Quote:
Originally Posted by ATDrake
Summoner: Origins by UK author Taran Matharu ( ISFDB) is a tie-in prequel adventure novella to his Summoner trilogy of epic high fantasy involving an empire at war which is training its magically-talented youths to fight at its elite military academy in a world full of orcs and elves and other classical fantasy species, this installment telling the backstory of one of the demon-summoners amongst them, free courtesy of publisher Hodder's Children's Books imprint.
This is a fairly substantial piece at 15 chapters (though they could be really short chapters), and a 100-page filesize (though some of that is devoted to the obligatory promotional chapter excerpt for the upcoming 1st-in-series, Novice, due out in May). Apparently there's some kind of interesting backstory as to how this setting made it big as a popular Wattpad/Nanowrimo entry which netted the author some media attention which in turn led to the current Hodder publishing contract.
Currently free @ B&N UK, Amazon UK, iTunes UK, and Kobo (UK and probably other EU countries which seem to also be free when I spot-check various regional iTunes and Amazon stores). Probably also Google Play, if you're in the right region for it.
Unlikely to cross the pond to more Pacific/antipodal areas, since this flat-out doesn't seem to exist in North America or Oceania.
And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.
Because we don't get nearly enough sfnal offerings for my taste, and it's nice to see one with a modest twist on demon-summoning apparently not being inherently evil, but useful and just another way of doing magic, especially at the kiddie-compatible level, and at a fairly good length for a tie-in promo short, and an inspirational success tale for the aspiring authors among our Gentle Readership to boot, so 
Enjoy!
Description
The prequel to the explosive new fantasy trilogy, Summoner. Set in a time before The Novice, this prequel is the perfect introduction to the world of the Summoner.
Arcturus is just an orphaned stableboy when he discovers he has the ability to summon demons from another world. He is sent to Vocans Military Academy where the lost arts of summoning, spellcraft and demonology are taught to the noble children of the Empire. As the first commoner gifted with this ability, his discovery challenges the nobility and the powers that be. At the Academy Arcturus quickly makes enemies. With no one but his demon Sacharissa by his side, Arcturus must prove himself as a worthy Summoner ...
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Free to preorder in the USA, at:
Amazon.com (release date May 1, 2015)