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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN num: 9781563892653
ISBN number: 1563892650
Label: Vertigo
Manufacturer: Vertigo
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 240
Printing Date: May 01, 1996
Publishing house: Vertigo
Age index: Ages 9-12
Release Date: May 01, 1996
Sale Popularity Level: 301396
Studio: Vertigo
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Product Description:
Timothy Hunter, age 13, may become one of the most powerful magicians of all time. But that's only one of his problems. In this trade paperback followup to the popular Neil Gaiman story, Tim must contend with a heartless sorcerer, tea in hell, a murderous Victorian cyborg, a whirlwind family reunion with an insanely jealous Faerie Queen and ... a very first date.
Amazon.com Review:
Timothy Hunter, age 13, may become one of the most powerful magicians of all time. But that's only one of his problems. In this trade paperback followup to the popular Neil Gaiman story, Tim must contend with a heartless sorcerer, tea in hell, a murderous Victorian cyborg, a whirlwind family reunion with an insanely jealous Faerie Queen and ... a very first date.
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Rated by buyers 
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John Ney Rieber, The Books of Magic: Summonings (DC Comics, 1996)
After the very first story in the Books of Magic series was complete, Neil Gaiman vanished, leaving the series in the hands of writer John New Rieber. That is not entirely a bad thing, but it's not a great one, either.
While Summonings is still good reading, the gap in quality between the very first collection and this one is noticeable. The stories here are far more unconnected, disjointed, and episodic than those in the very first collection, with only Tim to hold them together as a coherent whole.
That said, if you look at this more as a series of vignettes designed to give a little insight into Tim's character, rather than as a complete story arc, you'll probably enjoy it more. *** ½
Rated by buyers 
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Summonings follows the story of Tim Hunter, a teenager who is destined to become the world's greatest magician. Young Tim Hunter is reminded of an imaginary friend he had as a child who was killed by someone or something. In an investigation into the imaginary friend's death he enters a world where all his childhood imaginings are now real. Simultaneously we follow grown up and increasingly pitiful Tim Hunter. He visits the past to kidnap the woman of his life while she still loves him and to raise himself to grow up to be him. (He has done this many times before and we see him inspecting a nursery full of girls.) Influencing his younger self is a daunting task for him since he has traded away his childhood memories in various battles with demons.
Those are the big plots that span the shorter stories. The small plots involve a magician (not grown up Tim, another magician) who tries to catch Tim with his pet/slave succubus and various characters from Victorian England who have crossed over into modern England via the land of fairy. The sucubus makes for an interesting character. At one point she lets her dinner, a live pigeon, fly free over the city and muses on her own lack of freedom. There are also parallels between her obvious position of slavery and the less obvious traps that other characters are stuck in.
The plots are twisting and complex. There was a previous book in the series, but starting in here is fine. I hadn't read it very first and was not too disoriented. This book introduces the two plot lines that will carry on into the subsequent book: Tim's future and using his childhood dreams to open new worlds now.
The graphics here are well done. They are realistic and printed in a limited array of colors. (Most pages look somewhat like the cover amazon shows, which should give you a better idea.) The layouts felt just a tad off for me. Often I read frames out of sequence and they just didn't flow right. Visually this book is fine but the real strength is the twisting plot lines and parallels between the different characters and stories.
Overall I recommend Summonings. It has a complex and involving plot that is self contained (to the series) so it is a good choice for people who are new to the genre as well as those who read lots of comics. This is one of the best story lines I have come across and the book does comics right. I also recommend this to libraries with one reservation for school libraries: All these stories take place against a backdrop of demonology and characters from fairy mythology make appearances. That could be controversial.
Rated by buyers -
Here is the second collection of "The Books of Magic" regular series, containing issues 5-13. Although BOM was created by Neil Gaiman, you will quickly figure out that he did not write this little ditty.
The very first story arc, "Sacrifices" is pretty good stuff. In it we see a possible future evil version of Tim Hunter who wants to make sure that Tim follows the wrong path so that his version will actually exist in the future. Sounds like writer John Ney Rieber may have made contributions to The Terminator's movie continuity.
The other stories in this edition range from good to fair. Do not have huge expectations and you won't be dissapointed. This is simply a decent read, nothing more, nothing less.
Rated by buyers -
I am an avid reader of almost anything and everything by Gaiman. I am also a reader of the Books of Magic (both the miniseries by Gaiman and the follow up series). This book is not Gaiman's greatest (That would be Fables and Reflections, or perhaps Season of Mists) nor the best of the Books of Magic (although perhaps it is the best of the miniseries), but given the length and Quality of the Books of Magic and Gaiman's skill in Sandman and Neverwhere thats not saying much. It is a great story with few flaws (some of the art is wonky and there are a few too many cliches) and recommended to fans of the BoM or Gaiman.
Rated by buyers -
As the title says...but still an excellent book. The entire series and especially the best books in it really immerse you in the story lines and this does it exceptionally well. I really liked the development of the relationship with Molly and the fairie queen character was a classic. My advice: read it; if you haven't read any of the Books of Magic before its a great introduction, and if you have read some of the other books...its a great addition.
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