Young Adult Annotation

The Novice by Taran Matharu

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Series: Summoner Trilogy
Pages:384

Summary:

The Novice starts the story of Fletcher, an orphan, who accidentally summons a demon and must flee the only home he has ever known. Fletcher and the fire demon are discovered by a mage, who sends him to the academy for battle mages. At the academy Fletcher makes allies, enemies, and those in between in his first year of learning. As a commoner Fletcher stands out at the school of noble born students, but he isn't alone as for the first time a dwarf and a elf have been admitted as well. Othello, the dwarf becomes best friends with Fletcher, while Sylva, the elf, who is at the academy to make alliances takes time to realize that friends make the best allies. As Fletcher learns to uses his abilities he must deal with the prejudice against dwarves and elves from townspeople, the possibility of a dwarf rebellion, and the war with the orcs. Because with the end of his first year is the battles to see who will earn a spot on the council. And if one of their enemies wins the spot their lives might not be the only ones in danger.

Characteristics of Young Adult Fantasy

Frame/Setting- The setting of The Novice is a world with demons, mages, dwarves, elves, and orcs. The setting shows the fantasy elements of the story.

Story Line- The fantasy story line has good beating evil. This story has elements of that, but since it is the first in a trilogy it doesn't completely have good overcoming evil. Fletcher wins the tournament at the end of the story, beating out the plotters and villains, but is then arrested for events that happened in his hometown. Which leaves the story line with a cliffhanger for the next book in the trilogy.

Characterization- The young adult aspect is shown in the main characters. Fletcher, Othello, and Sylva are all teenagers. The story focuses mostly on their group and how they help or intervene in the plans of the adults. The reader gets to see these three characters and the people around them grow up as the book and series progresses.

Pacing- Fantasy pacing starts slow and then gains speed. The Novice follows that example with the start of the story introducing the characters and then the action picking up until the tournament at the end of the story.


Read-a-likes from NoveList:

The Iron Trial by Holly Black
Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan


Author read-a-likes from NoveList:

John Flanagan
Alison Goodman
Anne Osterlund
J.K. Rowling
D.J. MacHale


Series read-a-likes from NoveList:

Magisterium by Holly Black
Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini
Faerie Wars chronicles by Herbie Brennan
Prophecy novels by Ellen Oh
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Saricks, J. (2009). The Reader's Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: American Library Association.