Taran MatharuRezensionen

Good. Comprehensive. Readable. Interesting characters. Interesting world. All good but TOO FREAKING LONG. Who advises these authors? This should have been split at an obvious place, which I will not spoil here.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com.

Discover a rich world of magic, warriors, and dragons, in which a fearless orphan and an ambitious handmaiden flee from the empire that would imprison them, with a dream to return to their homelands and a determination that’s unbreakable… Can an orphan captive learn the secrets of the Dragon Riders to stand up and avenge his people? Jai lives as a royal hostage in the Sabine Court—ever since his father Rohan, leader of the Steppefolk, led a failed rebellion and was executed by the very emperor Jai now serves. When the emperor’s son and heir is betrothed to Princess Erica of the neighboring Dansk Kingdom, she brings with her a dragons. Endemic to the northern nation, these powerful beasts come in several forms, but mystery surrounds them. Only Dansk royalty know the secret to soulbonding with these dangerous beasts to draw on their power and strength. This marriage—and the alliance that forms—will change that forever. But conspirators lurk in the shadows, and soon the Sabine Court is in chaos. With his life in danger, Jai uses the opportunity to escape with the Dansk handmaiden, Frida, and a stolen hatchling. Hunted at every turn, he must learn to cultivate magic and become a soulbound warrior if he has any chance of finding safety, seizing his destiny…and seeking his revenge.

A young blacksmith apprentice stumbles onto a magical book that he can't resist reading from, which summons a small demon from another world. This is an ability only certain people have, which makes Fletcher special (he can also cast spells, and just to be clear, the demon is basically an otherworldly animal). Shortly thereafter, he is forced to flee his hometown and basically stumbles upon a school for summoners. There, summoners are trained to become battlemages, so they can fight in a never-ending war against orcs.

By halfway through the book, I described it as Harry Potter* meets Pokemon, though I'll say that the demon pet aspect didn't end up being as pronounced as I expected it to be (I still wanted one of my own though). Throw in some elf/dwarf/orc stereotypes straight out of something like Lord of the Rings or even World of Warcraft, and you have this book. I personally enjoyed the way these elements came together.

Race and class warfare are a large part of what drives this book. This book of the trilogy focuses on the Fletcher learning about his newfound magic and training to compete in a tournament, the winner of which gains a coveted high officer spot in the nation's military. But being part of a larger series, it's clear that it's being set up for bigger, more important things to come.

A few downsides I want to mention--some parts of the book are a bit predictable, but plenty of it was unexpected. The biggest issue I had was with some of the writing, especially the dialog tags. Even this is a small issue overall, but characters so often "growl" their dialog, and it started to become distracting to me. There was at least one other commonly used dialog action that was strange to me, though I don't recall what it is now. Also, characters are often whispering into each others ears, even as they're walking, and I'm imagining them hanging on each other while they're talking. Again, a minor thing, but it did bring me out of the story at times.

I was very unhappy with the ending--not because it didn't make sense or didn't have every reason to happen. It does set up the 2nd book. But I didn't like where it leaves the second book to start, so after enjoying the rest, I was disappointed by the ending. However, this is not a statement of bad writing or storytelling, just something I found myself disliking. I'm still looking forward to reading the next book (which I'll come back to after reading a few other books).

The Inquisition picks up immediately after the previous story's end, with the main character, Fletcher, and what's left of his unit jumping into the otherworldy ether to escape the enemy. They must find a way to return home, and then deal with the aftermath of their mission in the jungle, which ended in treachery and betrayal. Meanwhile, the orcs are poised to invade Fletcher's country with an army that might be too large to overcome.

This book did a great job of wrapping up the entire trilogy, while being a fully story on its own. I was a lot more excited going into this one than into the 2nd one, based on the cliffhanger at the end of the previous books, and the ether didn't disappoint. The book was more distinctly 3 separate acts than any book I've really ever read, and the second act was also a lot of fun to read. By the third act, I knew what was coming, and it did end up being my least favorite part of the book. But that is purely personal preference, as I'll explain further below.

It was great to see back some of the characters from the first book, and a little from the second. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see much more of Arcturus, and overall, he wasn't in the trilogy as much as I would have hoped and expected, especially considering that the prequel is about his history.

