Summoning

Book One of the Moon Wolf Saga

By: Carol Wolf

Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

The World Snake is coming, devourer of Thrace and Atlantis… and the only one standing in its way is Amber, a 16-year-old runaway, recently arrived in Los Angeles.

Amber is more than just a girl with a stolen ID and an attitude; she is a daughter of the wolf-kind, a shapeshifter able to change forms at will. One night, as Amber prowls the Hollywood Hills in wolf form, she stumbles onto an occult ceremony, interrupting the ritual. As a result, Amber finds herself the unwilling mistress of a handsome demonic servant, Richard. Appearing as a fair youth of eighteen years, Richard is a demon accidentally summoned, then captured, by Dr. John Dee, court magician to Queen Elizabeth I. Richard has been trying for four centuries to free himself from a succession of masters and mistresses, but finds himself bound to Amber, the only one who can protect him from his greatest fear, the herald of the World Snake, the Eater of Souls. But all hell is about to break loose, and Amber and Richard are going to need some allies to stop the Eater of Souls and avert the World Snake, and the battle has only begun.

From Carol Wolf comes the urban fantasy debut Summoning, a novel of a wolf girl, a demon boy, and a city on the edge of disaster.

©2012 Carol Wolf (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Lovely, engaging, entertaining, STRONG Female lead

What did you love best about Summoning?

i think in our culture, its especially important for books to show young woman how possible and important it is to be strong, self sufficient, and resilient. that was, and still IS my hugest gripe about the twilight serries. A weak, simpering, downright depressing female lead - which sadly god so much attention from our young women :(

this book has a really great female lead. she is so self sufficent, strong, intelligent, fearless, etc. she is a real go getter. i would not hesistate to let my daughter or my most precious little girl friends to read or listen to this book. I will even give it to my 8 year old friend to listen to, because the character reminds me of her. i liked that.

Also, as a writer myself, i was impressed with how she used words to imply and describe events that would not typically be used to do so. When done wrong, taking such liberties with our language can reall destroy a good book, and make you avoid future work by the author. but when done right, it helps to paint the picture and really engages you. she did a lovely job in my opinion.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Besides the main character, who i explained above i really enjoyed and appreciated. i really loved richard. i wish, however, that more had been done with him and hope rhat she will continue with him and Amber in future works. I was somewhat sad by the way the book ended, but i wont give away my reasoning as it could destroy the book for others.

its well worth reading, or listening to.

Which scene was your favorite?

gosh, i dont really have a favorite scene in this book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yea, i had a long car trip with a friend on my way up to the doctors office which was a couple hours away. we started it in the car, and on the way home. We stopped for a meal on our way home and brought the laptop INTO the restaurant and listened to it while we ate, then when i got home i put it back on and listened to it till i fell asleep, woke up and finished it lol. so. yea.

And as an author myself, i am very hard to please. i literally threw the twilight books against the wall. lol. they just pissed me off so much as a strong woman. i did the same with a book i read once where the author used the word "Presently" at least once on each and every single page. and sometimes as many as five times. How does that even make it through the editing process?

i'll read a story thats poorly written if the authors ideal and imagination is strong enough to make up for it. in this case, I cant give this book a full five stars for various reasons, but i really liked it. the idea was solid, main character strong, unique use of language and words and a fun and interesting way at looking at the way magic worked in their world.

Any additional comments?

My Biggest comment are for those of you wondering what type of SEXUAL CONTENT there is in these books.

Basically, it is completely safe for young children. she hints as sexuality but there is absolutely ZERO sexually explicit material in this book. NONE.

so it IS safe for children.

Unfortunately, i'm a 31 year old woman and for me a book can really never have 5 stars without a little sexuality, and some downright explcitness. i would have really enjoyed the book quite a bit more if she'd have gone into more detail and written it for adults rather then young adults.

But if you look at this book as being written for YOUNG ADULTS - its a great read, it teaches strength to young women, deserves props and appreciation.

just know, if you are an adult and would like some sexually explicit content that you will not find it in this particular book.

Really Enjoyable listen

What made the experience of listening to Summoning the most enjoyable?

Having a smart but flawed heroine.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Amber the wolf shapeshifter who actually makes thought out decisions for the most part.

Which character – as performed by Elizabeth Evans – was your favorite?

The 4 bears! They were background characters but they were adorable

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Life is a ***** and so is she.
(I don;t think much of tagline writers)

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth reading, suprisingly lyrical and well-written.

So Boring

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I suppose that people who haven't listened to scores of books by more talented writers and who are seeking low-impact YA fiction might give this book a higher score.

Would you ever listen to anything by Carol Wolf again?

I would never listen to a Young Adult title by Carol Wolf again.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration is much finer than the story deserves. No particular demerits for Elizabeth Evans.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Summoning?

Witch coven, so off-putting, so tiresome. Magic women all clustered together, dancing withershins. Good grief.

Any additional comments?

Author benefitted from good cover art and blurb writing. What a rip off, because better authors get poor covers and weak blurbs. This story, for the first time in years of audiobook purchases, was a DNF for me. Trashed it midway through Part 2. I would NOT, however, automatically shun a book read by Elizabeth Evans. I hope her career is not poisoned by contracting to read such dreck.