said Morning Star.
“Could he have done otherwise?”
“Yes,” said Morning Star softly, glancing towards Seeker. “He could have waited. But he knew his opponent had the longer reach. His decision to attempt a first-strike win was sound.”
“Therefore predictable.”
“Yes, Teacher.” The teacher nodded, then raising his hands above his head, he clapped twice. This was the signal for a break. The novices retreated into the shelter of the cloister—all but the Wildman, who stood apart from the rest, by one of the slots in the wall that looked out over the sea.
Morning Star came to Seeker’s side. The last nine months had changed her greatly, as it had changed them all. In appearance she was the same, with her round face and her little button of a nose and her gentle blue eyes; but she seemed to Seeker to have grown older and more serious. Seeker found himself admiring her more each day.
“Almost won that time,” she said.
“What do you call someone who almost won?”
“Loser.”
He grinned. This was what made him feel so close to Morning Star. Their minds worked the same way.
But her attention was directed to the Wildman.
“Look at him,” she said. “He doesn’t smile any more. Why is he so unhappy?”
“Is he unhappy?”
Morning Star turned reproachful eyes on him.
“You hadn’t noticed?”
“I don’t see people’s colors like you.”
“Yes, he’s unhappy.”
Seeker had noticed how silent his friend had grown and how he liked to stand apart from the rest, but he had put that down to the training. Before all else, the Nomana were taught the art of stillness. Now that Morning Star voiced her concern, he saw that she was right, and was angry with himself for not having seen it before.
“I’ll talk to him.”
Seeker crossed the courtyard in the rain and touched his friend lightly on the arm.
“You win again,” he said. “But I’ll have you one day.”
He wanted him to feel some pleasure in his victory.
The Wildman turned and looked at Seeker. It was clear from his face that he hadn’t heard him. He gave an indifferent shrug.
“Yes,” he said. “Why not?”
“They’re saying you could be the best warrior ever.”
“Are they?”
He shook his long golden hair, now dark with rain, and looked up at the high dome of the Nom. On the far side of the dome, invisible from this courtyard, lay the silver-walled enclosure called the Garden. In the Garden, at the heart of the great castle-monastery, lived the god of many names: the All and Only, the Always and Everywhere, the Reason and the Goal.
Seeker followed his friend’s gaze, and he thought he understood. He knew how fervently the Wildman longed to enter the Garden. There, he had been told, he would find peace.
“You’re tired of waiting, aren’t you?”
“One day soon,” said the Wildman.
“When we’re ready.”
“I’m ready now.”
Copyright © 2006 William Nicholson
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be submitted online at www.harcourt.com/contact or mailed to the following address: Permissions Department, Harcourt, Inc., 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.
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Product details
- ASIN : B003WJQ65O
- Publisher : HMH Books for Young Readers; First edition (April 1, 2008)
- Publication date : April 1, 2008
- Language : English
- File size : 6564 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Not Enabled
- Print length : 435 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,928,379 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2015Bought this for my daughter, who is absolutely loving it. She (14) never thought anything could outdo Seeker, but this is even better according to her. She's on a hunt for anything Nicholson has written now! She loved Seeker so much that I read it (and loved it) and then talked my husband into reading it! He also really liked it - and he's not much of a book reader.
We're both patiently waiting for her to finish Jango so we can continue our journey as well.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2021Very entertaining to read, inventive. Great characters 👌
- Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2014Great and entertaining book that truly catches your attention. I find it amazing that the author goes into so much detail about this religion of seekers
- Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2013I wound up with "Seeker" which is book one as a travel book. I take them when I travel so when I lose it I don't mind. I liked the book so I looked up the next two books. They were fun, low thinking books which were great for travel companions.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2013This second book is the perfect bridge to the conclusive third book. I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2007FYI: This is Book 2 of THE NOBLE WARRIORS series, and therefore a sequel to Seeker: Book One of the Noble Warriors. If you don't want the end of Seeker: Book One of the Noble Warriors spoiled for you, STOP! If that's not a concern, I invite you back to Anacrea.