I enjoyed the middle act, where we really get to see Fletcher grow as a leader, and where the race warfare throughout the trilogy comes to a head, a lot more than I would have thought I would. But I knew what was looming--the big war with the orcs. I don't personally care for large-scale, devastating wars in books, so that's why the third act my least favorite. It was made better by getting to see Fletcher's ingenuity though, plus I like the addition of the demons during the fighting.

The ending of the book had some moments I was really happy to see, but also failed to wrap up some storylines in a way I would have preferred. However, I wasn't left with the feeling that anything was completely neglected, so I can't really complain. For some reason, I was just left with this feeling of it being anti-climactic, but I can't explain why. I think it's just because I would have liked more in the series in general. Overall, this entire trilogy was a solid 4 stars for me.

After reading the first book, I described it as a mix between Harry Potter and Pokemon, even though at the time, I hadn't read any Harry Potter. I have read the first 2 in the series now, and I stand by my assessment, but only of the first book. The second and third books could better be compared to Warcraft, or even LoTR somewhat. In general, though, I would recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys magical fantasy books.

(3.5 / 5)

In a land where only children of noble birth have the ability to summon demons, Arcturus, an orphan and stable boy, accidentally becomes the first common summoner. He is drawn into a political battle that threatens his life and the lives of those noble-born students he is studying alongside. He'll have to choose between his fellow commoners or his fellow summoners.

On its own, this book was intriguing and exciting with good world-building and some engaging characters. However, as a prequel, it had some issues--namely too much repetition from the original trilogy and too many characters in common.

The first third or so was especially had a lot of similarities to the first book in the series. A commoner unintentionally summons a demon, is whisked away to Vocans, the summoner school, and is snubbed by some, but not all, of the nobles while being far friendlier with the servants and "lower" races than most other humans. Even some of the early explanations of how spells work felt repetitious.

Prince Harold in particular I really liked in this book. And Captain Lovett as a teenager was quite the fun and rambunctious character too. However, while it was kinda neat to see characters in this book that were in the trilogy, or were parents of characters in the trilogy, when all of these characters who we know are alive years later are put into peril, there's no question of whether they will survive or not. Though I will say that, for me, this didn't mean there was no suspense. There was still some danger, but it wasn't as exciting as it could have been.

As for Arcturus himself, who is very similar in personality to Fletcher from the trilogy, when I was reading through the trilogy, I really liked Arcturus. And when I saw there was a prequel about him, I expected there to be a lot more of him in the last half of the trilogy than there ended up being. In the end, perhaps he wasn't the best choice for the subject of a full-length prequel novel. Yes, he was the first common summoner, which was mentioned in the trilogy but made for a decent story on its own. But from what I understand, Matharu had already written a shorter story of his origin, and then later turned that into the full novel. But the story wasn't far enough removed, and the time it took place wasn't long enough before the trilogy, for this to work all that well as a prequel.

I wonder if it might actually work better if this book were to be read before the trilogy. I can't guarantee that there wouldn't be some world-building that was lacking in the prequel, because the reader is expected to know the world already, but I didn't really think that was the case. Whether or not someone who has read the trilogy absolutely needs to read the prequel before calling this series complete, I would say...it's a toss-up.

The Inquisition picks up a year after the previous story's end, finding Fletcher in jail, where he's been the entire year. Some life-changing events are tied up in the trial, and before we know it, Fletcher is being sent to the jungles to help lead a covert mission of rescue and destroy (not necessarily in that order). Fletcher has to work with his friends and enemies, and keep his wits about him when things aren't what they seem.

I enjoyed this book at least as much as the first book. Fletcher's abilities were established, and in fact had grown between books. Old friendships and rivalries came back into play, as well as some new characters to love. The race & class warfare are still there, and in the case of race warfare, even more so.

I wasn't super excited about the beginning of the book, knowing that Fletcher would be in jail, and that the people with all the power would make it very difficult for him to prove himself innocent. They did that and then some. Of course, I knew he'd either be exonerated or escape, because otherwise, there'd be no rest of the book. And with the end of his prison time came a big turn-around for his life.

