Long Hot Summoning

Tanya Huff

It's the last day of high school. Diana Hansen is looking forward to starting her career as a Keeper, a mystical person who helps keep magic in its proper place. She knows she is the most powerful Keeper alive. She has had to wait to follow off her calling until she finished traditional school.

As she walks out of the school building that last day, she is hit hard by her first official Summoning. She heads off to Kingston, where her sister, another Keeper, lives. What she discovers is more than she can handle despite her strength. Claire is needed to help. The Otherside is trying to take over a local shopping mall. If successful, the mall will become an entry to our world for the twisted beings on the Otherside. Together, with their cats, Diana and Claire will need to cross into the seque to the Otherside and close the opening. There they meet a reincarnated King Arthur in the form of a young, modern looking man, and homeless street teens turned into elves. How do they close the segue, keep Arthur alive this time, and return to our world to save the man Claire loves, from yet another threat.

I really enjoyed the first two novels in this series. This one fell way short of the others. It still has some of the fun humor, and I often chuckled. But otherwise, the story is confusing and flat. Huff had a big idea, but didn't pull it together. Instead it is beyond credibility (and remember, I enjoy fantasy) and hard to follow. It is a fairly quick read, but you won't miss much if you don't finish this trilogy.

Summons of the Keeper
The Second Summoning
The Long Hot Summoning