Wednesday, August 10, 2011

review: Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

pub date: August 30, 2011
publisher: Simon and Schuster
pages: 411
source: Simon and Schuster Galley Grab
format: digital
appeals: high fantasy, adventure, male protagonists
content: some mild violence

thoughts:
This is a fantasy novel with lots of dark magic and two male protagonists. Definitely a book that would appeal to boys. Now look at the cover. Are you as horrified as I am? ARG! Really, what fantasy loving teen boy is going to pick up a pretty blue cover with a girl on the front? It's pretty! It's a girl! It reflects nothing of the plot and tone of the story! I think the Simon and Schuster marketing department really screwed this cover up. And I'm not happy about it.

What I liked about this book:

--The writing was beautiful. I loved the way Coakley described places and people and situations. It was really beautiful.

--The world building was really original and enjoyable to read. The relations between the Baen and the Witchlanders was well established. To the point that they were true to their beliefs, even when I really didn't want them to be. I wanted things to resolve in a different way, but that wouldn't have been true to the characters.

--Which brings me to the characters. Two male protagonists. So awesome. I thought they were very believable. And I liked how their relationship developed through the book.

Overall, I think this is a good book. But having written all of that, it wasn't my kind of book. At least not the kind I adore. I wanted more physical action, but especially more magic action. And some romance. (I am a girl who likes some romance in her books). And I wanted a more conclusive ending. But that's just me. Like I said, overall, this is a great book with a very misleading cover. ARG!

summary:
High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.


It’s all a fake.

At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?

But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned—

Are about him.

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