Flying witch artwork by astromoali

Nils and Beth loved the Tag Team they did for Women in SFF so much, they decided to bring it back for this year’s Wyrd and Wonder!

Bkfrgr and Ariana of The Book Nook created the Tag Team tag (HERE). It’s a chain link based on theme association, and we thought it would be a fun tag to kick things off with!

Here are the rules as set out by Bookfrgr and Ariana:

The rules, as far as there are any, are as follows:

1. Pick a friend to play with
2. Decide on a prompt to get you started (this can be absolutely anything you want it to be)
3. Make a thematic connection to the book picked by your partner, Six Degrees stylie (see link)
4. See where your chain of books takes you (and make your chain as long as you like)
5. Definitely link back to our posts so we can see your book chains and grow out TBRs

This time, Nils started our chain with a favourite magic caster – let’s see where we got!

If you’d like to jump in at any point, tag us on social media so we can see your chain!

Prompt: Magic Casters

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

I’ll start with one of my recent favourite Magic Casters, Mika Moon from The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. Mika is a character who is completely in love with her WITCHY MAGIC, she’s always experimenting with SPELLS and brewing MAGICAL TEA. Though under her society’s leader, Primrose, Mika has to keep her abilities SECRET and not draw any attention. Though Mika is a witch who loves to BEND THE RULES, so when an eccentric old man finds a video of her experimenting with spells on YouTube, he contacts her and asks her to tutor three young children whose magic is out of control. This is a delightful COSY read, with plenty of HUMOUR and a heart-warming SLOW BURN ROMANCE. 

– Nils

Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

Great start Nils! This made me think of Threadneedle by Cari Thomas, which is also all about WITCHY MAGIC but is much DARKer and certainly not cosy. Set in London, this is a world where MAGIC IS SECRET, there’s a MAGICAL UNDERWORLD. Anna is raised by her aunt, who believes MAGIC IS BAD and SINFUL and should be repressed. However, when Anna starts a new school, she discovers other girls who can also do magic, and they form a COVEN. They open up for Anna a whole new world, a whole side to magic she didn’t realise existed. It opens Anna’s eyes to what’s happening at home, just how ABUSIVE her aunt is, and finally leads her to discover some pretty big FAMILY SECRETS and BETRAYALS. There’s a very dangerous CURSE that Anna and her new FOUND FAMILY must try to break together in order to free Anna.

– Beth

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

Okay Threadneedle sounds so good! Going on the themes of magic being a secret and also sinful, I’m reminded of Cackle by Rachel Harrison. This is another COSY READ set in the small town of Rowan. After a pretty messy break-up with her boyfriend, Annie Crane moves from Manhattan to a more suburban lifestyle, where she can start fresh. When arriving in Rowan she’s head over heels in love with the town and people, particularly glamorous Sophie who immediately befriends Annie. There’s something a little DARK about Sophie, the townspeople SHUN AND FEAR her, calling her sinful. At first Annie thinks it’s because Sophie is an unmarried woman living alone, but she soon discovers Sophie is a WITCH and can WIELD GREAT POWER, and so can Annie. Sophie teaches Annie to UNLOCK HER POWERS, to TRANSFORM INTO A STRONGER WOMAN.

– Nils

The Year of the Knife by G D Penman

Ah that does sound a lot like Threadneedle, with new friends helping to unlock her powers! The URBAN setting of Manhattan reminds me of The Year of the Knife by G D Penman. Sully is also a WITCH who is somewhat SHUNNED by her colleagues as she’s a MAVERICK, STRONG-WILLED, and doesn’t give a damn about bureaucracy and politics. She’s a lesbian in love with a VAMPIRE, and there’s a strong NOIR tone to the narrative. Sully must SOLVE a series of MURDERS that are being caused by apparent POSSESSIONS by DEMONS. In the process of uncovering SECRETS and certain things HUSHED UP BY THE GOVERNMENT, Sully tries to solve a particularly COMPLEX SPELL which would enable her to WIELD GREAT POWER. P.S Her MOTHER IS A RIGHT BITCH #mummyissues

