For someone who’s not a huge fan of fantasy fiction, I surprised myself at how much I liked The 13thWitch by Mark Hayden.
The plot:
Did you know the Gods can use mobile phones?
No? Neither did Conrad Clarke, former RAF pilot and alleged gangster. A shadowy Phantom who calls himself ‘Allfather’ pays Conrad a visit and gives him the key to unlock a universe of magick.
Before you can say “Ragnarok”, Conrad is plunged into a world of Gods, Mages, Witches, Dwarves and one rather aggressive giant mole. He also has a mission: get a place in the King’s Watch.
But when he arrives at Merlyn’s Tower, he discovers that his magickal powers aren’t worth having and that to join the watch, he has to find a missing Witch…
It was a really interesting journey
I have mixed feelings about The 13thWitch as this isn’t my usual genre, but that’s not to say I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it.
I found the Mole character a bit strange to include, because it’s a Mole (?), but you know, I can’t hate because ‘fantasy’ is the key word here and I’m open to new things. Also, I’m not sure why a ‘k’ needs to be added on to ‘magic’ for this series, but we’ll go with it.
I was a little frustrated when I closed the book, because there are other books in the series, but also another trilogy by Hayden which explains why he is where he is at the start of the book. Whilst this is a good marketing tool and I am definitely intrigued, am I going to buy 3 books just to find this out? It’s unlikely.
BUT, I will be buying the next book in the King’s Watch series (The 13th Witch being the first), because it’s about dragons, which I LOVE. It doesn’t leave on a cliff-hanger, so I’m glad I can wait until I have more ££££ than going crazy about what happens next.
The protagonist was really well portrayed– his personality shone through, and I actually giggled a few times (super rare for me). I loved his whole background story and how we grows as a character – I felt like I was learning alongside him.
It was a really interesting journey and it mentioned other literature/names which you’ll recognise and immediately appreciate. The concept was good and well written with just the right amount of conversation.
I went into this with a very open mind, which is needed when you’re not a huge fan of a particular genre, and I was pleasantly surprised. So in saying this, it should mean a lot.
I won’t be re-reading The 13th Witch immediately, but I am interested to see how the characters develop through the series, and as I say, DRAGONS NEXT.
Find out more information about the other books in this series via their links below.
The 13thWitch, Mark Hayden, RRP £5.99 (paperback); Amazon
Pages: 196
Publisher: Paw Press
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
