The Summoner [Paperback]

Gregory Bernard Banks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2008

For the first time in print comes the story of Davian, brother of a disgraced former member of the Sacred Order of Permeation, also known as the Summoners, has waited eons for the chance to finish the task his brother Scapin failed to complete. But he must contend with a haughty ghost, a brash and beautiful female who may be the most powerful Summoner ever born, and a growing darkness within his own soul, the very same temptations that destroyed his brother three thousand years ago. Will Davian prove to be a better man?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gregory Bernard Banks began his pursuit of a writing career in 1997, after spending years studying his other creative love, graphic design. In the past, he's served as moderator for the Zoetrope All-Story Writers Workshop, as a site administrator for Scrawl: The Writer's Asylum, and as webmaster for the WRITER and MARKET Literary Search Engine. He's currently co-Webmaster for the Speculative Literature Foundation, and as both Community Leader and freelance graphic designer at Lulu Enterprises, he now helps other authors make their own publishing dreams come true. Banks is also a frequent contributor for Audacity Magazine (AudacityMagazine.com) with his column, "A Sedentary View", and continues pursuing his dream of landing a 7-figure book deal by the time he's 80. His list of publishing credits includes The Rose & Thorn, Story House, StoneGarden.net, Creative Brother's Sci-Fi Magazine, The Writers Post Journal, AlienSkin Magazine, and The Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons".His second short story collection, "Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life," was published in March of 2005 through his own publishing imprint, WheelMan Press, and has received much critical acclaim. The collection contains stories that have been quarter- and semi-finalists, respectively, in the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest, and the book itself is a finalist in ForeWord Magazine's 2005 Book of the Year Award. His third collection, "Like Salmon: The Geek Chronicles," is scheduled for a September 25th, 2006 release.Banks lives in the rapidly growing city of Stockbridge, Georgia with his parents, his computer, and far too many books to count.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (November 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440471282
• ISBN-13: 978-1440471285
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,370,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gregory Bernard Banks began his pursuit of a writing career in 1997, after spending years studying his other creative love, graphic design. Over the years since he s served as moderator for the Zoetrope All-Story Writers Workshop, as a site administrator for Scrawl: The Writer's Asylum, and as webmaster for the WRITER and MARKET Literary Search Engine. He s currently co-Webmaster for the Speculative Literature Foundation, and Community Leader/Support Aide at Lulu.com, and and is the sole proprietor for BDDesign LLC, where he now helps others make their publishing dreams come true.

Banks is also a frequent contributor to Audacity Magazine with his column, "A Sedentary View", and continues pursuing his dream of landing a 7-figure book deal by the time he's 80. His list of publishing credits include The Rose & Thorn, Story House, StoneGarden.net, Creative Brother's Sci-Fi Magazine, The Writers Post Journal, AlienSkin Magazine, The Speculative Fiction Centre, Amazon Shorts, and Axxon Online. In addition to having stories finish in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals for the prestigious L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest, his story, Into the Every, title story for his latest book, finished in 6th place in the 2006 Preditors and Editors Readers Poll. He's published three books, Crossroads and Other Tales, the Foreword Magazine 2005 Book of the Year Finalist Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life, and A Writer's Journey in Poetry & Prose." His fourth book, Into the Every: Tales of Magic and Science, is scheduled for an August 2008 release.

Banks lives in the rapidly growing city of Stockbridge, Georgia with his parents, his computer, and far too many books to count.

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Fiction credits:

