Det verkar för tidigt att vara "när du var barn", men sökare av William Nicholson, den första boken i Noble Warriors-trilogin, matchar på några punkter.
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.
Dethandlaromkrigsmonker,eponymousnobilewarriors,ochhuvudpersonenfinner"en plot för att förstöra Anacrea, den ö där de ädla krigarena bor" enligt en av recensionerna, så det finns din ö. Slutligen nämns brodern i sammanfattningen.
Jag har inte hittat ett "ondska imperium", men den andra bokens sammanfattning nämner att "Orlans mäktiga krigsherre samlar sina styrkor och har lovat att förstöra Anacrea - och allt och alla som korsar sin väg. "
Ah och enligt Nicholson's online bio identifierar han inte explicit som en ateist, men
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.