The Demon's Apprentice by Ben Reeder
Series: Demon's Apprentice #1
Genres: Urban Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy Fiction
Published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform on 2014 December 29
Format: eBook
Pages: 290
Many teenagers’ worries involve grades, sweethearts, and their successes or failures in extra-curricular activities. Not so for Chance Fortunato, unless peddling under-the-table black magick counts as an extra-curricular activity. “Apprenticed” (sold to) to a demon at a young age, he’s more worried about incurring his master’s wrath and the state of his soul than whether he’ll “make the team”.
The Demon’s Apprentice is a fast-paced, first person perspective urban fantasy adventure. The main character, Chance, is well-developed and I had no difficulty understanding (and cheering for) the choices he makes.
Chance’s struggle against being defined by machinations, prejudices and assumptions of others is reminiscent of the a similar challenge of self-determination everyone faces in their life. With Chance, it is dramatically complicated by demons, mages and sorcerers all of whom want their share of his hide–preferably decorating their trophy wall.
The main character faces and overcomes challenges himself. Ben Reeder avoids the “…and someone swoops in at the last and saves them all.” trap, a pitfall that many young adult fiction novels fall victim to.
The antagonists have plausible motivations–once we learn what those motivations are. They each stand out as distinct characters with their own reasons for doing what they’ve do. However, I think I’d enjoy the book even more if we saw more than just their primary agendas.
I have the same concern about the supporting characters. Reeder succeeds in making each of the supporting characters distinct and believable, but I’d love to know more about them. Admittedly, this is a first person story, so there’s limits to what we can learn. I’m hoping for a sequel that offers us opportunity to get to know them (at least, those that survive) better!
If you enjoy urban fantasy, where the magical meets, mixes with, and makes vain attempts at hiding from the mundane so-called “real” world, you’ll enjoy this book.