ABANDONED. Fantasy series about an order of monks

[Joseph]

I read the first two books when I was in secondary school, but I don't remember the name of the books or the author.
It's about a boy who lives in a village in the shadow of a monastery, he is the son of the school teacher there, but he wants to be one of the monks. His father begrudgingly lets him train to join the monks with a few other village youths. In the final test in the training, they are put into solitary confinement and are told to come out when they have some sort of 'experience'. The protagonist doesn't come out at all, the monks eventually have to drag him out and he fails the test. He is sent away,
(or locked up, I don't remember which) Shortly after, the monastery is attacked and the monks taken prisoner (I think), and the protagonist goes off in search of the aggressors (or for revenge, again, I'm not sure which).

This is the plot of the first few chapters, I don't remember much after this.

[Angela]

Seeker by William Nicholson, maybe?

From School Library Journal: "Gr 7 Up– The Noble Warriors (Nomana) are dedicated to protecting the All and Only god who, according to prophecy, will be killed by the Assassin. Once a year, pilgrims are allowed on the island of Anacrea and accepted into the Nomana. Seeker after Truth, 16, has wanted to join the Noble Warriors all of his life even though his father is intent on him being a scholar. When he enters an open door into the monastery , he sees his brother being publicly humiliated and cast out of the Nomana. Soon two pilgrims arrive who will change Seeker’s life forever: Morning Star, who can sense a person’s colors and interpret what they mean, and The Wildman, a spiker (outlaw) who is looking for power and peace. After all three teenagers are rejected by the Nomana, Seeker formulates a plan to ensure their acceptance. Written in the same style as Christopher Paolini’s Eragon (Knopf, 2003) and Terry Brooks’s The Sword of Shannara (Ballantine, 1983), the quest itself will form the characters into the people they were always meant to be. A novel of friendship, loyalty, and accomplishment, Seeker will draw readers into the conflict between believing with the eyes or with the heart.–June H. Keuhn, Corning East High School, NY --June H. Keuhn (Reviewed August 1, 2006) (School Library Journal, vol 52, issue 8, p126)"

[Kris]

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

Joseph (OP) was last active on the site in June 2020.