Rating: ★★★★☆
Well, I actually quite liked The Novice. A lot. Considering I started this series with not the highest expectations possible. Recently I’ve taken a step back from YA high fantasy but since reading The Novice, I definitely want to come back in.
The Novice follows young blacksmith apprentice Fletcher when he learns how to summon demons and finds himself joining, by chance, the Adept Military Academy. At the academy, those with the gift to summon are trained in the art of summoning and become a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire’s war against orcs.
The Novice was an exciting high fantasy novel that was really enjoyable! This series is basically a mix of LotR, GoT and HP, which felt more aimed towards the younger side of the YA book spectrum. I had so much fun reading this novel and its concept was so cool. It has politics, war, clashes between the commoners and nobles with orcs and elves. While the pacing slowed for me in the middle, the rest of the flow was great. All the characters were so wonderfully likeable. Ignatius was basically a mini-Toothless from HTTYD. All the demons just came across as adorable, even the large dangerous ones. It also has a great cast of characters, my favourite being Gen or Sylva.
The world-building is one of my favourite parts of this series. I was so hooked on learning about spells, demons and the Ether from which they originate from. There is so much creativity to it which made is so much more enjoyable. But that ending though… What a cliffhanger. It’s a promising start to a series I know I want to continue.
you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Official site | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
as told by zaheerah 
Sounds like a fun and interesting series! I think I looked into this one but could not commit to another fantasy series. Thank you for your review!
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I’ve seen this at the library and always hesitated because it sounds like there’s no romance, and I like a little romance in my fantasy books…
But I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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