Short Fiction:
- "The Master of Perfection" - October 1999 issue of The Blue Review.
- "Crossroads" - November 1999 issue of The Amateur Poetry Journal.
- "Fading Away..." - Sept 2000 premiere issue of The Story Garden.
- "A Lazy Afternoon in a Small Georgia Town - 6-26-01 issue of GiggleWithMe.com.
- "A Stormy Relationship" - 10-27-01 issue of GiggleWithMe.com.
- "An Interview with Santa" (run in three parts) - Dec. 2001-Jan. 2002,GiggleWithMe.com.
- "The Sacrifice" - The Summer 2002, The Rose & Thorn - A Literary Ezine.
- "Devour the Sky" - Story House, April 2, 2003.
- "Kachina Dawn" - StoneGarden.net, August 3, 2003.
- "Escape Velocity" - Creative Brother's Sci Fi Magazine #1, August 14, 2003.
- "Home Going" - Creative Brother's Sci Fi Magazine #3, to published January 2004.
- "An Elysium Dream" - StoneGarden.net, February 9, 2004.
- "He Rocked" (reprint) - The Writers Post Journal, to be published May 2004
- "The Last Living Thing" - AlienSkin Magazine published September 2004
- "For Whom the Midnight Tolls" - The Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons," November 2005.
- "A Love Everlasting" (reprint) - The Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons"
- "He Rocked" (reprint) - The Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons"
- "The Circle" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, Fiction: Winter 2006 Issue #5
- "A Tale of Black and White" - SCARAB (Wanganegresse Press, 2006).
- "The Summoner" - Amazon Shorts, April 28, 2006
- "Web-elations" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, Fiction: Spring 2006 Issue #6
- "Two By Two" - Amazon Shorts, August 5, 2006
- "Into the Every" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, October 2, 2006
- "The Nothing" - AXXON Online's AXXON 100x100 (First Series), October 2006
- "The Highest Curse - Part I" - Amazon Shorts, November 15, 2006
- "Home Going (reprint)", New Works Review, March 28, 2007
- "The One and Only" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, July 21, 2007
- "Law of the Land" - Amazon Shorts, October 26, 2007

Books:
- "The Art of Poetry - Collection #1 (chapbook) - First published in 1998.
- "Crossroads and Other Tales" (fiction) - January 2004.
- "A Writer's Journey in Poetry & Prose" (nonfiction) - October 2006.
- "An Interview with Santa and Other Christmas Treats" (fiction) - November 2007
- "Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life" (second edition) - March 2008.
- "The Summoner" (fiction) - November 2008
- "2012: Seeking Closure" - April 2009

Poetry:
- "Striving for the Heavenly Kingdom" - Poetry Club Newsletter - Vol. 4, Issue # 7 (8-9-97) (no longer in publication).
- "Perfection Is..." - Summer 1998 Edition of "Treasured Poems of America" by Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum.
- Various poems - Past issues of The Amateur Poetry Journal (no longer in publication).
- "There in Your Eyes" - Volume one of A Generation X Anthology - "In Our Own Words", March 1998.
- "Our Love" made into song by LaTonya M. Peoples and appearing on her 1999 album, "The Spirit Within".
- "Truth" - Second issue of The Story Garden, March 2001.
- "Reflections" - Volume three of A Generation X Anthology - "In Our Own Words", March 2001.
- "Emergence" - The Writers Post Journal, to be published April 2004.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Big bang for your buck, July 11, 2008

By 

L. Langston (Surprise, AZ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Summoner (Kindle Edition)

Admittedly, I am not a huge science fiction fan; however, Mr. Banks has done an outstanding job of creating a fast-paced story that held my interest from beginning to end.

Although it is a short story, the quality of writing has not been sacrificed. In fact, there is an unexpected twist in the story that caught me quite by surprise.

For sci-fi lovers, I believe you will find "The Summoner" worthy of five stars. It is certainly a five-star price!

4.0 out of 5 stars Give Us More, June 18, 2009

By 

Timothy Mulder (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Summoner (Kindle Edition)

I read this wonderful tale of sorcery the same day I read another book by Gregory Bernard Banks - The Purifier's Tale.

They are set in vastly different, but equally compelling, worlds. They also have much in common, so I'm writing my first 'twin' review.

The Summoner is everything you could want in a fantasy epic.
A fully realized world of swords and sorcery.
Epic battles fought over eons of time.
Monsters and Wizards. Long dead warriors who come back for that final battle.
Romance, drama, betrayal and just a dash of Sci-Fi for flavoring.

What's not to like?
A short story with all the makings of a Lord of the Rings type epic.
So why only four stars?

Because even though I enjoyed every page of The Summoner, I did so in a constant state of disappointment.
I wanted to know more about the interesting cast of characters.
Delve deeper into the rich culture that Mr. Banks created.
Take my time with the plot and not rush to completion.

In short, I wanted Mr. Banks to give me more.
In my opinion, Banks is one of the strongest writers in Fantasy Fiction working today. I'm just waiting for him to transition from the comfort zone of short stories - to the expanded horizons of epic novels.

Read The Summoner, you won't be disappointed, though you may be left craving more.