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A review by tomfoolerly
A Summoner Awakens: Origins by Kerberos
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The summoner awakens is at its best when it's world building and focusing on its game like elements.
Its at its worst when it tries for character interaction and personality quirks.
The main character named Rowan is a 100+ yr old man in a teenagers body and the book will remind you of this every 15 minutes or so with him calling every "lad" or "lass" he also walks with a cane and thinks of everyone as a youngster.
The issue isn't that he has old man habits. The issue is he has the same three habits he plays on loop. I would think he would also instinctively want to apply ointment. Have opinions about the local government and have his favorite foods. But no he calls people youngsters and walks with his cane. How riveting. Atleast the author recognizes he isn't attracted emotionally to teenagers and we avoided that.
The plot also doesn't really go anywhere fast. He doesn't become a summoner until 60% of the way through. And he doesn't summon until towards the end. This summon isn't in a dramatic fashion btw it's casually in his home testing it out. He never uses them in combat. He theorizes about it though!
There's also a weird choice with his summon. At the start of the book he has a pixie summon. Implied to have had this since he was a kid. Therefore this summon has been his for nearly a century. When he goes back in time he finds his pixie summon. Then doesn't use it or talk to it and really think about it much until near the end of the book.
He states that it's been a life saver, but then never really uses it? It also gets more or less replaced by the oddest story choice. Rowan is on a side quest to get a rare card by listening to a ghost kid at the school. We then get a long flashback revealing how the first floor in the one hundred floor tower humanity lives in was found. Two brothers named cain and Abel find the steps and argue about whether they should use the power they find on floor one or not (guess what happens to abel)
The ghost is a little kid who got up to floor to and gets Abel'd. Then the ghost turns into a card and the Rowan basically treats him like his most important summon and talks about him way more than the pixie he had for a century. Also the pixie can't talk. But the ghost boy can. Very odd choice from a writing perspective.
All in all the world building and game mechanics are interesting and feel thought out. I wish the characters and plot were the same. An okay story.
The voice actor for the audio book version really went above and beyond with his delivery and his wolf howl imitation is top notch. 👌
Its at its worst when it tries for character interaction and personality quirks.
The main character named Rowan is a 100+ yr old man in a teenagers body and the book will remind you of this every 15 minutes or so with him calling every "lad" or "lass" he also walks with a cane and thinks of everyone as a youngster.
The issue isn't that he has old man habits. The issue is he has the same three habits he plays on loop. I would think he would also instinctively want to apply ointment. Have opinions about the local government and have his favorite foods. But no he calls people youngsters and walks with his cane. How riveting. Atleast the author recognizes he isn't attracted emotionally to teenagers and we avoided that.
The plot also doesn't really go anywhere fast. He doesn't become a summoner until 60% of the way through. And he doesn't summon until towards the end. This summon isn't in a dramatic fashion btw it's casually in his home testing it out. He never uses them in combat. He theorizes about it though!
There's also a weird choice with his summon. At the start of the book he has a pixie summon. Implied to have had this since he was a kid. Therefore this summon has been his for nearly a century. When he goes back in time he finds his pixie summon. Then doesn't use it or talk to it and really think about it much until near the end of the book.
He states that it's been a life saver, but then never really uses it? It also gets more or less replaced by the oddest story choice. Rowan is on a side quest to get a rare card by listening to a ghost kid at the school. We then get a long flashback revealing how the first floor in the one hundred floor tower humanity lives in was found. Two brothers named cain and Abel find the steps and argue about whether they should use the power they find on floor one or not (guess what happens to abel)
The ghost is a little kid who got up to floor to and gets Abel'd. Then the ghost turns into a card and the Rowan basically treats him like his most important summon and talks about him way more than the pixie he had for a century. Also the pixie can't talk. But the ghost boy can. Very odd choice from a writing perspective.
All in all the world building and game mechanics are interesting and feel thought out. I wish the characters and plot were the same. An okay story.
The voice actor for the audio book version really went above and beyond with his delivery and his wolf howl imitation is top notch. 👌