Book Review: The Summoner (The Chronicles of the Necromancer Book 1) by Gail Z. Martin

Last sunday, I finally bought a copy of The Summoner after lots of searching at bookstores around. I was able to reserve myself a copy from the store too far from here. Fortunately they have this stock transfer procedure which is very helpful to bookworms who doesnt want to go the distance for a prized book, and I am helpful with the customer service clerk for her hospitality. Earlier I have finished reading the novel and I should say I was a bit disappointed.

I felt that the way the story is told has a certain attraction for children, teens and young adults alike. But I guess, I was expecting it to be more exciting and gripping as a fantasy as created for adults. The book is more than six hundred pages, and the entire read was somehow painfully prolonged. Indeed, Rowling has a younger target audience and harry potter's plot is somehow simple and yet her story-telling prowess is what makes her a great author, Martin could've done this, I know it is unfair to compare her to Rowling, but I guess she could've done better. A necromancer should be someone who has dark inclinations, but here in her book the summoner, the main protagonist, Martrys Drayke, is somewhat too much good-hearted to be someone who deals with the dead. There is too much talk and less combat, and the main protagonist's journey on finding his power and controlling it is somewhat too far yet to reach. I felt that the read was somehow like a sluggish train ride from the slopes to the top of the mountain, only it may take me years before I reach the summit. The book lacks the parts of a great novel in the making, it seemed to be lacking of a gripping conflict and a catastrophic climax at the end, even if it is a part of a series, because I think every book in a series should have one. I felt kinda short of this book, but over all I give it three stars out of five.