Customer Reviews

Sorceress of Faith (The Summoning, Book 2)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While not as good as GUARDIAN OF HONOR this book still gives us a good read and more depth into the world of Amee. The first 3/4 of the book are kind of slow but the last 1/4 is exciting and full of the wonder and amazing detail you expect from a Robin Owens book.

Marian Harasta is a professional student. She constantly takes one course after another. Marian has never felt complete or secure in her life. Her mother is a domineering type and her brother, who is the one person she loves, has a very bad type of MS. Marian is somewhat involved in the new age movement and when one of her gurus suggest she do a moon ritual on the night of the full moon, she does.

Therefore she arrives in the Temple Ward where she is surrounded by the marshalls. Suddenly not 1 or 2 but 3 sorcerers arrive to claim her. As Jaquar,Chalmon and Venetria argue over who will be her teacher, Bossgond arrives and claims Marian as his Apprentice. Quickly he catches her away to his tower and begins her lessons.

Jaquar Dumont is only slightly less powerful than Bossgond, and he was determined to get her and use her and her powers to defeat the dark nest of evil he has found on a lower dimensional level. The sangvile who escaped there killed both his parents and he is full of anger and rage.

The other two sorcerers are just afraid that more sangviles will be released before something can be done about the evil in the nest. Jaquar had a plan to grab Marian and send her against the nest even if she were not ready. Even if it cost her life. HOwever, once Jaquar comes to know Marian they have a bond and he knows he could never let anything hurt her.

Marian is determined to return to Earth, she is hoping to learn something on Amee that will help to heal her brother, Andrew. As a matter of fact you get quite tired of her whinning about going back to Earth. But she learns very quickly and soon has almost reached the highest level of Sorcerer.

Alexa and Bastian are there to help her along as well as Sinafin, the feycoocu. Marian had lost her hamster Tuck in the dimensional corrider and Sinafin shows her where to find him and gives her an atom ball shaped like a walnut to feed him. Thus we are treated to the making and growing of a feycoocu.

When Marian is abducted and forced to the dark nest by the other sorcerers she is saved by the coming togather of all the powerful beings on Amee. Marshalls, Sorcerers, feycoocus, and all their apprentices, finally have to learn to work togather.Because now the Dark Master knows about them and he is going to destroy them all.

As I said the first part sets up the last part, but I certainly wouldn't have missed this book.

What a joy it was to return to the world of Lladrana and the Exotiques! Marian Harasta is a graduate student in Comparative Religion and Philosophy who dabbles with New Age beliefs. She is devoted to her brother, Andrew, who has MS while her relationship with her mother, Candace, is fractured at best (Candace even insists that Andrew and Marian not call her mother). So when Marian is summoned by the Marshalls for the Tower community, it is with mixed feelings that she discovers she is a Weather Sorceress. In Lladrana, Marian is an Exotique and therefore a valued and treasured member of the planet Amee. She has been summoned to fight the Dark that is attacking Lladrana with various horrid monsters (including one that sucks the power out of the person until they are nothing but dust!). First, however, she must be trained. She begins her training with the most powerful Circlet, Bossgond, although she feels a strong attraction to Circlet Jaquar. She quickly meets Swordmarshall Alexa, another Exotique whose story was told in GUARDIAN OF HONOR. In addition, Marian's pet hamster, Tuck, is gifted with the ability to speak, adding many heartwarming and comic scenes to the book. Marian is at heart a scholar so she quickly progresses from Apprentice to a Fifth Degree Circlet as she completes her training with Jaquar, who is gifted with weather magic as well. However, Jaquar has hidden his reasons for wanting her summoned and it destroys their Song when she is betrayed by the Tower community and sent into the nest to fight the Dark. Luckily, the feycoocu, Sinafin, has already taught her what she needs to know in order to escape- with the assistance of the Marshalls. Marian goes back to Earth and returns to Lladrana with Andrew. I won't spoil the conclusion of the novel but will say that I enjoyed every single minute of this book and did not want for it to end! I, for one, will be eagerly waiting for the next installment in the series.

