Life is good enough for fifteen year old Fletcher who was abandoned at the gates of Pelt in the deep winter and taken in by the town blacksmith, Berdon. Fletcher knows how to hunt, how to read and is learning his adopted father's trade. But it is when an old soldier comes to visit that Fletcher's true self and true abilities are brought into the open. Fletcher discovers he is a summoner... a rare gift normally possessed by the nobility of this land.
The revelation sends him to an elite military academy where he begins harsh training to learn to command his gift and hone his skill. He makes friends with an elf and a dwarf who also hold special powers. They will become battlemages and will be used in the war against the orcs.
Fletcher and his friends struggle to deal with the bullying that comes from the nobility at the school. As the school year comes to a close, the year-end tournament awaits that will decide the rankings of the battlemage students. What chance does a commoner have? Will their kingdom of Hominum survive the challenges it faces?
Action, fantasy and a nod to diversity.
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
978-1250067128 Grades 7 and up 368 pages
Other books in the trilogy: The Inquisition (Book 2); The Battlemage (Book 3)
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From the publisher:
He can summon demons. But can he win a war?
Fletcher is working as a blacksmith's apprentice when he discovers he has the rare ability to summon demons from another world. Chased from his village for a crime he did not commit, Fletcher must travel with his demon, Ignatius, to an academy for adepts, where the gifted are taught the art of summoning.
Along with nobles and commoners, Fletcher endures grueling lessons that will prepare him to serve as a Battlemage in the Empire's war against the savage Orcs. But sinister forces infect new friendships and rivalries grow. With no one but Ignatius by his side, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of the Empire is in his hands.
368 pages 978-1250067128 Ages 12 and up
Other titles in the series: The Inquisition, Book 2; Battlemage, Book 3; Outcast, Book 4 (Prequel)
