The Novice

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.