On Earth, or Terre, Marian Harasta performs a ritual, seeking answers for her life; and at the same moment, a Summoning spell is invoked on Llandrana as the Sorcerers attempt to draw their own Exotique to their world to help battle the dark. As a result, Marian lands in their world and is almost immediately handed over to a cranky, reclusive Sorcerer to receive instruction in how to use the considerable power she never realized she had until now. Marian may find this new land fascinating, and beautiful, but she feels her ties to Earth still pulling on her. The longing for a relationship with her mother is one, the need to cure her brother's debilitating disease another. Yet, she has come to love this new world, and a man in it. Lladrana might have a cure, but first, she must battle the darkness.

***** Lladrana is a world that is a joy to visit. Ms. Owens has peopled it with memorable character who spring to life and make you care about their fates. Hamster sales might go through the ceiling after readers meet Tuck, Marian's charming companion, and of course, old friends from Guardian of Honor play important roles in this book. If you've wondered how Alexa, Bastien, and Sinafin are doing, you'll get to see them once more. If you missed reading that book, it's not essential to have done so to follow what happens here, but you'll be missing a real treat, so be sure you do asap. *****

Amanda Killgore

I was disappointed with this book, yet I felt compelled to finish reading it, so for that fact alone it deserved more than just one star. It had weak, on the nose writing, weak characterization, and a shaky, contrived plot.

The writing reminded me of being in a creative writing class in high school or college, with writers just beginning to learn how to hone their craft. It was clunky and felt like it was in the first few rounds of the writing/editing process. It had an interesting story line, potentially interesting characters, and a potentially interesting world. But the reader was banged over the head with every nuance, feeling, and impression that the characters had.

This work utterly lacked subtlety. For example: "So many people had helped her! The'd come when she Called, given her support when she needed it, even if they didn't know her. They were fighting a war against monsters and were finally coming to work together."

It's as if the author didn't trust the readers to make any conclusions or decisions about the story or characters. The author has drawn everything in with a Sharpie when it needs the grace of watercolor. This is only achieved in editing and rewriting. Perhaps a different editor could have taken this novel and helped the author make something beautiful with it.

I agree with the other reviews that Marian is an annoying, whiny, passive, unlikeable character who experiences some growth at the end of the novel but is just very irritating throughout. The mother is too mean and flat, and she seems unhuman. Jaquar (the love interest) is also an unbelievable character who lacks depth. Andrew, Marian's brother, comes out of nowhere and the relationship between the siblings is not developed. (We're just TOLD SO MANY TIMES that Marian can't live without him. Rule one in writing: show, don't tell!) The best character is the hamster. The random capitalization of words ("Song," "Darkness," "Summoned," etc) is irritating and shouts at the reader that she's in another world. Fantasy novels should invite the reader to the new world and make the reader feel as though no other world exists. Finally, it feels like the book concludes about three or four times before it actually ends, and yet the final fight scene comes from nowhere. There was no build up of suspense or tension before reaching the climax.

I would have to say the conclusion was especially disappointing. It's like the writer thought, "Wow, I haven't expressed Marian's motivation and character growth throughout this novel. I better tell the reader exactly what happened and why it mattered." For example: "Her adventure had forced her to become an integral part of a vibrant community engaged in an awesome task, instead of a distant, academic observer of life." This is an excellent thesis statement if a high schooler was writing a paper on the book, but it feels very out of place and contrived in the concluding paragraphs of the novel.

Sorry, but I don't think I will read anything else by this author.

There's a reason why Robin D. Owens is on my must-buy list, and this is one of them.

It's the second book in the series about alternate dimension world Lladrana, following shortly after Guardian of Honor. I have to laugh at the reviews--so many of them say it's either better than or not as good as the first. Personally, I think it's just as good as Guardian of Honor, and kudos to Robin for expanding the series by making this one different from the first.

This time, it's the Sorcerers on Lladrana who are summoning an Exotique. Or rather, the Marshalls are summoning one for them. The Sorcerers do not work together well enough to summon on their own. On Lladrana, Sorcerers are the scholars, which makes the new Exotique perfect for them: graduate/perpetual student Marian Harasta.

Marian is also interested in magic and spells, and is doing a spell of her own when she's summoned. So the adjustment to the world of Lladrana is different for her than it was for Alexa.

