Warrior and Witch (edition 2006)

A very compelling read. As a sci-fi geek, I normally shy away from fantasy, as odd as that may seem. However, this is somewhat atypical of the fantasy genre in my opinion.The story has a lot of intellectual content, as does the earlier book of this duology (Doppelganger, now published as Warrior). Moreso than other fantasy works I've read, there is a lot of theoretical and ethical discussion. I really liked that.

A different kind of warrior that was split at birth to learn magic as one and war as the other. A strange tale... ( )

I really liked this book. It was a good follow-up novel to Doppelganger, and I do still like the world she’s created. I’m not sure if she plans a third in the set, but I hope so - I would love to see what’s in the Epilogue expanded upon into a novel. The witches have to shake up a lot of their traditions in this book, and exploring the ramifications of those changes would make an interesting tale.

What to say about the book without giving things away… I like the interplay between the characters. Not just the main characters either, but I like the way the secondaries react as well. There are lots of good pieces of character development, yet the secondary characters are able to stay secondaries and not take over the plot. (Some readers will disagree with me, but I like having it be obvious who the story is about.)

The only bit of bad that I really would complain about is the number of POV shifts. These shifts were a lot more understandable in Doppleganger, as the main character was in two bodies, and the POV shifts followed both halves. In this case, we follow multiple different people. It works fine for the story, but there were occasional moments of confusion while I figured out who was the POV character. It does still work, but not as smoothly as in the first book. ( )

Warrior and Witch by Marie Brennan is the second novel in the Doppelganger series. Just so people don’t get confused, this same novel is also known as Witch. Why the change…

My publisher wants them to have continued life; the reissue is timed for two months after the release of Midnight Never Come, to attract new readers from that book. The change in title comes about because they wanted to redesign these two to more obviously form a pair, the change in cover because everyone agrees Warrior and Witch (now Witch) has the much more arresting image.

In Doppelganger, Mirei has just told the Primes the true purpose behind the doppelgangers and that their ancestor had it all wrong. They weren’t meant to be destroyed, they were meant to be cherished and then once a witch comes of age, the two halves pray together in order to become one again. This is the only way for a witch to truly harness the power of the Void. Needless to say, not everyone is ecstatic by Mirei’s revelations and as such, there are some dissidents in the ranks of the witches.

This is a series I have really been enjoying, however, I will say that it was a little off compared to Doppelganger. I don’t know what it was, but something seemed off. Towards the end of Doppelganger, after Mirei was formed, she was still having conversations with Mirage, but that all seemed to go away in Warrior and Witch. Don’t get me wrong, she was still there in her memories and she still had some deja vu going on, however, I don’t believe that her character was developed as well as it could have been. I also wasn’t a fan of how they downplayed Mirage to the point where they kept saying she didn’t exist anymore and that Mirei needs to remember that she’s a witch and not a Hunter. Personally, Mirei is both and to say she isn’t one would be saying Mirei doesn’t exist. Afterall, she wouldn’t without Mirage, she would still be just Miryo. Although, the development of all the other characters was just as good, so I really can’t say the character development was off. We learn more about each supporting character and the book doesn’t focus primarily on Mirei.

I think that was probably the other reason it seemed off. Doppelganger focused on Miryo and Mirage, two sides of the same coin, yet this one also focused on Satomi and the brewing rebellion of the witches who don’t exactly follow Mirei. The writing was just as fabulous, so that definitely didn’t catch me off guard, but I have to say that I’m glad there was some time between my reading of these two novels. I think I would have felt cheated by not having all the focus being on Mirei. Although, it didn’t not hurt the story at all. I was still engrossed in it and kept reading when I knew I should be cleaning my office. What can I say, I can’t help it when a good book keeps drawing me into it’s story.

Overall, this is another great novel that I will be eagerly waiting to add to my personal collection. The world is still exceedingly well written; the characters have such depth to them that it’s hard not to form an attachment; and the plot kept you chained to the book to see what was going to happen. My only real problem with the whole story, it ended all too quickly. It just seems like there should have been more and I’m curious if Brennan has thoughts on adding a third novel. I know the series ended with the second one, but you get to the final battle and then it’s over and the rebuilding occurs. It was very abrupt and left me wanting to know more, wanting to continue reading what wasn’t there. To me, that shows what a great novel this was. I’m mad that I couldn’t continue reading it. So I would highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good fantasy story without any romantic elements.

http://www.literaryescapism.com/2008/07/27/258/ ( )

It's been a while since I read the first book of this duology, Doppelganger (or now titled Warrior thanks to the re-release), but I'm glad I finally got around the conclusion (also titled, thanks to the re-release, as Witch). Brennan's prose has improved with this second book, and the problems I had with Doppelganger I don't have with Warrior and Witch, which made me quite a happy camper. And I will add that I feel these books are best read back-to-back. Doppelganger stands on its own, but really, these two books make up a whole, and it's important to read them in order to get the whole story.

The premise: when a witch is born, a doppelganger is created. In order for that witch to achieve her full powers, the doppelganger MUST be killed, or the witch's magic will spin out of control and kill them both. Only Mirei has found a way out of this bloody tradition, and not everyone is so accepting of the change of rules. The witching community has divided, one side determined to embrace Mirei and her new magic, and the other side determined to destroy not only Mirei, but all the other doppelgangers as well. Mirei must protect these girls while trying to help mend the rift between the two camps, and stay alive in the process. Because her new magic is killing her.

The full review, with spoilers, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Marie Brennan's WARRIOR AND WITCH

Happy Reading! :) ( )