First of two books (the sequel is Warrior and Witch). This is a straight fantasy (the cover made me think it was urban fantasy but it is not). Mirage is a Hunter - a trained mercenary, and one of the best at what she does, while Miryo is a witch and about to take the final test that will allow her to access her full power. There was some set up in the beginning - showing how witches operate, the different Paths, their schooling and testing and conversely how the Hunters operate, the different Hunter schools and jobs they are hired for afterwards, while also introducing us to the two main characters. This felt a little slow to me. It is about midway through the book after set up is done and both learn about the other that things really get interesting, so I would recommend reading further because once I got to that point I read the rest pretty quickly. The doppleganger idea, the warrior and witch schools and religion in the world felt original and very feminist, but the characters and the journeying from town to town felt a little stale. A solid novel.

Share/Like this Review?

Hard to believe that this is Marie Brennan's debut novel. The author has crafted a divine world of magic and warriors. She gives just enough information to make it real. This could easily evolve into a wonderful series. Recommended.

Share/Like this Review?

I love this book and can't wait for the sequel!!! Great strong female lead, great plot, very imaginative. Loved it all!

Share/Like this Review?

The whole idea behind how the witches come into their power is intriguing and the idea of a kind of doppleganger that must be found and eliminated is intriguing as well.

Watching Miryo and Mirage and seeing how they are the same yet different was also intriguing. I also really enjoyed Eclipse as a character, he is in a supporting role and he is awesome at it. He is supportive, smart, and respectful and just generally helpful. There is absolutely no romance in this story.

This was a very well done fantasy with some great world building, interesting magic, and engaging characters. I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. I would recommend to fans of classic swords and sorcery type of fantasy. I plan on picking up the second book in the series to read.

Share/Like this Review?

I have had this book around to read forever. I was excited to finally get to read it. I originally thought this was an urban fantasy but it is actually more of a swords and sorcery type fantasy. I ended up really loving the world and the characters. This book was also published under the title Warrior. There is sequel to this book which was published both as Warrior and Witch, and as Witch.

Mirage is a bounty hunter who has always survived by her wits and strength. Her and Eclipse get a job to hunt down a man who assassinated a witch. Mirage tries to stay away from any job involving the witches but the money and notoriety for this job is just too much to pass up.

Miryo is a 25 year old witch who was supposed to graduate into her powers but didn't. Ends up when a witch is born a doppelganger is also born; this doppelganger has no soul and must be killed at birth in order for a witch to come into her full powers. Miryo's doppelganger was never killed and so Miryo is tasked with finding that doppleganger and hunting it down. Unfortunately for Miryo and Mirage, Mirage is that doppleganger and she isn't going to go down easily.

The first part of this book is quite a bit of setup, but after you get through that the story really picks up and gets engaging. I really enjoyed the world-building and the detailed religion the witches follow. The whole idea behind how the witches come into their power is intriguing.

Watching Miryo and Mirage and seeing how they are the same yet different was also intriguing. I also really enjoyed Eclipse as a character, he is in a supporting role and he is awesome at it. He is supportive, smart, and respectful and just generally helpful. There is absolutely no romance in this story; so if you are looking for romanc....look elsewhere.

The action scenes are really well written and full of lots of great detail. I will admit at some points there was a bit too much detail and I found myself skimming a bit. However, most of it was well done. The story ties up nicely, but there is still more to be resolved in the sequel.

This was a very well done fantasy with some great world building, interesting magic, and engaging characters. I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. I would recommend to fans of classic swords and sorcery type of fantasy. I plan on picking up the second book in the series to read.

Share/Like this Review?

A fun easy read...predictable, but still enjoyable.

Share/Like this Review?