Half-Witch
A Novel

This book isn't coming out until July, which is a tragedy because I just want to talk to everyone about it now. Half-Witch gave me the same atmospheric shivers that the Bear and the Nightingale gave me; it's got that same fairy-tale quality that makes every word seem a little bit like it's shrouded......more

Fantasy fiction often seems to me like sci fi that plays it safe--but in a good way. There's a trick to taking familiar elements of folklore, especially Western folklore, and creating from them a world that feels original and surprising. The reader has the comfort of familiar landmarks but also some......more

Lizbet Lenz and her father Gerhard, a very unsuccessful magician, are always moving from town to town, usually quite speedily before being thrown out. Her father’s spells always seem to turn out wrong so they are forced to flee, but when they arrive in Abalia, Lizbeth, desperately tired of all the m......more

As I drifted through the pages of Half-Witch, I found my eyes slowing down, word by word. It was intentional, because it is one of those stories you don’t want to end. Finishing Half-Witch was bittersweet, but the journey from cover to cover was one of the most enjoyable fantasies I’ve had the pleas......more

This is hovering in the 3 1/2 star range for me. Rounding up (for a change) because books with female friendship are always worth an extra bump for me. And there's a lot I like here. Comparisons to Oz are apt with it's matter of fact acceptance of whimsical worldbuilding - a spell that makes a perso......more