#Witchshadow

[safifonhasstrel]

what's your thoughts on sd's newsletter on witchshadow and ppl's reaction to it? art's meant to be analyzed and adored AND criticized and imo it's reasonable to express frustration when the book we paid for with our hard earned money doesn't live up to what's promised

Yeah honestly I am with you on this, anon. I think she's taking the criticism a bit too personally, which she really shouldn't. It's hard, I know that all too well. I am on my way to unlearn that too, so i know its easier said than done.

Every piece of media can, should, and will be criticised. That's just how it works. It's also very valid for the people who payed for said piece of media, not just with their money but also with their time, to be upset about things. I feel very bad for her and I know she went through a lot. I am glad everything worked out fine for her. But if I want to truthfully review something, I cannot think about what the creator might have went through. Then I wouldn't be able to give my honest opinion and we would have a whole bunch of 5 star rated books and reviews would no longer be valuable.

I myself have tried my best to be respectful in my review and give valid examples. I cannot speak for everyone though, and that people have contacted her personally is nuts. But people should be able to post freely on their own social media. I think, or I hope, that she knows that.

I am a bit annoyed about the bit saying it's fine if the book is confusing at first and readers will be able to catch up. It wasn't just confusing at first. Witchshadow genuinely made me feel stupid. Because some plot points were never mentioned before! Like the paladin who has taken over Aeduan, whose name I have already forgotten because that felt so random, and the hellbard loom. I did an entire reread of the series before starting Witchshadow, and non of these things were mentioned before. I even went back and checked again. That was one of my main complaint. Things that have never been mentioned before suddenly being more important than what we already know, and we as reader are just supposed to roll with it. Same with retconning relationships, and focusing on the wrong things/characters. Why was Iseult's book, a book she's been most excited for, centred around the Hellbards??? I genuinely couldn't care less about them, but I know a portion of the fandom loves them, but really? I was expecting to learn so must about nomatsi culture but we got so little. It didn't really feel like Iseult's book at all. I think that's incredibly valid criticism. I am not sure if she would agree with this, but it is what it is. Again, not to be taken personally please. We are all adults.

Also, taking advice from someone about a series you are writing, who hasn't read said series, even if they are your friend, is a CHOICE. While I loath time jumps in general, they CAN work for some stories. But the Witchlands is simply too complex for that.

And oh boy, that got way too long. But valid criticism is supposed to help you grow. And as my boss told me when I was facing a lot of difficulties and hard choices, that, too, is incredibly valuable for you to grow as a person. It sounds harsh at first, but it's true.

Anyway, I hope no one is going to come after me or any person who has criticised the book. I really don't want Susan to feel bad, but readers negative feelings are valid too.

Now I am gonna shut up.

[thiscrazywonderland]

The witchlands series really has me questioning some stuff about myself cause if I were in Vivia's place I would have gone crazy and taken the throne by force just out of spite fr

Like I genuinely don't get why she still wants to save Nihar? Everyone over there sucks tbh

[lottiesoka]

Iseult variations ft. Aeduan and Owl

[sxfik]

Omg dud you finally get around to reading witchshadow?? What are your all over thoughts??

omg hello!! and yes i did! i actually ended up rereading the whole series because it's been literally seven years (saying that outloud makes it so much more real wtf). it took me a while bc my god are those books a l o t to get through for me now.

i mean idk if i need to preface this since you were literally there but like... i was one of like the 10 people that was active about this series on here when it started back in the 2016-2017 era. like i love this series, and to this day i've kept the username and all the stuff i wrote for it, so just like idk a disclaimer: im not here to hate or anything, just truly mourning something i really loved.

overall thoughts: witchshadow was so disappointing. like resoundingly disappointing. there was so many things i had issues with, and idk if i even have enough time and words to describe it. i feel like this whole series suffered from having too many complex plot points and too many characters introduced five books into a six book series. not to mention the amount of lore and words that is dropped into the books with little to no explanation of what they mean and what they indicated in this world? like how is it book five and i still don't understand what a domna truly is?

i feel like the complexity balance was really held well up until witchshadow, when it literally just got so confusing that none of the characters felt like themselves? also the weird timeline for this book did not help. like jesus christ this book is complex as it is, how are you making it harder for us??

like a) iseult. i felt like she was overshadowed in her own book, i wanted to know about her nomatsi heritage and literally so much about her like the other books did for the main characters, but this felt so disappointing. where was all the worldbuilding you set up for this moment? why did esme just get downgraded all of a sudden? and also just... she doesn't feel like she made any character improvement/her arc went backwards?

b) safi was just? stupid in this book? how did she have a negative character arc. like i know she's supposed to be reckless and making impulse and stupid plans, but her character felt reduced to just that. like first and second book safi: i knew why she was making these decisions, even if they backfired, but this just feels like a mockery of her character. and i love safi, and i wish she had a way better arc than she did, and got treated with the same book time as isuelt and aeduan.

and also god, the weird emperor/safi bs was so unbareable. she's literally like 18 in this book (i actually thought she was closer to 19/20 but whatever i guess she's 18 here). every scene with them was so werid and uncomfortable. (especially that weird one where she walks in while he has sex what the fuck was going on there) why was she desperate to have sex with what i assume to be like a 60 year old??? i had to force myself to read through these parts and not skip them

and god the hellbards. i loved them at first but im getting sick of them taking over the story. why are they so important that they essentially replace both merik and practically the whole main cast of characters. why are they mentioned at every turn? if they were this important, why didnt you introduce them sooner?

