Parece ser muito recente "quando você era criança", mas Seeker de William Nicholson, o primeiro livro da trilogia Noble Warriors, combina em alguns pontos.
This first novel in the Noble Warriors sequence begins when sixteen-year-old Seeker's older brother is publicly humiliated and--with no explanation--exiled from the Nomana, a revered order of warrior monks. Seeker refuses to believe that his beloved older brother is capable of committing a betryal that would warrant such severe consequences, so he sets off alone on a journey to rescue his brother and find out at last what really happened.
Along the way he meets two other young people who are on quests of their own, and in a shocking turn of events, the three are soon caught up in a harrowing and bloody race to save the Nomana--and themselves--from destruction.
Envolve monges guerreiros, os nobres guerreiros de mesmo nome, e o protagonista encontra "um complô para destruir Anacrea, a ilha em que os nobres guerreiros vivem", de acordo com uma das resenhas, então há sua ilha. Por fim, o irmão é mencionado no resumo.
Eu não encontrei um "império do mal", mas o resumo do segundo livro menciona que "O poderoso senhor da guerra da nação Orlan está reunindo suas forças e prometeu destruir Anacrea - e tudo e todos que cruza seu caminho. "Ah, e de acordo com a biografia on-line de Nicholson , ele não se identifica explicitamente como ateu, mas
I still considered myself a practising Catholic as I began my university career, as a scholar at Christ’s College, Cambridge; but by the time I left all that was left was the space in me that my faith had occupied for so long. Much as I wanted to go on believing, it became clear to me that it’s we humans who make God, in our great need. God, if he existed, would have no need of humanity.