The Novice by Taran Matharu
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Goodreads Summary:
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.
**Spoiler Free Review**
Publication Date, UK: 5th May 2015
I was sent a copy of this book from Hachette Children's Group, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This book has a lot of hype in the Blogging and Booktube communities and I was a bit wary when I went into reading it. However, I ended up really really enjoying it. It's one of those books I wish I'd read as a young teenager or a child because it was everything I'd ever wanted in a fantasy book: magic, familiars, elves, dwarves and a magical school.
Fletcher was a very interesting and complex character for such a young book, as were his friends (and enemies) at the school. I particularly loved Fletcher's interaction with the elves and dwarves throughout the book and I'm looking forward to seeing how these characters develop further in the next books. I loved Othello and his twin, and also Slyva, and the changes they underwent in this book. The social prejudices within the world Matharu built, with the division both of species and classes, only elicited more suspense and tension within the book, and it also created extremely believable reasons for such young characters to have 'enemies'. Matharu succeeds in creating a complex and believable world yet at the same time paints the picture of it in such a way that doesn't confuse the reader or overload them with information at any one time. Each character, even those who only appeared on a few pages, were three-dimensional and I was interested in all of their back stories. I constantly wanted more!
As many people do, I loved the idea of the school where training takes place so the young characters can develop their powers, especially when it leads towards a tournament/trial. The exploration of the lessons, characters, powers and the world was so fascinating and it kept me hooked. My only complaint was that I felt there wasn't enough of the school. I would've loved that to go on longer and explore their lessons further, but it was still fantastically well done.
The demons in this book were definitely one of my absolute favourite things and they helped to make this very unique from other fantasy books. Fletcher's demon, Ignatius, was both adorable and feisty and I loved the idea that every character had their own demon to fight and protect them, and that you could catch more! It reminded me of pokemon, in a way, but it was still very different to that. The fact that the demon's ancient memories could leak through was also very interesting and it allowed the reader to see so much more into the amazing world Matharu created. I loved seeing the different demons and it was great having the index of demons at the back of the book to refer to. I definitely want to see more of them in the next book.
And that ending! In a way I could see it coming and I just didn't want it to happen. Matharu had me completely hooked and I ended up reading the last 150 pages in one sitting as I just couldn't book the book down. I am desperate to know what happens next!
As I said in the beginning of this review, I wish I had read this book at an earlier age. It didn't stop me from enjoying it now but I did see how familiar it was to other fantasies. That's not to say that it wasn't unique, just that it followed a lot of the same tropes (orphan boy coming into some sort of power and going to learn how to use it etc.). This was literally the only thing that brought the book down from a five star rating though, as I absolutely loved the premise and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book!
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.
**Spoiler Free Review**
Publication Date, UK: 5th May 2015
I was sent a copy of this book from Hachette Children's Group, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This book has a lot of hype in the Blogging and Booktube communities and I was a bit wary when I went into reading it. However, I ended up really really enjoying it. It's one of those books I wish I'd read as a young teenager or a child because it was everything I'd ever wanted in a fantasy book: magic, familiars, elves, dwarves and a magical school.
Fletcher was a very interesting and complex character for such a young book, as were his friends (and enemies) at the school. I particularly loved Fletcher's interaction with the elves and dwarves throughout the book and I'm looking forward to seeing how these characters develop further in the next books. I loved Othello and his twin, and also Slyva, and the changes they underwent in this book. The social prejudices within the world Matharu built, with the division both of species and classes, only elicited more suspense and tension within the book, and it also created extremely believable reasons for such young characters to have 'enemies'. Matharu succeeds in creating a complex and believable world yet at the same time paints the picture of it in such a way that doesn't confuse the reader or overload them with information at any one time. Each character, even those who only appeared on a few pages, were three-dimensional and I was interested in all of their back stories. I constantly wanted more!
As many people do, I loved the idea of the school where training takes place so the young characters can develop their powers, especially when it leads towards a tournament/trial. The exploration of the lessons, characters, powers and the world was so fascinating and it kept me hooked. My only complaint was that I felt there wasn't enough of the school. I would've loved that to go on longer and explore their lessons further, but it was still fantastically well done.
The demons in this book were definitely one of my absolute favourite things and they helped to make this very unique from other fantasy books. Fletcher's demon, Ignatius, was both adorable and feisty and I loved the idea that every character had their own demon to fight and protect them, and that you could catch more! It reminded me of pokemon, in a way, but it was still very different to that. The fact that the demon's ancient memories could leak through was also very interesting and it allowed the reader to see so much more into the amazing world Matharu created. I loved seeing the different demons and it was great having the index of demons at the back of the book to refer to. I definitely want to see more of them in the next book.
And that ending! In a way I could see it coming and I just didn't want it to happen. Matharu had me completely hooked and I ended up reading the last 150 pages in one sitting as I just couldn't book the book down. I am desperate to know what happens next!
As I said in the beginning of this review, I wish I had read this book at an earlier age. It didn't stop me from enjoying it now but I did see how familiar it was to other fantasies. That's not to say that it wasn't unique, just that it followed a lot of the same tropes (orphan boy coming into some sort of power and going to learn how to use it etc.). This was literally the only thing that brought the book down from a five star rating though, as I absolutely loved the premise and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book!
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