“The Novice” book review

The Novice, Summoners Trilogy Book 1

Taran Matharu

             I picked up this title after an online comparison to Sarah J Maas’ Throne of Glass series (obsessed). I was especially intrigued by it being a high fantasy that also had a male protagonist, which seems an unfortunate rarity once you move up from middle grade to YA titles.  Fletcher is a fifteen-year-old apprentice to a blacksmith who discovers the ability to summon demons by accident. After an incident within his village he run away to find himself at Vocans, the school for training young adepts to harness the power of their summoning abilities in order to help fight the orcs on the battle front. Fletcher must compete against commoners and nobles alike in order to win a seat on the King’s council and best placement on the battlefront.

The Novice is Matharu’s debut novel, and it does read a bit like a debut (not to the extent of Paolini, but I feel there could have been some tighter editing). That being said it was a fast and engaging read that I’m already recommending to readers. I enjoyed the rawness of Fletcher as a character. He has what I feel are very real reactions to the typical conflicts of a fantasy title. In the next installment, The Inquisitor (due out May 2016), I hope for some more character development across the cast, but by and large they all filled their roles well. The villains taking on the bully role made the tension especially relatable for younger readers. The bullying surrounding classism and specieism (dwarves and elves are viewed as subhuman) allow for a reader to deal with very real world circumstances within the fantasy setting and make Fletcher’s reactions to adversity that much more impactful. The ending feels a bit rushed given the pacing of the rest of the text, but it certainly leaves you ready for the second installment. While there is a fair amount of violence, it falls in line with titles like The False Prince (Neilsen) so while it is marketed as YA, I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable handing it to a middle grade reader to dive into.

Also, I really want Ignatius to be real and mine, if only to serve as the perfect cuddly heater for nights of tea and reading.