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A review by ailsaod
The Novice by Taran Matharu
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My sister has been recommending I read this series for at least a year and I finally gave in and I must admit she had a point!
The main character is Fletcher, an orphan from a small village who through a series of mishaps ends up on the run with a salamander demon and ends up attending Voccans, the school that trains battlemages for the army. Fletcher is rather hot-headed but ultimately his heart is in the right place. His demon, Ignatius is adorable (I love amphibians and dragons and this funky little guy contains all the best parts of both!). There are also plenty of great side characters (Othello in particular is really the MVP and I found this book's take on dwarven culture interesting).
The setting is an interesting merging of the traditional elves, dwarves, orcs and men setup with demon summoning added in. Generally only nobles have the ability to summon demons, with some exceptions, so there is a perpetual shortage of summoners. The setting ties into the central theme of discrimination in so many different ways that feel much more realistic than the clumsy handling the topic often receives in fantasy. There is of course the racism arising from the tensions between races but there is also a lot of classism and elitism and they are written in a manner that is horrifyingly real in both how it has become entrenched in the systems and policies in place as well as the way some individuals take advantage of such things. This book is a pretty quick read but I had to take several breaks because the injustices to some of the main characters made me too angry.
With regards to the plot we are only introduced to the stakes of the story in the last hundred pages. A lot happens up until then but it is to establish the characters and the setting but once the main plot kicks off it rockets along for the remainder of the book! I would like to talk about the ending more as it is why this book went from four to five stars for me but that would be majorly spoilery so I shan't but know that this book contains a couple twists and I am yelling. I need to read book 2 now!!
The main character is Fletcher, an orphan from a small village who through a series of mishaps ends up on the run with a salamander demon and ends up attending Voccans, the school that trains battlemages for the army. Fletcher is rather hot-headed but ultimately his heart is in the right place. His demon, Ignatius is adorable (I love amphibians and dragons and this funky little guy contains all the best parts of both!). There are also plenty of great side characters (Othello in particular is really the MVP and I found this book's take on dwarven culture interesting).
The setting is an interesting merging of the traditional elves, dwarves, orcs and men setup with demon summoning added in. Generally only nobles have the ability to summon demons, with some exceptions, so there is a perpetual shortage of summoners. The setting ties into the central theme of discrimination in so many different ways that feel much more realistic than the clumsy handling the topic often receives in fantasy. There is of course the racism arising from the tensions between races but there is also a lot of classism and elitism and they are written in a manner that is horrifyingly real in both how it has become entrenched in the systems and policies in place as well as the way some individuals take advantage of such things. This book is a pretty quick read but I had to take several breaks because the injustices to some of the main characters made me too angry.
With regards to the plot we are only introduced to the stakes of the story in the last hundred pages. A lot happens up until then but it is to establish the characters and the setting but once the main plot kicks off it rockets along for the remainder of the book! I would like to talk about the ending more as it is why this book went from four to five stars for me but that would be majorly spoilery so I shan't but know that this book contains a couple twists and I am yelling. I need to read book 2 now!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Hate crime and Racism
The racism is aimed at fantasy races but it is still very there!
The hate crime is thwarted but the victim is almost murdered.