Seeker, Morning Star, and Wildman are with the Nomana, training to be Noble Warriors themselves. It's been nine months and they are about to face the most difficult test in their training so far. On their first day of the new lessons, Wildman does the unthinkable, and must be banished from the Nom. Seeker worries that he too will be sent away, due to the deal he made to get Wildman into training in the first place. Morning Star is despondent at the loss of her friend.
Meanwhile, a new threat is approaching Anacrea, and destroying everything and everyone that gets in its way. When the new threat joins forces with the old, what will become of Anacrea? And where does that leave the Nomana?
For the first time the Nom is divided. How far should they and will they go to protect the people of Anacrea and their home? And now that Seeker seems to have acquired limitless power, what should be done about him? How much power is too much?
This may seem like a pretty vague description of the story, but I don't want to give too much away. The book starts out fast and full, and keeps right on going. It's a fast read, but only because so much keeps happening that you don't want to put it down! So much changes for the three friends, but that's part of growing up. Not only does this book progress well through time and characters, it sucks you further into its universe. Almost to the point where when you come up for air you're surprised to find yourself surrounded by the world you usually live in. If the books keep going like this... Let's just say I can't wait to read the next one!
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
- Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2013As my first encounter with author William Nicholson (author of the Wind Singer & Firesong), I was greatly impressed by this spectacularly thrilling tale. I adore fast-paced adventure full of intense drama and exciting twists, hence I fell instantly in love with this book after reading the blurb. `Jango' is the second book within the noble warriors trilogy and which beautifully blends fantasy fiction with a contemporary edge ~ totally original and fresh. The characters acts of courage or calculated cruelty have such recognizable humanity within them and make this tale feel so `real' as to bring it vividly to life. The expert world-building is simply spectacular and I love how cleverly plotted the action scenes were, so as to strike a harmonious balance between drama, dialogue and detailed narrative.
This is a thrilling story of integrity shaped in the face of corruption and vaulting ambition, with a brilliant cast of teenage characters who are relevant and individually interesting. Amid plenty of action are moral messages and inner meaning that touches you, with such thought-provoking truth and sincerity.
Continuing on from `Seeker' (book 1) this installment discloses the real meaning behind the power of the noble warriors. Seeker, Morning Star and Wildman are going to need this new found knowledge as the mighty Warlord of Orlan has joined forces with the Empire of Radiance ~ in an attempt to defeat the noble warriors. As two separate armies join together in one great attack, it is these three teens and the noble warriors who must make the final stand to prevent what could happen - the end of all things...
This remarkable epic adventure, from a writer who is at the top of his game, is truly breathtaking and highly memorable. I am now keen to read `Noman' the last book within this astonishing trilogy that is an inspired concept of pure genius and rare talent!
- Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2018super fast paced
Top reviews from other countries
- MARK OLIVERReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this trilogy! Kung Fu classic.
Seeker and Jango are wonderfully crafted stories with Seeker-After-Truth as the main character desperate to become a Noble Warrior of the Nomana who protect the weak and bring their religion to the world. Can’t wait for third installment Nomana to be on Kindle.
- Matthew McgowanReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2015
4.0 out of 5 stars The trilogy as a whole was very good, and worth reading
The trilogy as a whole was very good, and worth reading.
I had read the Wind On Fire trilogy prior to this, and the Noble Warriors Trilogy doesn't quite hit the same standard. I also felt like some of the themes and issues tackled, and even the manner in which they were done, were a little too similar.
- KimberleyReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2014
5.0 out of 5 stars Nicholson is a brilliant writer. His books aren't long but have such ...
Nicholson is a brilliant writer. His books aren't long but have such a sense of scope and the writing shows intelligence and an observant eye as well as humorous moments (the occasional Oscar Wilde type line rather than farcical humour).
- alamocherReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2018
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
good service and product as stated
- White RavenReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2020
1.0 out of 5 stars dirty
brown fingerprints on edge, disgusting to send it like that