And I’ll be picking up the next book to see where they go from here.

Will they make it alive? Will Tris be able to control the spirits they encounter? Are the vampires truly on their side? You’ll find out as you get to the end. Secret identities, ghosts and vampires seem to follow this group wherever they go. He has the safe haven he’s running to and the aid and skills of his friends and some new ones he makes along the way. Without the teaching he should have had from his grandmother, he must deal with these spirits as best he can.Ĭhased by slavers and mercenaries, Tris has only a few things on his side. As a summoner, he is the only person who can help troubled spirits cross over into the spirit world instead of haunting the world of the living. While he may have the raw talent, he doesn’t have the knowledge or the skills to go with it. In North Korea there is and has been tyranny since after World War II, the country is run by an autocratic government. Unbeknownst to Tris, he has inherited the talents of his sorcerous grandmother and is now the only summoner in the land. The summoner by Gail Z Martin is a rollercoaster plotted story that really closely relates to a very popular news story all around the world today about North Korea. These dreams seem to have meaning, however. All the while he has to deal with the dreams of the ghosts of his sister and grandmother. The trip is a perilous one as Jared has mercenaries out to find him and bring him back. Tris has to find a way to get to his uncle’s kingdom, which will offer him asylum as well as a safe base to operate from as he must remove Jared from power before he destroys the kingdom. Watching his back and keeping him company are two soldiers and his friend the court bard.

Along with his evil sorcerous cohort, Foor Arontala, Jared now rules the kingdom and Tris is on the run. Prince Martris Drayke has just witnessed his half brother’s violent overthrow of their father’s kingdom. I feel that this could develop into a marvelous new series. While there is much here that harkens back to some of the most recognizable tenets of high fantasy, Gail Martin has brought some new ideas into play. The Summoner, book one of the Chronicles of the Necromancer is an intriguing start to a new fantasy series.

The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin