#BookReview: The Summoned Ones ( Book#1 Flight to Bericea) by Darryl A. Woods

My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars 

 
Book Blurb: The Bericean army was in Malabrim for the ninth straight fighting season. Over the past 9 years, Zybaro, the leader of a small band of unknowns, had evolved from his days as a minor usurper of a tiny kingdom. Now, almost the entire country of Malabrim was under Zybaro’s control. Still, Bericea continued its raids into Malabrim, hoping to stem Zybaro’s methodical progress and thwart his tyrannical means of control. 

This latest conflict with Zybaro had pushed General Darnon to a decision, one he had resisted making for over a year. Though he still held grave reservations about the Prophecies, he was willing to support the clerics who would attempt the summoning. The details of the ritual had recently been discovered in an ancient tome. The clerics were confident they could bring forth the Summoned Ones of Prophecy, those mysterious beings who would aid Bericea in its time of greatest need. Join the soldiers of Bericea and the Summoned Ones through a life-or-death struggle. 

The Summoned Ones was made up of a small college aged group of friends from a small Kentucky town near the Daniel Boone National Forrest, who find themselves somehow brought to a chaotic world through magic. Their epic journey will push the Summoned beyond the limits of their endurance. This unlikely group will discover many truths about themselves and experience another world beyond their imagination.

Review: The story starts on the battle ground introducing the reader to General Darnon and his most trusted soldier Kali fighting the enemy as they await for reinforcements. It was a good action scene to set the pace of the story and I already felt good about this book. 

Next, the author introduced "the summoned ones" - group of old friends who have spent every summer together since the age of 12 and together are closer to each other than anyone else. Within shared stories of their past and present banter, the author manages to set the character for each one of them different from each other. I was impressed by the fact that, that by the time this group is summoned to the world of magic and chaos, I could easily separate the names & behavior of each of them. Once summoned , the friends are divided into three groups - by a combination of chance and choice equally and they begin the journey from the heart of the enemy area to the safe lands of the neighbor country. Protecting and leading the way for the summoned ones are the best of scouts , soldiers, general and the magic wielding clerics who are usually not liked much in this world because of some old conflicts. 

Part 1 of the story is mostly the journey , growth and adaptation of the friends into the new world , with new people. Although their capabilities seem to have come to them overnight , it had already been established that some of their talent was evident in their world too. Like the best warrior , though a basketball player, he is as skilled in martial arts. Or the healer is studying to be a nurse and is good with horses because of her family being involved in the same business. 

The terrain and the people in the story are all uniquely described so they paint amazing visuals at times in the mind of the reader. I found the magic system quite unique as to be associated with music - singing or playing some instrument and channeling your thought into action. It was interesting and a little sad too, because fear of magic kept people away from singing or enjoying music freely. But the best part of the book for me were some of the battle scenes and the sparing scene between Kali & one of the summoned one was FANTASTIC. I love the author's attention to such details and creativity to rope in multiple skills & jobs , people , stories and geographical challenges in this quest. The book manages to grab attention with all the action taking place around.

Though one does understand the bigger picture of the conflict and the differences in the army size & need for the summoned ones in the war, I also wanted a little more about this world , the two nations and the people fighting for Bericea. I hope more of this is covered in the next part of the story and we have more growth and heroic moments for all our favorite warriors along with more details  on the political conflicts. 

I am looking forward to the next part of this story eagerly.

About Darryl A. Woods: Darryl Woods is a storyteller who hones his craft entertaining coworkers. He also enjoys regaling family and friends with stories of his upbringing in rural Ohio, of the motorized contraptions his father fabricated, and of the timber cutting and sawmill work he did with his father-in-law. With an appetite for reading fantasy, it was inevitable he would choose to write about an epic journey in a world dominated by magic and sword fighting.

Purchase Links: 

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/31HTPbr 

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Z1mLsY 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-summoned-ones-darryl-woods/1133667482  

View all my reviews

The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson

In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with color once more? 

In Brandon Sanderson's intriguing tale of love, loss, despair and hope, a new kind of magic enters the stage — Allomancy, a magic of the metals.

