The Inquisition Review

Mini Post by the Belle

Title: The Inquisition

Author: Taran Matharu

Series: Summoner

Pages: 358

Summary: A year has passed since the tournament. Fletcher and Ignatius have been locked away in Pelt’s dungeons, but now they must face a trial at the hands of the Inquisition, a powerful institution controlled by those who would delight in Fletcher’s downfall.

The trial is haunted by ghosts from the past with shocking revelations about Fletcher’s origins, but he has little time to dwell on them; the graduating students of Vocans are to be sent deep into the orc jungles to complete a dangerous mission for the king and his council. If they fail, the orcish armies will rise to power beyond anything the Empire has ever seen.

With loyal friends Othello and Sylva by his side, Fletcher must battle his way to the heart of Orcdom and save Hominum from destruction…or die trying.

Belle Rating: B+

Target Audience: Teens – Young Adults

*Minor Spoilers Below* – may include plot details such as: important names and/or events

Story Notes:

Fletcher and his trusted demon companion, Ignatius, have been locked away in a dungeon for the past year. All the while, Fletcher has been spending his days practicing his spells and growing a tighter bond with the Salamander. When the day comes for Fletcher’s trial, you see him encounter old rivals/enemies. Like Didric, for example. He looks lovely by the way. Reminds me of Two Face (I may or may not have watched a ton of Batman…gotta love little boys…). Anyway, Fletcher knows that it will be near impossible to get a fair trial around these dastardly individuals. But thanks to his friends, teachers, and pulls from high places, Fletcher manages to get out of it in one piece (much to the shagrin of two-faced Didric). Let’s just say Fletcher was poisoned by a Manticore to prove a point…it was pretty nasty.

The young summoner cannot rest easy, however, because he is thrown into a dangerous mission with a “friendly” competition. Groups of four Vocans students are sent out on a seek and destroy mission, with hefty rewards if they complete them. They must destroy, I guess you could say, new members of the orcish army that could easily put the war in their favor if nothing is done. And secondly, they must find a woman who was captured by the orcs. You later find out that she was used to teach the orcs how to speak the human language in exchange of not getting beaten…as much…

So Fletcher, Othello, Sylva, another dwarf named Cress, and their guide Jeffrey are dropped off with the other groups into the orcish jungle to complete their objectives. Oh and each team has been gifted a high level demon to both help them and to allow all of Hominum to see what is going on using scrying stones. The plan was to help ease the racial tensions in the country by seeing a diverse group, *cough cough* Fletcher’s, work together in harmony and sunshine. Come on, you know there is going to be people there trying to ruin that right?? It can never be this simple! Sooo get ready to read a book filled with deceptions, tons of close calls, and devastating loss….

Writing Style:

I was really happy to have seen some character development, particularly in Fletcher. You can see how he is growing as a friend, leader, and summoner. Taran Matharu does a very good job at keeping you guessing until the very end. I actually felt very stupid when the traitor(s) revealed themselves to Fletcher. I should have known! I should have picked up on it! But I guess that’s what happens when the book is so action packed. There is a lot going on in relation to the first book, which can be both a good and bad thing. All in all, the writing is clear and clean.

Weaknesses:

I think the main problem that urks me to no end is that the nobles are incredibly stupid. I mean, I understand their evil plans, but why on Earth would they want to set said plans in motion at this point in time in the book?? Do they want to give Hominum a death sentence?? It makes no sense so I personally think there could have been more thought put into that. And while I love new demons being introduced to the story, it can be hard to remember what they are supposed to look like. Unless you are really knowledgeable with mythical beasts and/or are super good at remembering the brief descriptions to that specific demon, you will be doing a lot of flipping to try and get those visuals back.

Strengths:

On the other hand, I think all of the new demons are great! It gives you an idea of how extensive the Ether (the land the demons are from) actually is and just how diverse that ecosystem is. I felt I was missing that in The Novice, but this book definitely makes up for that. The magic is also unique, compared to any of the books that I have personally read/heard of, so it is great to be able to learn and grow with the characters in this series.

Final Thoughts:

Yeahh…I read this book in a day…I could not put it down…so if you love magic and demons go buy this series already! I will be discussing the third and final book to the Summoner series next time! Happy reading!