The Novice

DNF at page 10

Why?

Because I already hated the main guy. And I've had enough experience with these type of characters to know my hatred wouldn't lessen through the book.

This was one of the oldest books on my TBR so took a chance in it and was pleasantly surprised! This was enjoyable from start to finish, it was a super quick read and it was fun. I liked that it touched on some more serious topics without getting overly dark.

I think this reads at the younger end of YA so I would definitely be happy recommending this to younger family and keeping it for my son to hopefully get into.

It was a predictable story, not sure I was that in to it enough before I contemplate the rest of the series.

Yuck. A copy of a copy of every lame fantasy trope that exists. Boring, badly written, and offensively stereotypical (orcs have big eyebrow ridges and are evil, goblins have hooked noses and are servile, etc..these racist stereotypes have been played out for decades).

This book has some good moments but it was little longer for my tastes and ends on a cliffhanger. Will read the next for sure to atleast know what happens!

This book has major plot and pacing issues. The MC has no depth other than his small backstory, his impossible magic skills, and the ability of any female around him to instantly want him within one or two encounters.

His summoning abilities and combinations are interesting. I wish the author would have taken the time to build out the foundations for the big events and side characters by planning a story arc for 3 or 4 books. The book ends with a lot of questions and a plea to rate this book well in order to get a second one.

The concept surrounding this story is an interesting one. An orphan raised by a blacksmith discovers he as the ability to summon demons. In this world summoners are useful tools on the battlefield and put into training to help repel the growing horde of orcs threatening to overtake the realms. Filled with magic, political unrest and plenty of action, I did however find it to be too predictable of a plot. Was it an entertaining read? Yes. A sit on the edge of my seat page turner? No. Nothing really gripped me, I sort of coasted along, taking breaks in between chapters to read other books. The characters aside from learning more about summoning, never really changed. And while the racism portrayed to the dwarves was brutal, it didn't feel real enough. It was harsh and blunt, which isn't always the case. Every character seemed to be racist in the exact same way. There was a lot of potential in this book, but if you're going to give me a world filled with war and political unrest, go all the way. Don't pull your punches and make the main character suffer and experience what this awful world has to offer and have him see through his pain what he can do to improve it. Don't just beat him up and have him whine about. I'm going to keep going and see if the true potential surfaces.

I've had my eye on this book for a while, and actually almost picked it up in the bookshops near me a couple times. I'm so glad now I waited for my library hold to come through as it turns out I did not enjoy this book.

Firstly, I DNF'd at 30% and therefore I didn't finish the book. But I couldn't get into it at all and even skim reading it felt like a chore. The plot follows Fletcher an orphan in a small remote village. He is generally downtrodden and looked down on by others in the village. He has been raised by the blacksmith, and it's clearly expected that we sense or interpret a father-son bond between these two characters. However, they barely speak and don't exchange any meaningful conversations that explore the depth of their relationship so it felt very flat and uninteresting.

And that is really the main gripe I have with this book, all of it falls flat and feels really boring. The concept of the demons is interesting in itself but it ended up being ridiculously boring. At one point the character must leave his village on the run, and the entire run and escape was covered in a short period (I think over 2 or 3 chapters). Everything is told instead of shown and just in general did not engage me with the story. I think this is the reason I didn't care about the main character or anyone he meets, he reads like Harry Potter to me as a character and I didn't like him at all.

All in all, I do not recommend this book and can't understand that high ratings and gushes this book gets. Later in this book or the series it may get more interesting and better written, who knows.

The story has a good base, but it feels like the main character spend the whole book reacting, he has no initiative of his own, no clear motivation except react as best as possible.

Not quite sure why it's got SUCH a high rating, but it is a decent book. I liked it because I'm a nerd who liked Pokémon and RPGs when growing up...and still do. This book caters to that very much. I didn't like this book because it felt a little rushed. There could easily have been another 200-300 pages. However, there are more books in the series which makes this much better. I did really enjoy the book and sometimes after the first book I'm not fussed about reading the second, but I'm very interested to carry on the series... especially after the ending!

This was an odd one. Really enjoyed the setup and opening couple of chapters but things took a turn for me soon after.
I won't hit upon the issues discussed in most other reviews. My main problem was the book seemed oddly pitched. I'm more than happy to read a children's / YA book, but this seemed to contain elements of both as well as quite stark and oddly placed violence.
While it reads very much like a YA book, our young hero kills pretty casually and remorselessly which in the context of a ‘magical school' with a pokemon twist type novel doesn't really sit right.
Take an obvious comparison in a book like Harry Potter which is pitched younger but still reads well to a much older audience. This, I would say, is the exact opposite. It is pitched older but reads much younger.
The world is interesting and I love the magic system etc, but stilted dialogue, boilerplate characters / villains and a frankly very irritating ‘all-nobles-are-evil-slime' class system left me disappointed. I never felt sympathy or connected to any of the characters after those initial chapters.

THIS WAS SOOOO GOOD! I loved it! OMG but i need the next book right now because that ending was just arghhhh!!!

This book was excellent and I enjoyed every bit of it. It has a slow start, but once you are half way into the story you can't put it down. I cannot wait for the second book to be published!

First pet peeve that I got was that he mentioned the lack of knowledge of the outside world-of politics and common sense to blend in with society- and blamed it on the distance that prevented the village of Pelt to acquire any news (good or bad). I get it, it's reasonable and logical, but it's quite tedious.
I would've liked more flushed out characters. Seraph, Tarquin, Isador, Sylva, and Othella were only given snippets. Tarquin and Isador quickly fell into the cliche that was “evil noble twins” and frankly they were quite a bore.
So yeah, despite those minor speed bumps, I did love it very very much. I can't wait for the second book!