When she arrives, she's claimed first by Jaquar, who she's drawn to, but something tells her he's a danger to her. He's challenged in rapid succession by two other sorcerers, who are finally overruled by the oldest and most powerful sorcerer, Bossgond, who announces he'll be her teacher, and whisks her off to his tower.

Marian's love of learning serves her well, but she's adamant that she not stay on Lladrana, needing to return to earth to be with her brother, who's seriously ill with MS. She agrees to help in exchange for their help in curing him.

Jaquar is one of the most powerful sorcerers on Lladrana, but his interest in the project is more personal: the monsters killed his family, and he wants revenge. His plan was to send the Exotique into the monsters' nest to destroy it. And if she's killed in the process, well, that's the price you have to pay.

That plan changes once he gets to know Marian--even if he hadn't found her personally appealing, it's much easier to plan the sacrifice of someone who's anonymous. Still, it's difficult for him when he takes over her weather training, realizing how powerful she is, and how well she'd accomplish his initial plan, and balancing a growing love and respect for her with his need for revenge.

The weather magic, at which both Jaquar and Marian excel (Bossgond's specialty lies elsewhere), is fun and exhilarating to read about, and Marian's hamster Tuck is just a delight.

The conflicts in Sorceress of Faith are more emotional than physical (which I believe accounts for the differences of opinions in the reviews as to which book is better), but they're no less suspenseful for that.

I loved Marian's eagerness to learn new things, and her easy acceptance of the existence of the different world--both well-explained by her personality and her past. Her love and worry for her brother were the driving force in her life, contrasting poignantly with her painful relationship with her cold, disapproving mother.

I was turning pages far too late at night, needing to find out how Marian resolved being torn between a whole world that needed her and one person who needed her (her brother). Ah, to be an end-reader.

I won't say how it turned out, but it was very satisfying. I loved this second visit to Lladrana, and seeing another side of it. I can't wait to read the next book.

I was waiting for this book to be published and it didn't disappoint me! I just finished rereading the Guardian of Honor and went straight into the new book. The story picks up about 3 months later with the summoning of a new exotique, Marian. We learn more about the world Amee, there are several new characters to enjoy, and still interactions with Alexa & Bastian. I'd recommend reading them in order but the way she wrote them, they can stand alone. I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of her books and can't wait until Robin publishes another one! You really feel for the characters and the worlds she creates are wonderful.

Good book. I really enjoy this series, I've read all four at this time. The only negative I have on this particular book, is I've returned it three times because of pages falling out of the binding. Each one I've received as replacement has the same problem. Luna does not list this book as available any longer so possibly pulled because of a printing problem?Sorceress of Faith (The Summoning, Book 2)

I've enjoyed this series so far. Some have wrote that the first was better, but don't let that stop you from trying this one. I think the first might be considered better because it was a new world and there was much more fighting. This one seems to focus more on the scholarly aspect (which the Sorcerers do in Amee-they're the scholars of the world) The next book will bring us back to the front lines with the fighters.

The three main charcters in this one was Marion (slightly over weight with a domineering rich mother and very ill MS brother). Jaquar (he's the one in book one where that evil creature hooked onto to his horse for a ride back) whose parents were killed-their life energy was sucked out of them. Now, all he can think of is getting revenge on the creatures threatening their world. Jaquar plans to use Marion to distroy the nest of these creatures even if it means her life. That is until he meets Marion and get to know her. Bossgond (I know I'm misspelling this, but I'm writing from memory) is the elderly father figure. He's the cute old, ecsentric, that turns endearing father figure in the story.

Great book, sure to let the warm fuzzy in your belly gurgle.

I think Robin Owens has a wonderful imagination and talent for making her worlds seem real. The feelings and emotions come through loud and clear. I also can visualize the other worlds she creats. Even though they are suppose to be out there somewhere,they are not so far "out" that they don't seem accessible and believable. I have read all of her books now and not one has failed to entertain me. When I saw this one was out I snapped it up and could hardly wait to read it. I was not disappointed. I can't wait to read the continuing line in this series.

as a meteorologist, I truly enjoyed the weather side of things as well. I loved the merging of science and paranormal gifts. Amazingly seamless, with a well written story that draws the reader in instantly. If you've got a few hours (for me it took 4, but I'm a fast reader), have a seat, and dig in! You'll love it.