The rest of the book, which was preparation for and executing of the covert mission into orc territory, was interesting and, at times, exciting. A few things happened that led me to notice that Fletcher, in both books, has a tendency to fall into a trope where good things happen to him simply because he's a nice guy. Learning important information, chance encounters, unlikely allies, things like that. I am not trying to say this is a bad trope--it never bothered me when it happened, but it was a trend I noticed.

After I finished the book, I realized there were a couple of elements that seemed to be left as loose ends. I can't say much more without spoiling them, but they didn't seem to be the kind of thing where I'd expect to see them resolved in the next book. It seemed more like the author forgot about them. Maybe they'll show up again in the future though, who knows.

There were a few things that happened near the end that are a twist of some kind. One of them I figured out early. One I kept speculating on, and turned out to be wrong. And one, the way the book ends, in fact, I did not see coming at all. Unlike the "cliffhang" from book 1 to book 2, I'm very excited to see how book 3 picks up from where this one left off.

I seen the collection of these books in a shop for £10 and the blurb got me...but because they were in sealed package i couldnt open a random page and make full judgement of the actual writing.

So instead... I did an audible search, liked the readers voice. The sample seemed good. And used one of my horded credits on the first book Novice.

It starts out with strong Harry potter Draco vs Harry vibes (allow it.) And it did seem somewhat promising. But the story didnt have any hardships.... Everything was so simple and easy... Convenient...

The reader did a great job with his accents though and i think it was actually him that kept the story interesting.

It wasnt awful, it just wasnt..... Enough...

I do think young readers age 10 might find it more enjoyable. I love Young adult books. But i think this one fell short as it was more like an introduction to high fantasy for kids.

I wont be buying the others.

I seen the collection of these books in a shop for £10 and the blurb got me...but because they were in sealed package i couldnt open a random page and make full judgement of the actual writing.

So instead... I did an audible search, liked the readers voice. The sample seemed good. And used one of my horded credits on the first book Novice.

It starts out with strong Harry potter Draco vs Harry vibes (allow it.) And it did seem somewhat promising. But the story didnt have any hardships.... Everything was so simple and easy... Convenient...

The reader did a great job with his accents though and i think it was actually him that kept the story interesting.

It wasnt awful, it just wasnt..... Enough...

I do think young readers age 10+ might find it more enjoyable. I love Young adult books. But i think this one fell short as it was more like an introduction to high fantasy for kids.

I wont be buying the others.

Albino Orc?? Dwarves who lost their birthright??? Elven war??? Capturing and training monsters??? School for gifted children??? Talented Orphan??

Harry Potter?? LOTR??? Pokemon????????

But I enjoyed it thoroughly LOL

This was...okay. It’s one of those books that started life on Wattpad and ended up getting a proper publishing deal. It’s a YA fantasy novel that plays like a mix of LOTR, Pokemon and Harry Potter. I was fine with the first two elements, but the book took a real nosedive for me when the hero went to “battlemage” school and it fell into a very cliched story of plucky young orphan versus mean rich kids. The start of the book is great fun, but overall it was one I flipped the pages on without really taking anything in.

My only problem, and the reason why I'm giving this book a three star rating, is that the relationship between Sylva and Fletcher doesn't seem natural at all, whereas Othello and Fletcher have a much more noticeable chemistry. Just thought I'd say it, because to me it seems like Taran is sort of forcing the heterosexuality on some characters in a quite notorious way.

A bit slow to start and the sheer number of characters was a bit overwhelming.

The story was enjoyable though this felt but like an introduction to the larger story.

If you like a good shonen manga you'll like this book. It ticks off like a checklist of the most common shonen traits. Somewhat of a A young man in this case 15 year old with a somewhat mysterious past. A strange power granted him. Whisked away from family and friends he is forced to fend for himself. A school so he and the reader can learn about his new found powers. Schools are a great place for an author to give an info dump of information.
Finally the most shonen trait a tournament where our hero can battle against great odds for an ideal not his own aggrandizement.

Then a terrific cliffhanger to finish the first volume.



I thought the author did a great job and I can't wait to start the next book.

I liked this one the best out of the series so far, 3 1/2 stars. It was the least ya of the series with fewer of the ya tropes, felt much more like epic fantasy to me.


