Title: Evocation
Author: S.T. Gibson
Series or standalone: The Summoner's Circle, book 1
Age Category: Adult
Published by: 28th of May 2024
Pages: 301 p.
Genre: Urban Fantasy, occultism
About Evocation
The devil has come to claim what is his…
David Aristarkhov was a child prodigy, raised by a cruel occultist father. At the age of 13, his father died freeing David from his torment.
Now David's thirtieth is rapidly approaching, but the successful life he has crafted for himself has started to crumble together with his health.
David reaches out to the only person he has ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend Rhys, who is now happily married to Moria and is his main rival within the society of Occultist. Can they ever mend the trust that was broken? And resolve the demon deal that is hot on David's trail?
My thoughts on Evocation
Content warning: this review will contain spoilers for the book they will not be pointed out, proceed with caution. Also, I received a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Review copy provided by Angry Robots via Netgalley.
Getting all the official stuff out of the way, let us dive into this book because I think I will have a lot to say about it. Let us start with my overall feeling: I want more of this. When I first saw this book announced I thought like, yes this is right up my alley, I love the occult and I was really curious as to how deep the lore would be.
This being said, I would have liked to see more of the occult practices in the book. There is a little bit of it in the book, but it only scratches the surface. This might sound like a harsh critic but it is not, because I loved this book nonetheless. I just wish there were more spells, ceremonies, and divination in there, that would have made it even more delicious.
The book focuses more on the character relations between David, Moira, and Rhys. There is a lot of frustration between David and Rhys. At the beginning of the book we do not learn why their relationship is so strained, it is revealed much later in the book. This left me hanging with lots of questions throughout the book. A lot of hints were dropped but most of them are not explained at any point, this is my only criticism of Evocation. It is for me a minor issue, not enough the take cats of my rating. It can however be an issue for some readers so I wanted to point it out so that you can be prepared if this is a thing that would bother you. I would also suggest reading Odd Spirits first if you have the chance, as it will help you understand the characters just a little bit more.
Another thing I want to point out is that if you go in intending to read a book that is all about the occult, you will be sourly disappointed. There are splashes of the occult, but it is a book about love, relationships, and friendship. It hints at a polyamory relationship which is not for everyone. I did not mind it at all, I liked the sexual tension between all the characters.
At times David could be a little bit obnoxious, but understanding where he is coming from, an abusive parental relationship, I can kind of relate to his personality. The alcoholism, closed-off personality, and non-communication all fit in with a character that has been a victim of abuse. To me that at least makes a lot of sense. It doesn't make David a very likable character. Moira helps us in a lot of ways to understand the character of David, by pointing out his true feelings, that she can feel through their special connection. I think that this is a very clever trick by the author. It helps take the sharp edges of David's character.
I am going to sound like an uber critic now, but I would have loved to see more depth in this story, more world-building, more occult, more character background, just all-around more of everything. This was a nice introduction to the world and the characters, it leaves me wanting a lot more, fortunately, we already know that there is going to be more.
Rating Evocation
I have already pointed out some of the things that bothered me or might be issues for some readers. Overall I have enjoyed my time with the book, I rate not only based on issues, but mostly on feeling, and how long it took me to finish if I wanted to get back to the book when I stopped reading. It might be sounding strange that I would still give this a 5-star rating. This book did tick all the boxes for me, it made me feel things, I wanted to get back to it as soon as I put it down and it did not take me a huge amount of time to finish. I was never bored by the book, nor did I dislike the main characters.
The story made sense to me, it did not feel unrealistic or lacking, even though I want more of everything as stated above. It is a solid first book, so I am sticking to the 5 cats it is getting. Now I just need to get my hands on a physical copy of the book, to show off in my bookcase, and while I am at it, also a copy of Odd Spirits, so I can see the beautiful art in print.
It was announced recently that this series will be four full-length books: Evocation, Ascension, Divination, Transmutation, and a novella called Odd Spirits which has been re-released this month in a beautifully illustrated edition. A review for the novella is coming next week. The books will all focus on a different character, the next book is Rhys's story, Divination is about Moria and Transmutation focuses on Leda, who is only briefly mentioned in this first book, she is David's half-sister.
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