
All things reading by a middle school librarian (and a very smart four-legged fur friend!) and hundreds of awesome students!
Monday, December 16, 2019
The Novice (Summoner Book 1), by Taran Matharu
Another OBOB book for this season, and getting really good reviews from students! A fantasy story which reminded me a lot of The Ranger's Apprentice...only not quite as strong. I really enjoyed the author's notes at the end of the story, describing his journey into writing and publishing and the creation of this book. If I remember correctly, The Novice started as an online story and then became a published book. Matharu began writing this when he was a teenager, ala Christopher Paolini, and this book reminded me also of Eragon. Now for a bit of a disclaimer...I tried reading Eragon three different times, and with no success. I just couldn't get into the flow of the writing. The Novice was the same way. I started, and then I stopped. I started again, and then stopped for about a week. Then I picked up where I left off, determined to get through it all, since so many kids have enjoyed it. But it just left me wanting more...honestly, wanting to re-read something better written. It's not a bad story, overall, but little things along the way hinted at the newness of Matharu as a writer, and these little things bothered me, added up, and...well, I can only offer this 3 paws. I would give it 2 paws but I think you may like it more than I did, and so the extra paw is to encourage you to give it a try. Me? I'm moving on to something else...maybe some Stephanie Meyer?

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