The last book ended as the group tried to escape the orc lands, and find their only retreat into the demonic ether which is supposed to be poisonous.

The quest was successful, so the first part of the book covers their escape. Then when arriving back our heroes are again faced with treachery and prejudice. That problem overcome Fletcher inherits his homeland. My favorite part of the book is how they unite a diverse group and rebuild.

Only to have there rebuilding of the town and their hopes destroyed as they are overrun by the orc army.

Finally the most ya like bit of the book, the big bad Khan now armed with a dragon can only be defeated by our hero Fletcher, because he alone is immune to fire.

2 1/2 stars This novella gives Arcturus's backstory, problem is that up to around chapter 13 most of the information about Arcturus and the academy you already know if you've read the first book in the series. I'd still prefer reading the The Novice (Summoner, #1) first otherwise once you start the novel you'll be getting much of the same info dumps when Fletcher arrives at the academy.

Very short story describing how Othello gets to the academy. Touch's briefly on the prejudice that the dwarfs are subjected to.

This is a good fantasy series, the magic system with the summoned demons reminds me of the Japanese video game series "Shin Megami Tensei", the major difference being that so far in the novels you can not fuse two or three of your demons into one single much more powerful demon. I hope that the author does this in future volumes I think it could be interesting.


When Fletcher rescued the blue gremlin from the fighting pit I immediately thought of dobby the house elf, and in some ways this played out similarly.

I also liked that they brought alchemy into this series in this book it also could lead to some interesting story lines, as in this book it saves the day for another exciting cliffhanging conclusion.



I'll be starting book 3 " The Battlemage" right now as I want to see how the story ends.

3.5 A weird mix of attempted Potter and Pokemon. I will read the next book but not sure I'll listen to it like I did this one

Received via NetGalley for review.

An exciting middle-grade novel for those who like that particular genre of kids-fighting-kids/monsters (which I do, and which lots of people do!)

I wish there had been a little more room for character development - there are a lot of characters, and a lot of action to get through (I definitely thought Eric, Marcus and Spex were going to have a larger role, and three of the four girls are basically interchangeable).

But the action is fun and dangerous, and exactly what I was looking for. I'm always a sucker for the trope where people are chosen for a specific reason, and I was glad Finch called Cade out on that but just as glad he got to use his knowledge to succeed.

It's a little hard to believe that a small group (8?) of teenagers, many of them with vastly different perspectives, would manage to defeat hundreds of monsters where entire legions of Roman soldiers before them could not (though maybe the Roman soldiers were further along in the competition before they all failed? But then why would Cade and his group start off in the beginning?), which I hope will be addressed in the inevitable sequel but probably won't be.

Couldn't get past halfway.

A superb conclusion to this trilogy. More challenges for the Earth team, new and strange territory to navigate, a big surprise following their victory over an opponent,and another clash with slavers that's complicated by carnivores and a tight timeline by Abaddon. Just when Cade thinks they might catch a break, a new and very deadly challenge faces them, but he has a secret, one that makes the finale perfect. I've really enjoyed these three books big time!

teen/adult fantasy/adventure fiction - part 2 of series -- First half of this felt like housekeeping --wrapping up the ends from the first book and setting up for the adventure of the second book--I could have done with less time spent in jail/in courtroom. The second half was more of the adventure that I anticipated, but then it abruptly ended in another cliffhanger.

I am liking the series ok (I know it has many loyal fans) but personally I'm not inclined to continue reading any more.½

teen/middlegrade fiction - fun, fast-paced read. Hogwarts meets pokemon, with a backdrop of 3000 years of brutal Race wars (humans vs elves vs dwarves vs orcs). I can easily see why this would appeal to so many readers, and why the series was recommended to me. On to book 2!

There are way too many cliches and borrowings in this book for me to like it. I would have given 2 stars but the author is young and just starting off.

Tolkien, Pokemon, Warcraft the game, Harry Potter.... there were a lot of stuff that I could just trace the origins of. The writing is clunky, the protagonist is a Mary Sue.

I did not like this book.

The book can be a little cliche at times and awkward in others but overall the story was enjoyable and left me wanting to read the second book.