A charming and comforting return to the world of Terry Pratchett’s witches that will delight completists.
An introductory guide to witchcraft, penned by Discworld’s Tiffany Aching (with a little help from her friends).
Though Tiffany’s story came to a lovely, bittersweet conclusion in Terry Pratchett’s last book, the posthumously published The Shepherd’s Crown (2015), she and her witch colleagues are sorely missed by their legions of fans. This guidebook for “an apprentice witch looking for extra guidance on the future” offers a little extra time with the Discworld witches. Tiffany’s voice, straightforward and occasionally snarky, is assisted by marginal notes, scribbles, and annotations from her closest friends. There’s the joyous lechery of Nanny Ogg, the helpful pragmatism of Miss Tick, the well-earned self-satisfaction and irascible snark of Mistress Weatherwax, and the anarchic, misspelled chaos of Rob Anybody, one of the Nac Mac Feegle. Rather than expanding on Discworld lore, Terry’s daughter, Rhianna, and co-author Kent present material that draws upon the original content; Tiffany summarizes information from the series about witchcraft and the Disc’s witchy adventures. The “root and heart and soul of witchcraft,” as Granny Weatherwax puts it, is “helping people when life is on the edge. Even people you don’t like.” The basic principles come down to practicality, placebos, and hard work. Abundantly illustrated by Kidby, Terry’s longtime collaborator, this is a visually lovely volume, with subtly colored, marbled backgrounds and handwritten notes on paper that evokes antique vellum.
A charming and comforting return to the world of Terry Pratchett’s witches that will delight completists. (book and character guides) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780063399907
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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