– Beth

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

I love how this game leads us to talking about similar themes which connect the stories but ultimately very different books. As soon as you mentioned murders, demons and possessions I immediately thought of The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan. Our narrator Helena tells the story of her time spent as a clerk and Justice in training under the TUTELAGE of Konrad Vonvalt. The Emperor’s Justices act as detective, judge and executioner for any crime committed against the EMPEROR’S RULE and every Justice has their own unique abilities and obtains secrets passed down through the Order of Justices. Vonvalt is the Emperor’s most trusted Justice and holds ARCANE POWERS with the ability to use the Emperor’s Voice, a means of COMPELLING a person to reveal the truth. He is also adept at NECROMANCY. Throughout the first book and its sequel The Tyranny of Faith, Helena and Vonvalt (along with a few others) have to SOLVE MURDERS, uncover CORRUPTION, and stop a powerful GRIMOIRE with the secrets of unlocking power from the DEMON WORLD falling into the hands of a RELIGIOUS FANATIC.

– Nils 

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

Ha, you’re very right Nils! So, when I hear Emperor, I immediately think of our current read, but I’ll go with the first in the trilogy for the sake of this exercise! The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart is a very different book indeed to The Justice of Kings, but it has an EMPEROR who has SHUT UP THE PALACE after the death of his wife and runs his Empire using CONSTRUCTS – creatures he is able to make and COMPELS to do his bidding using bone shard magic. Locked in the palace are his daughter, Lin, and his foster son, Bayan, and they COMPETE through a series of TESTS set by the Emperor to win keys to various rooms in the palace, which UNLOCK FURTHER KNOWLEDGE about the SECRET MAGIC. Meanwhile, the Empire is bubbling with UNREST through MISRULE, poverty, and the fact that children are forced to take part in the tithing festival, where a shard of bone is removed from their skull, sometimes killing them. Jovis is fast becoming a FOLK HERO as he rescues children along with his MAGICAL ANIMAL COMPANION Mephi. There are lots of society-altering SECRETS in this XANXIA!

– Beth

Swashbucklers by Dan Hanks

Damn, I love The Drowning Empire trilogy so much! There’s just so many cool and fascinating elements included! One of my favourites is MAGICAL ANIMAL COMPANIONS, and Swashbucklers by Dan Hanks has an awesome MAGICAL and SPIRITUAL fox called Tabitha who mysteriously appears when the main character, Cisco Collins is in dire need of help. Swashbucklers begins with a MYSTERIOUS MURDER, one which causes our main protagonist, Cisco Collins, to return with his son, George, to the town he once grew up in. Yet Dark Peak is no ordinary town—in 1989 a SUPERNATURAL EVENT occurred, one which involved a pirate GHOST called Deadman’s Grin, the gates of HELL being opened, and where four young kids united to save the world. With signs of HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF, Cisco can no longer RUN AWAY FROM HIS PAST, he remembers exactly what happened that night, and he is determined to make his friends see the truth.

– Nils

Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker

Speaking of RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR PAST, that’s exactly what Cahan du Nahere tries to do in RJ Barker’s upcoming Gods of the Wyrdwood. As a child, he’s CHOSEN by the monks of a particular god to FULFIL A PROPHECY, and he spends his childhood undergoing GRUELLING TRAINING. He’s very scared and lonely, and finds solace in a LONE FRIEND who teaches him the way of a kinder, lesser-known god. Cahan lives in a world where the FORESTS are avoided because they’re almost SENTIENT in their DANGER – people who enter do not tend to return. Cahan is able to travel through the Wyrdwood as he understands and abides by the LAWS of the SPIRITS OF THE FOREST to do no harm. Cahan lives on the outskirts of the community, an OUTCAST who NO-ONE TRUSTS, but who the village finds depending upon when war comes to their walls. In order to use his magic, Cahan must TAKE ENERGY AND LIFE from someone, and he has SWORN TO NEVER DO SO AGAIN. But how then can he defend the village? Also, there’s an ANIMAL COMPANION!

– Beth

From a cosy read about witches to a deep dark forest trying to kill you via urban LGBQT fantasy and an island archipelago that moves with the seasons.

Phew!

Where can you take our chain next?

Flying witch artwork by astromoali