Summoner Book One: The Novice

By Taran Matharu

Reviewed by Alex Chen

Fall 2016

Review: Summoner Book One: The Novice by Taran Matharu

ISBN#: 9781250080059

The Story:

Fletcher Wulf, an orphan, apprentice blacksmith discovers that he can summon demons.  His journey through this begins by receiving the journal of an old demon summoner who found the way to summon his salamander demon called Ignatius.  He is now chased from his village of Pelt for a crime he did not commit.  He soon travels to an academy devoted to teaching those adept at summoning demons how to summon demons.  

Fletcher must endure the demanding classes which he must attend in order to become a summoner for the empire as they wage war against the savage orcs.  However, malevolent forces try to infect his new friendships as rivalries are formed.  Two of these new friendships are with different races.  The nobles who are attending the school take great offense to that.  In this world where the dwarves are oppressed and want to rebel, Fletcher must get involved because one of his friends is a young dwarf whose twin brother is very much against humans.  This changes when Fletcher saves him from humans who want to exterminate the dwarves.  At the same time, Fletcher must defend his elven friend from humans who blame the war against the orcs on the elves.  Fletcher must decide whether he wants to side with the people who choose to harm the different races of the world or whether he wants to side with the people who suffer from these racist people.  This all must happen while the nobles are trying to pressure Fletcher into fighting against the different races as well as their politics. (260)

My Opinion:

When I first opened this book, I knew I was going to like it.  The first chapter’s setting was a forest in the winter which is one of my most favorite settings.  As I delved deeper and deeper into the book, I began to become more and more interested in the world of elves, orcs, and demons.  I very much liked the development of the characters in the story.  The author used a great deal of descriptive language where it was important, an example of this was in the beginning of the story when Fletcher hunts the elk.  I liked how the author used the dwarves, elves, and orcs as metaphors for today’s races.  This also brought in racial politics which I found very interesting.  I also liked the display of the class system that was shown throughout the book.  With the main character being an orphan apprentice, the nobles at the academy were very much against him.  I liked how the author made the struggle to gain respect very evident throughout the whole story.  I would rate this book 9 stars out of 10 because it was my cup of tea so to speak.  I very much enjoyed the fast paced fantasy plot.  I enjoyed how I could relate to the main character when he studied for the tests described in the book. (224)

Comprehension questions and vocabulary:

First Section:

Vocabulary:

1. Khopesh (66)

2. Inquisitors (84)

3. Opulence (89)

4. Provost (91)

5. Popinjay (94)

Comprehension Questions:

1. Where is the elderly soldier headed?
1a. He is headed for the elven front. (21)

2. Whose book was it that the elderly soldier gave to Fletcher?
2a. The book was James Baker’s Journal. (46)

3. Where do summoners go to learn summoning?
3a. The summoners all go to Vocans Academy to learn summoning. (81)

4. Who saved Fletcher from the thieves and what kind of demon does he haves?
4a. He has a canid. (83)
4a. His name is Arcturus. (84)

5. What kind of demon does Fletcher have?
5a. Fletcher has a salamander. (85)

Middle Section:

Vocabulary:

1. Riffraff (125)

2. Brunette (137)

3. Boisterous (143)

4. Squalid (156)

5. Vehement (169)

Comprehension Questions:

1. What incident sparked the war against the orcs and what happened  in the incident?
1a. The Raleigh incident sparked the war against the  orcs.  This incident was when orcs went to the Raleigh manor and killed the whole bloodline. (119 & 121)

2. Who are the teachers at Vocans?
2a. They are Major Goodwin, Captain Arcturus, and Captain Lovett. (130)

3. What kind of demon does Captain Lovett have?
3a. She has a griffin. (188)

4. What kind of teacher is Major Goodwin?
4a. He is the type of teacher that makes their students take notes and becomes angry at the people who do not.  He is very easily agitated. (194-195)

5. How is the ether described?
5a. It is described as a disk shape.  The more powerful demons are further towards the middle of the disk.  The weaker demons are out on the outskirts of the disk.  (207)

Last Section:

Vocabulary:

1. Despondency (232)

2. Togs (234)

3. Ambivalent (250)

4. Charnel (260)

5. Britches (288)

Comprehension Questions:

1. Who replaced Captain Lovett when she was sick?
1a. Inquisitor Damian Rook replaced Captain Lovett. (235)

2. What kind of teacher is Damian Rook?
2a. He seems like a person who is paid for by nobles.  He seems like the teacher who discriminates against commoners since they are generally known to be less powerful.  He seems like someone who has never experienced hardships.  He can not relate to the commoner’s problems. (Chapter 38)

3. What was the dream that Fletcher saw in Chapter 40?
3a. It was Ignatius, his demon’s memories.  This dream was an albino orc who used an elf’s skin to make a summoning scroll.  This summoning scroll was the one that James Baker found and put in his journal.  Fletcher then read it and summoned Ignatius, his salamander demon.  All of the orcs in the dream died because elves were in orc territory to slaughter them.  At this point, the reader does not know why. (Chapter 40)

4. Who are the Forsyths and what do they do to make money?
4a. The Forsyths are a family of nobles who are close to the king.  They create weapons to make money.

5. What was the end result for Fletcher in the tournament?

5a. He won the finals.  He beat Tarquin Forsyth, one of the higher class noble children. (348)