Marie Brennan, Warrior and Witch

Warrior and Witch

Marie Brennan

Warner, Oct 2006, $6.99, 464 pp.

ISBN 0446616974

To create a witch, a channel is created during a magical ritual when the infant is five days old. In order to handle and control the magic, the witch Miryo was supposed to kill her double Mirage, a Hunter but instead a spell never used before merged them into one person having the memories of both. Her name is now Mirei and she is accepted at the witch school Starfall but two of the Prime leaders leave because they think she is an abomination that should be killed.

Mirei goes to the various Hunter schools to find the doppelgangers and bring them to Starfall to prevent the rebels and their allies from killing them. The rebels are gaining allies among the lords while Satomi, the Void Prime leader who is her staunchest supporter tries to find out where the rebels are holding the doppelgangers they captured so that Mirei can translocate and rescue them. Eclipse, who is one of the few who knew both Mirage and Miryo and, is very dear to her is also traveling to where the rebels are hiding even though he is under a spell to kill her or die. Mirei is not about to let that happen and does something that puts her at death's door in order to save him. At the same time the final battle between the rebels and Starfall is about to begin.

There is plenty of action and adventure in this delightful fantasy that will leave readers wanting to read more books about Mirei and the new world order of the witches. The heroine is strong willed, not afraid to try new ground breaking spells and is still a warrior from her days as a Hunter. These qualities make her perfectly suited to be the role model for the new type of witch.

Harriet Klausner