Review: The Inquisition (Summoner #2) by Taran Matharu

Rating: —/10

Synopsis:

A year has passed since the Tournament. Fletcher and Ignatius have been locked away in Pelt’s dungeons, but now they must face trial at the hands of the Inquisition, a powerful institution controlled by those who would delight in Fletcher’s downfall.

The trial is haunted by ghosts from the past with shocking revelations about Fletcher’s origins, but he has little time to dwell on them; the graduating students of Vocans are to be sent deep into the orc jungles to complete a dangerous mission for the king and his council. If they fail, the orcish armies will rise to power beyond anything the Empire has ever seen.

With loyal friends Othello and Sylva by his side, Fletcher must battle his way to the heart of Orcdom and save Hominum from destruction . . . or die trying.

Review:

Wow, did The Inquisition start off with intensity.

I mean, I knew there would be some tension from the onset based on how the first book ended, but it was of a higher level than I was expecting. Which was good, because the first few chapters had me even more invested in this series than I was before.

In this second book, we get to see more new types of demons, learn more about the conspiracy against the dwarves/elves, and even get a few glimpses of the orcish variety of magic/summoning. There is a lot of worldbuilding that went on, and I loved that the lore was expanded so much during book two.

Overall, I liked The Inquisition better than The Novice, and not just due to the additional worldbuilding. The pacing was better and the story was more exciting too. It ends on another cliffhanger, though this one wasn’t quite as abrupt as the first one (at least the series is fully published so I can move directly on to book three!)

Side note: I tend to struggle a bit with writing reviews for 2^nd books in series and beyond. It’s tough to balance the amount of stuff I want to talk about with the need to avoid spoilers. I know this review is relatively short, but trust me when I say this is a series worth checking out. (You can read my review of book one, The Novice, here.)