The Novice by Taran Matharu

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.

As the pieces on the board maneuver for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands. The Novice is the first in a trilogy about Fletcher, his demon Ignatius, and the war against the Orcs. @ goodreads

MY REVIEW:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1275227905


THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!! I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy when it comes out!

Fletcher is so cool, but can get into so much trouble just walking around! He's a blacksmith's apprentice, who is Berdon. Berdon actually brought him up as a baby. But I won't go into that story. Fletcher ends up getting into trouble with the punk Didric in their little town of Pelt. He has to leave in a hurry so they won't catch him since Didric is a high figure in the town.

Berdon gives him a wicked blade and some gifts with money to get away. I was saddened that he had to leave Berdon and I hope he is ok. Fletcher also has a little demon named Ignatius, but you will have to read the book to see how that came to pass.

Fletcher ends up in the town of Corcirllum. And her sure seems to do some dumb things at times like taking out a big bag of money in a tavern is one of them. He gets followed by some roughnecks but is saved by a man named Arcturus who takes him in and gets him set up in the academy for adepts where they teach you all about summoning etc.

He meets some wonderful friends here. My favorite is Othello the dwarf! He is a wonderful character. Dwarves are treated like trash, but Fletcher treats everyone equal. My other favorite is Sylva the elf. She is really sweet and cool. They make the best of friends and I love their demons. They certainly don't seem like demons. They are sweet :)

There are some other characters in the book that I like and that you are going to hate naturally. I like one of their teachers Lovett. She is just too cool!

All of this training is for a battle with the Orcs.

I really loved this storyline! There are so many things that are great about this book. The author used a lot of details and I didn't have any trouble keeping up. Well, on some of the names of things, I'm not good with remembering names right away, but that has nothing to do with the book.

Seemed like a mix of Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings. Just certain things reminded me of those books and that just makes it all the better :)

I recommend this book to anyone that loves this type of a read.

Fin. 

5 Stars