Review – The Inquisition (Summoner, Book 2) by Taran Mantharu (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1250076311
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Summoner series
Source: Bought
Rating: 3/5 stars

“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.”

This is the second book in the Summoner series by Manthau; this series is planned to be a trilogy. This book started out very slow and I struggled a lot to stay engaged in the story.

The first portion of this book is all about Fletcher’s trial to determine whether or not he is a traitor to the crown. I thought this was way too slow and boring and could have been shortened quite a bit. Things get more interesting as our heroes finally set off on a quest; but this doesn’t happen until the 2nd half of the book.

The second half of the book was much faster paced and I enjoyed it more. However I still had some trouble staying interested in the story. There are a lot of characters thrown at the reader and I found it a bit overwhelming; it really kept me from engaging with any of the characters or caring about what happened in the story.

The writing is decent and flows okay, but sometimes was a bit of a chore to read. In general everything about this book was okay, not great, and I didn’t like it as much as the first book in the series.

Overall an okay addition of this series. I was kind of borderline about the first book and I thought this one was worse than the first one. If you absolutely loved the first book, you will probably enjoy this one. I don’t plan on reading anymore of this series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge