25 April 2015

ARC Review: Summoner - The Novice

The Novice - Summoner #1
by Taran Matharu




YA goodness!!!

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What they say: When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher discovers that he has the ability to summon demons from another world, he travels to Adept Military Academy. There the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. Fletcher is put through grueling training as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire’s war against orcs. He must tread carefully while training alongside children of powerful nobles. The power hungry, those seeking alliances, and the fear of betrayal surround him. Fletcher finds himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with only his demon Ignatius for help.



As the pieces on the board maneuver for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands. The Novice is the first in a trilogy about Fletcher, his demon Ignatius, and the war against the Orcs. 


Coming by 5th May by Hodder Children's/Hachette Children's - ISBN: 9781444923971


Author & Book Links:

Wattpad * Twitter * Goodreads 

Pre-order:

Amazon US * Amazon UK


I received a copy from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.


What I say: Wow! I loved The Novice and it made a fab change to read about a young male character written by a guy. I didn't read the book when it started on wattpad and so I approached the series a complete novice (like what I did there?), but I thoroughly enjoyed every page and am looking forward to seeing what happen next. 

I don't often like to describe one book as being like another or something similar, but with The Novice if you take elements of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Throne of Glass, Game of Thrones and merge it with Pokemon (yes, Pokemon) then you're still nowhere near, but are on the right track!



Fletcher lives in a strange kind of fantasy world where orcs, elves, dwarfs and demons exist. Humans have different relationships with these creatures ranging from hostile to sort of friendly, to outright enemies. Summoners have the ability to summon demons to fight the evil orcs. Fletcher finds himself training with other trainees at a special academy which reminded me of an uber competitive version of Hogwarts.



I really liked Fletcher because he wasn't willing to accept the class and race system for what it was. He challenges the accepted norm and looks out for everybody. He is impatient but isn't mean or nasty, and most importantly, he's extremely loyal.

I appreciated that The Novice was all about action and the trainees learning their craft, rather than some big love triangle. The secondary characters work well (although I did get a little confused with a couple of their names being similar at times). I had my suspicions about the ending (don't worry NO SPOILERS here) and although I did turn about to be right about one big event, it didn't in any way lessen my enjoyment of the book and I cannot wait to see what happens next after that cliffy!

4 - 4.5 Stars in my Sky!






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