Review: Epic Fantasy
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 3, 2013
I was provided a copy of this book through Goodreads' READ IT AND REAP program in exchange for my fair and honest review.  I thank the author for providing me with this opportunity.SUMMONER tells of Raven's quest to save her land and people from the evil lord N'atax.  It is presented as a story being told to some villagers, long years after the events took place.  In this way, SUMMONER differed from many fantasy stories and this made for an interesting approach.  Unfortunately, however, this approach also left me missing some things.  I suspect that if I could have seen the face of the narrator during his storytelling, if I could have heard his pauses, watched his mannerisms, noted his eyes as they welled with tears, or his grimace as he came upon something dark or evil, I may have had a better "feel" for the story.  What I found, however, was that I did not feel emotionally invested in the characters in a way that I wanted to be, given their quest to overcome evil.  Having said all of that, SUMMONER was classic epic fantasy that took its readers on a journey through lands with robust scenery and well-drawn villains.I noted several well-known classic references in a number of places.  I think Massey was successful here in bringing the beauty of those ancient words to a new setting and story.I also took a minute to check out the author's website.  The page of pictures posted to show what the author saw as the scenery of the lands told of in his story was most interesting and very well done!  (What a great idea!)Keep them coming!