The Novice

Synopsis: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.

Summary:

A scintillating and magical debut filled with action, magic and demons from one of the most promising new YA fantasy authors around.  Captivating and intriguing set in a world with infinite possibilities, this series is set to be one of the best in recent years.

My thoughts:

This book caught my eye for two distinct reasons. The first being the totally awesome cover, subtle and not overly trying to hard whilst still remaining magical and mysterious.

The second being the huge following that it was already bringing with it. I read into the story more and naturally discovered that Taran was/is a Wattpad author. A regular guy, just like you, me, the guy on the bus, the dude serving you fries in McDonalds.

Instantly, I had huge respect for this guy and I hadn’t even read the book yet.

Publication was a while away, but I noticed that a prequel series Summoner: Origins was available as an e-book for free on amazon, so picked it up and read it on my phone one morning on my way to work and I instantly wanted more. The  staggeringly simple approach to such a huge and fantastical world is truly phenomenal and something that very few writers can achieve without lots of info dumping(myself included).

Not long after, proofs for the main book became available and I jumped at the chance. My expectations were now incredibly high after the promising origins story and  millions ofWattpad readers can’t be wrong can they?
The plot sounded intriguing and right up my alley and if the prequel was anything to go by I was in for a treat.

In The Novice we follow Fletcher, an orphaned boy being raised by a blacksmith who has cared for and trained him since discovering him abandoned outside the city ofPelt as a baby. Events swiftly unfold and we are indulged with blackmail, mystery, magic and action before we’ve even left the city!

Very much like Fletcher’s (in many ways) predecessor – who’s story we follow inOrigins –  he comes across an old scroll which in turn summons a demon. Demons are commonplace in Hominum and are used by summoners as weapons but also act as extensions of themselves, the summoners often gaining their heightened sense of smell or sight as a result.

Through his unfortunate summoning prowess and simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time Fletcher is accused of a heinous crime in which there is no coming back from. He flees Pelt n the hopes that they wouldn’t go after his adopted father and journeys to the capital of Hominum where he bumps into a dwarf who tells him of the Vocans Academy – a school for Summoners where they might learn to control their powers…and their demons.

While the school has opened its door to ‘commoners’, there is still a clear divide, distrust and disgust between the lower and upper classes rife on a day to day basis. Add to the boil of hatred, political students – a dwarf and an elf and the hatred spills over but, to my joy, Fletcher swiftly befriends them(Fletcher has clearly read LOTR *nods in approval*).

Fletcher is incredibly diverse and stands out in a line of incredibly similar fantasy characters around today. Fletcher was in many ways still a child and Taran, the author, didn’t force him to be older than he was. It was great to see Fletcher grow as a character throughout the book, in both mind and body. Fletcher takes a beating, being uprooted not only so young but also unexpectedly knocks some people on their arse but Fletcher rolls with the punches and Ignatius, his demon, certainly helps him when times gets tough.

The whole universe is incredibly vast and extremely well developed, going so far as to define city relationships and political ties between noble families, dwarves, elves and the lower classes. The world practically buzzes with tension without the weight of the war hanging over everybody’s heads and it’s amazing to think it’s only going to get bigger and better. Despite it’s obvious similarities to other fantasy novels, it manages to stand out on its own due to it’s vibrant characters, settings and believability.

The magic in Hominum wasn’t a huge focal point which was surprising but refreshing. Too many fantasy novels focus solely on the magic and its inner working and ultimately lose focus of the bigger picture. I liked that we got only a slight tease of the power of the magic in this world. Very much like Fletcher, we discovered magic alongside him, with its uses for spells, shields, lights and of course summoning demons but we also learned the consequences of overusing and abusing the power of mana. I’m hopeful that as Fletcher‘s knowledge of this aspect grows we’ll get a bigger understanding too in subsequent books. There were segments where we visit the parallel universe, where demons inhabit, which strangely reminded me of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and it seems only logical that this aspect will be expanded upon as well.

As for the writing itself, it is incredibly good. Fast-paced with an exceptional skill at building a picture from a few words, Taran Matharu has a real talent. You definitely read his enthusiasm and passion for the story in every word and it makes me want to read it all the more. And so I did.

Not content with that cliffhanger of an ending(seriously I still hate you for that Taran), I, funnily enough, begged the author for a remedy. And he delivered! Wahey!

Enter another prequel series Summoner Origins: Rory. 

Suitably satisfying my craving for more magic and more demons, this novella details how Rory came to be at Vocans Academy, similar toArcturus from the first Origins novella.

Taran has definitely honed in on one particular aspect of books that fans absolutely LOVE and that is character history. Not only is it often the key to most fan-fics but it opens up the main stories up to so much more interpretation, making the worlds richer and more engaging.

As we have already seen both Arcturus andRory’s backgrounds, I think it goes without saying that it’s only natural that Taran would continue this vein of novellas which could extend to the history of the noble families as well as the first Orc War.

Final Word:

A fantastic book that has everything that you’d expect from a typical fantasy novel and then some. You can expect battles between orcs, elves AND dwarves, demons fighting alongside mages and at the center of it all, an orphan boy trying to find where he fits into all this.

I will be anxiously waiting for the sequel and have extremely high hopes for Taran for the future(no pressure!).