The 13th Witch
ISBN: 9781999821210
Description
Conrad Clarke, former RAF pilot and alleged gangster gets a text – and a visit – from The Allfather. Odin has a challenge for Conrad: sign up to protect England from wild magick and get a commission in the King’s Watch. All he has to do is find a missing witch. Simple. Conrad never could resist a challenge. Before you can say “Ragnarok”, he’s plunged into a world of gods, mages, witches, dwarves and one very aggressive giant mole But the witch doesn’t want to be found, and powerful mages will kill to keep her hidden. Going back isn’t an option. Going forward looks a lot like death.
Reviewed on 28th October 2023
I’ve been seeing this book and series promoted for a long time, and finally got round to picking up what I thought was the first book.
While it sort of is the first, I discovered that there are actually five earlier novels, but they are more action thrillery, and this is a sort of fantasy spin-off which has expanded to be the real main series.
The character, world, and plot I found really compelling. There’s that classic setup of someone new to the magick world, with tons to learn and intrigue and mystery everywhere. And a bunch of hints throughout that there’s more to learn and more history to uncover.
I really enjoyed a bunch of the interactions between characters, and can easily see this expanding into a rich series and world as the books go on.
I did think though that aspects of the narrative are a bit rough. There are a few places where I felt like something had been missed in establishing or re-establishing a point or a character. There’s a pair of characters whose relationship is entirely unmentioned. There’s a lot brought in, particularly later on, which is clearly referring back to earlier stories, but without enough context to help the new reader.
But that aside, I really enjoyed reading this, and fully intend to continue on to more of the stories.