Oh man, are you all ready to see me get in more book tours?! Looking at all the ones that I signed up for with Hear Our Voices, I seem to have added a whole bunch to my list again.

I miss being on tours, and with the different creative content options that we are dishing out, it’s going to be so freaking awesome! I hope you take part and show some support.

And send a huge thank you to Damp Pebbles for including me in their tour for The Summoned Ones by Darryl A. Woods! I’m honored to be a part of it.

The Bericean army was in Malabrim for the ninth straight fighting season. Over the past 9 years, Zybaro, the leader of a small band of unknowns, had evolved from his days as a minor usurper of a tiny kingdom. Now, almost the entire country of Malabrim was under Zybaro’s control, and his army was large enough to easily challenge Bericea’s army. Still, Bericea continued its raids into Malabrim, hoping to stem Zybaro’s methodical progress and thwart his tyrannical means of control. Zybaro had seized village after village, forcing anyone capable of joining his army and enslaving all who remained in deplorable working conditions to supply his army.

This latest conflict with Zybaro had pushed General Darnon to a decision, one he had resisted making for over a year. Though he still held grave reservations about the Prophecies, he was willing to support the clerics who would attempt the summoning. The details of the ritual had recently been discovered in an ancient tome. The clerics were confident they could bring forth the Summoned Ones of Prophecy, those mysterious beings who would aid Bericea in its time of greatest need. 

Darnon also had concerns about the location of the summoning. It would have to take place farther into Malabrim than they had ventured in many years. And even if the ritual was effective, it would be a great challenge to get the Summoned Ones safely back to Bericea, in addition to the soldiers sent to protect them. However, Darnon felt that morale was so low, if they survived this battle, he owed his troops the hope the summoning ritual could bring.

Join the soldiers of Bericea and the Summoned Ones through a life-or-death struggle. The Summoned Ones was made up of a small college aged group of friends from a small Kentucky town near the Daniel Boone National Forrest, who find themselves somehow brought to a chaotic world through magic. Their epic journey will push the Summoned beyond the limits of their endurance. This unlikely group will discover many truths about themselves and experience another world beyond their imagination.

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Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Damp Pebbles and Bresford Ridge Publishing for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

I really enjoyed the adventure that this book brought into the world. There’s something about books with magical portals that take you to different worlds that could be totally different from our own that seems so appealing to me in this day and age. This one was also pretty interesting to me because we usually follow a small group of friends – maybe up to four people max that I’m used to – but we have a huge group of eight people going to this other world.

For one, I felt like I had to pull a Gandalf and start counting everyone to make sure they were there.

Not to mention I’m the absolute worst at names and keeping track of a lot of characters so there’s that. But that’s just my issue, and none of the names are similar by any means. I just get confused when there’s a lot of characters to keep track of. If you like to follow multiple characters throughout storylines, then you’ll enjoy this one!

All in all, I thought that Woods did a great job at making me intrigued while reading this story, and I feel like a lot of fantasy readers, but new and experienced, will find something to appreciate reading this novel.