Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Patriot Witch by C. C. Finlay (review)



Title: The Patriot Witch
Author: C. C. Finlay
Illustrator: N/A
Pages: 327
Genre: Fiction
Dewey Decimal: F Fin
ISBN: 978-0-345-50390-9
Cost: $0 ($6.39 on Kindle)

The Patriot Witch takes the flavor of Johnny Tremain, adds some Biblical prayer, and binds it all together with eggs to work its magic on the reader.

So I managed to score a free copy of this novel through some source awhile back. You can too if you head over to the author's page. Why do I mention that this book is free? Because it is well worth your time to download it and read it.

The story follows a young man, Proctor Brown, during the early days of the American Revolution. He fights the "lobsterbacks" with his militia buddies and discovers he happens to have a talent for magic. And while I'm no stranger to historical fiction, I do not recall many novels that cover the Revolution and include magic.

Based on Finlay's level of expertise in history, I will assume his facts are in order down to many of the minute details. And that is part of what makes this book fun to read. You see, I love history. I know shockingly less than I should, but it is always fun to learn how our ancestors lived. So seeing Proctor and his fellow colonists go through life made me feel comfortable. Adding magic to the mix made things interesting.

While the magic as portrayed in the novel is based on religion and prayer, I found it fun to see how magic could have been a part of our fight for independence. And while there are some speed bumps in the plot and a few predictable scenes, it was still an enjoyable read. The Kindle price is a bit higher than I would like to pay, but since I can get it for free, I'm willing to invest money in the rest of the series just to see how Proctor plays a part in the rest of the war.

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