You may have noticed that reviews have been slow coming. Frankly that's because reading time has been limited. While I have finished close to 12 books since the last review posted here, their reviews will take a bit of time to make it up. At the end of September, I had my second daughter and life with a four-year-old and baby has been hectic.
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.
My thoughts:
Imagine two points of action, like the ends of a string, fluttering around in a breeze and slowly drawing together. Suddenly they meet with fireworks, explosions, and huge bursts of color. For me, that just about sums up the POV within WITCHLANDERS by Lena Coakley.
Unlike the cover of the book might lead one to think, the main POV in WITCHLANDERS is not a female, but a male. More to the point, it's actually two different males. We switch back and forth between the stories of Ryder and Falpian, enemies by birth and yet unlikely allies by the time their "strings" finally meet. While the POV switch could be confusing if not worked well, Ms. Coakley obviously put a lot of energy into making sure that they meshed well. I've read books (as I'm sure we all have) where the POV switches can really kill a story. I'm happy to say that in this case, they add to WITCHLANDERS instead of detract.
About this time I always try to consider what my favorite part of the story was. In this case, I'm having a hard time picking one aspect as my favorite. The characters, their struggles, and the conflict between them is done wonderfully and truly builds the story. The world and the history of the Witchlanders and Baen add a fantastical element that keeps the reader engaged and wondering what's going to happen next. If I had to pick one thing, however, I think I would pick the scenery of the story as one of the aspects that really made this book memorable for me. Ms. Coakley did an excellent job building her landscapes and creating a place where the reader could jump in and experience the story along with the characters. Although I've come across many stories that I love, it's not as often that I find a book where I find myself wishing that I could see the scenery for myself and experience the colors, sights, sounds, and smells there. Ms. Coakley creates such a story.
Although WITCHLANDERS didn't seem to have a huge romance emphasis, I think fans of many genres will find something to love here. It has a touch of a high fantasy feel, a bit of romance, and a ton of adventure. Family and personal conflict abounds, hooking the reader and developing into a story that is very difficult to put down until the last page is turned. I highly suggest WITCHLANDERS and, if you haven't done so already, suggest you go find a copy and settle in for some good reading.
*****
The Language of Witchlanders
By the red!
I knew when I was creating the world of Witchlanders that I wanted the characters’ everyday language—even their swear words—to hint at the book’s backstory.
At the beginning of the novel, Ryder, the main character, thinks his heritage as the descendant of witches is an insignificant part of his life—but his language tells a different story. Almost all the swears he uses, like “by the red” and “by the twins,” refer to witches. (Witches wear red, and Aata and Aayse, the prophets of witchcraft, were twins.) The swear, “Aata’s blood!” is particularly significant, because it hints at a dark secret in the coven’s past. These curses were one of the things I used to show that although Ryder might think he has rejected his heritage, he is actually immersed in it every day of his life.
In the Witchlands, the worst thing you can call someone is a “blackhair,” a word people throw around so often that they have almost forgotten it is a racial slur, referring to their enemies across the border, the Baen. When we actually meet a “blackhair,” Falpian Caraxus, his blasphemies reveal a worldview much different from that of the Witchlanders. His favourite swear, “Curses of Kar!” suggests a more violent creator (someone who might actually curse you!) than the mother goddess the Witchlanders imagine.
Because Falpian is a funnier character, some of his swears were chosen for comic effect, like when he finds a body and yells, “Kar’s thousand eyes!” But even that reflects how much Falpian has taken for granted about his religion. He’s never really questioned whether he believes his god truly has a thousand eyes and a thousand tongues or whether this is just a metaphor. And he’s never questioned some of the other tenets of his religion, too, such as his people’s belief that women don’t have souls.
Falpian and Ryder have lived with these sayings and expressions for so long that they don’t hear them anymore, just as they don’t notice the stereotypes and assumptions they have grown up with. It’s only when these two characters meet and form an uneasy alliance that they begin to question their beliefs about each other and about themselves.
Thanks so much, Cinnamon, for having me on your blog!
Lena
About Lena Coakley
Lena Coakley was born in Milford, Connecticut and grew up on Long Island. In high school, creative writing was the only class she ever failed (nothing was ever good enough to hand in!), but, undeterred, she went on to study writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She got interested in young adult literature when she moved to Toronto, Canada, and began working for CANSCAIP, the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers, where she eventually became the Administrative Director. She is now a full-time writer living in Toronto. Witchlanders is her debut novel.
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TOUCH THE DARK byKaren Chance Publisher: Roc Pages: 307 My Recommended Age Group: Adult Released: June 6, 2006 Other work: Cassie Palmer Series, Dorina Basarab Series, Short Stories Our Rating:
From Goodreads:
Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with revenge in mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection.The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire- and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay.
My thoughts:
My latest find in my quest for something new and different was Karen Chance's TOUCH THE DARK, book one in the Cassie Palmer series. I had seen the books before but kept putting them off. A great kindle deal, however, forced my hand so I bought the books and settled down to pour through the first one.
Much better than I was expecting!
I hadn't heard a ton about these books (perhaps it's the fact that I live under a rock) so I wasn't sure what to expect. I figured the story would be good but I didn't know anything about the character development, scenery, etc. To my pleasure, and yours if you pick these up, this first book was actually pretty good.
Cassie Palmer is a clairvoyant living in a world where vampires, weres and everything else that goes bump in the night roams the streets. Some critters are good and some are...well, let's just say that Cassie has had to run for her life a time or two. Growing up under a vampire as a master, Cassie quickly learned that life is a fragile thing that can easily be taken from you if you don't stay on your toes. Cassie's life is full of suspense with a fair amount of running and hiding thrown in. Unfortunately for her, things are only about to get worse.
Overall, I really liked TOUCH THE DARK. I found Cassie an easy character to like with a good deal of back history and complexity to keep us involved with the story. Each new twist and turn in the story tells us a little more about Cassie and even when we think we have the full picture, Ms. Chance throws another curveball in there that makes us reevaluate our thoughts on Cassie. Along with our main character, the side characters in the story were well developed and add another layer of depth to the story. Their history was just as important to the story as Cassie's and, like Cassie, Ms. Chance gave us the whole picture throughout the course of the book, keeping us hooked fairly well.
The only part that I had a hard time getting through were some of the action and inner monologue sequences. I don't know if there was just too much going on or what, but when the story really started to pick up pace, I had a hard time following along and had to go back and reread a few sections. This could just be due to the fact that parts of the story were fairly complex and tied to other past and future parts. Perhaps my brain just wasn't up to par during those moments.
If you're looking for a good urban fantasy type book, I would definitely check out TOUCH THE DARK. Along with having a good story, Ms. Chance takes some well known nasties (vamps, weres, etc.) and puts a new spin on them.
Witchlanders
by Lena Coakley 
TOUCH THE DARK
by Karen Chance 