I do not know when I left reading international fantasy fiction. This book was the Book of month  for December on the FB Broke bibliophile page and I think it was enough for me to make another dive into fantasy fiction. This is my first Brandon Sanderson book and if the genral opinion has to be trusted , it is not his best. I mean really ?? Çause for me , this was such a great read to end the year with.

The empire , the characters and the rules that govern the society were set up very elaborate and with a good logic to back it up. Once you understand it , you would feel like a part of it. Let me first talk about Vin , the central character who is not a born heroine , but rather comes to take her rightful place and direction in life after she is found by the troublemaker , the survivor of Hathsin ,  Kelsier. Kelsier has done some pretty unbelievable things already and yet , he thinks of the impossible this time - to overthrow the Lord Ruler.

Oh boy , Lord ruler is one of the few negative characters whom I loved. I would have so much liked to know more of him and yet the way he is shown in the book , it is awe-worthy.  he is ruthless , calm , patient and yet there is an air of indifference to him. One of my favorite scene is when he meets Kelsier in the end. And before I forget , i loved Elend more than Vin . He is the usual misfit sort of person who has a lot of ideas on how to run things. He is kind of man I would fall in love with easily and I did. There is charm and certain innocence to him that keeps you rooting for him even in the second book.

Kelsier, Vin and the crew together make for a fun filled adventure. There are elaborate tales , enchanting parties, lovable casts and courage that shines in every page. Fantasy fiction was what hooked me to books whenever my interest faltered. This book was a Savior. My reading slump of one month got cured with this. And how awesome !!

My rating : 5/5

“But you can't kill me, Lord Tyrant. I represent that one thing you've never been able to kill, no matter how hard you try. I am hope.”

“I think given the choice between loving Mare - betrayal included - and never knowing her, I'd chose love. I risked, and I lost, but the risk was still worth it.” 

Read all reviews of this Triology  here

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Author - J.R.R. Tolkien

Synopsis.
Bilbo Baggins lives a quiet, peaceful life in his comfortable hole at Bag End. Bilbo lives in a hole because he is a hobbit—one of a race of small, plump people about half the size of humans, with furry toes and a great love of good food and drink. Bilbo is quite content at Bag End, near the bustling hobbit village of Hobbiton, but one day his comfort is shattered by the arrival of the old wizard Gandalf, who persuades Bilbo to set out on an adventure with a group of thirteen militant dwarves. The dwarves are embarking on a great quest to reclaim their treasure from the marauding dragon Smaug, and Bilbo is to act as their “burglar.” The dwarves are very skeptical about Gandalf’s choice for a burglar, and Bilbo is terrified to leave his comfortable life to seek adventure. But Gandalf assures both Bilbo and the dwarves that there is more to the little hobbit than meets the eye.

Words of AT.

The book starts with introduction of the hobbits and slowly to THE hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. He is kinda quite guy like the retired quite silent people and then one fine morning Gandalf the Grey enrolls him for and Adventure. Although he refuses he finds himself outside with 13 dwarves on quest to reclaim the home land.

                                                     This book is quite fantastic. It has very great twists and some deaths which give Glory to the tale. I Loved it to hell. Sad thing is there is NO LOT of strong dialogue but its powerful. The book has some very true internal lessons about how people change, how narrow patriotism will demolish you, how greed is really bad in your life. Its quite good. The pace is good not too fast where you can get headaches nor too slow where you have to stop falling from sleep. And also there are lot of poems or songs which are amusing. The book also comes with some illustrations and two maps which  you can refer any time.

                                                            There are great fantasy elements like giant Eagles on which you can sit, wargs and High elves and orcs and One Great Magnificent Dragon whose description is so great that you can almost smell it! There are some parts which you really don't believe and start laughing. There are some parts where you mourn a lot and curse whole life but at the end, it's quite extraordinary tale. There are no loose tails but one. And that one is completely another story that is Lord of the Rings. Many people consider Lord of the Rings as great one but this, is a beautifully sculptured and carefully carved Epic.

Rating – 4.7/5.