Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Published August 30, 2011 by Atheneum
ISBN 978-1-4424-2004-5
411 pages
Series? No
Rating: PG
BUY / Nook / Kindle

High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.
It’s all a fake.

At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?

But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned—

Are about him.

Cover. I really like this cover. The ice that seems to hang around the girl is interesting. The knife as a line is very innovative. And the fact that the red cloth is really the only color gives the cover a very artistic look. However, after reading the book while the cover still look beautiful and dynamic it does not make as much sense to me.


Plot. The plot was not as interesting as I had thought it would be. That is how it always it is when I see a book and get overexcited to read it because of the cover or recommendations that I have read. Ryder does not believe in the prophecies that his mother does because his mother taught him that they are all false and only fools would believe. Yet his sister, who lived in the same house and was raised the same way, is obsessed with becoming a boneshaker. And that is an important distinction that must be made. The people on the mountain are not really witches. They throw bones down and they make prophecies. Ones that may or may not come to pass. The Witchlanders and the Baen hate each other for what was done to the other side during the war and would take any reason to kill someone of the other tribe or race. There were plenty of twists at the end of the book to be thrown by something so if you like to be surprised you most definitely will be. The characters of the book are not really shown in depth but a few of them are looked at extensively.


Characters. My favorite character was Ryder's younger sister, Pima. Although she was not actually in the book all that much. I liked how Pima and Ryder interacted. Ryder loved his little sister and it showed. My second favorite was Bodread. He is a wolf-like animal with saber teeth. What more do you need to know about him to love him? How about the fact that he is the most lovable blood-thirsty cutie ever because of the fact that he had been pampered all of his life? He is also more intuitive than his owner. And cuter, although that could be seen as a matter of opinion. After Bodread, I would have to choose Ryder because I spent so much time in his head that it was almost impossible to hate him by the end. Disagree with a lot of was he said, yes. Hate, no. He is a hardworking guy who just wants to live life how he has always remembered. He doesn't believe in magic and the fact that you have to follow everything without question and it shows in his actions throughout the book.


Recommend? Yes.