c) why does safi and iseult just not have any interaction. its literally been five books bro the seperation arc is enough (and yes i fully consider them separated) !! why have they had 0 character development together?? they're arguably the center of this series, and what started this whole chase, and yet we've gotten maybe one book and a half of them actually growing together. how is this gonna turn out for the final book when you have maybe 600 pages and 6 characters to get through?

d) where the fuck was merik. hes literally a main character how did he disappear??

e) the whole vivia/stix to vivia/vaness makes me. upset. i dont understand the decision to make them threadsisters when they were vivia was gay panicking about her 24/7 in windwitch. literally 0 buildup for something that feels like it came out of nowhere. why are they like siblings now, it feels so so so weird. i honestly have so much more to say about this and yet im still upset

now this might seem like such a hateful rant, and i promise it's not hate, it's just frustration at what seemed like such an excellent book series. and honestly, up until bloodwitch i was doing fine and then this book was just... so different to the rest of the series. i know susan was forced to combine the books into one, and so maybe that's why, but idk man, this felt so disappointing.

i love foreshadowing and worldbuilding when it's done right, and i think it was doing great until this book. a lot of stuff felt like plot twists out of nowhere, with no rhyme or reasoning to it. it just didn't feel like a witchlands book if you get what i feel. honestly, out of love and time for this series, i think i'll be reading the final book as well in the series, hoping things get fixed and we get to see characters that were beloved back again.

(p.s. how are you? its been so long!!)

[dark-giver]

I have a feeling that Leopold will ask to marry Iseult in the next book, and only because of the whole story with the Trickster and Moon mother (she was caught in a storm and Iseult, I think, will be caught in a storm too, although I believe a metaphorical storm. But ugh that already happened in Praga I think - was Iseult in a "storm" again when he told her he loved her? or will it happen again.) I'm just pretty sure about

[everythingunderthestarsthings]

Heyyy everyone!

I love reading books but never seem to have a bookmark. I can actually remember the page numbers where I stop reading and have no problem going back to the correct page, but bookmarks are fun!

And though it's a very simple one, I made a bookmark for myself with my absolute favourite phrases from the Witchlands series by Susan Dennard!

[starlightfireflies]

heart-threads

written for @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt: FFF255; in the heart fandom: witchlands–first time writing for it! warnings: none word count: 613

The moon rises above a shimmering Origin Well, glowing with the tone of dying embers, the remnants of the element it represents.

The wind brushes past Aeduan’s hair. It pulses against his clothes, free to buffet his back by the lack of his salamander cloak to protect him against its bite.

He stares at the waters of the Well and thinks about before. Before the Truthwitch, before the hunt, before her. He wonders what the Aeduan entrenched in Veñaza City would think of the Aeduan who stands in the reflection.

Something snaps behind him. Leaves stir.

The footsteps of Iseult det Midenzi are as light as they were months ago. There is something whisper-soft about the way she wanders over to him, as if merely noticing him alone.

“I thought I’d find you out here,” she says lightly. She moves to stand beside Aeduan. Solid. Unyielding. 

He turns away from her. “Not many people will tolerate a Bloodwitch.”

And for good reason. He is the monster lurking in their nightmares, the one who stands in dark corners with outstretched fingers and the power of the Void. It does not matter to the revelers he is a man. It does not matter to them he knows, intimately, truly, what it is like to be one.

Iseult hums, low in her throat. “Just because they do not speak to you does not mean they do not want you there.” Slender fingers meet Aeduan’s. “All the others want you returned.”

Aedaun turns his head to her. “All of them?” he asks, because he is certain the prince of Nubrevna does not think so highly of him. Empress Vaness probably doesn’t either, for that matter, and he’d rather not take a guess at the Cartorrans and how they feel. “I feel there are many among them—your Threadsister included—who prefer the company of others.”

As always, the mention of Safi sends a glint spiraling through Iseult’s eyes. “Maybe it was just me who wanted you back.”

Aeduan tries not to think too much about her words.

But there is a Heart-Thread looming above them, wrapping delicate tendrils around the Loom of their lives. It does not matter, not anymore, that Iseult cannot see either of their Threads. 

“I wouldn’t want to be inside either,” Iseult says, suddenly. Her fingers send pricks of lightning up Aeduan’s arm as she curls her hand around his. He will never tire of her touch, he thinks, yet he cannot bring himself to meet her hold.

Iseult’s gaze is fixed upon the Origin Well’s shimmer. Her fingers press in, ever so slightly.

“What—what are you thinking about?” Bringing the words to the surface takes less energy than Aeduan thought it would.

Her eyes flash, momentarily, with surprise. “Only about the Aether Well. Where I first saw…first saw our Heart-Thread.” She gives him a lightning-quick glance. “I wonder if going into the Fire Well would allow me to see it again.”

Once again, the Heart-Thread hovers. It is a reminder. But it is also a choice.

So Aeduan squeezes Iseult’s hand back. “I have no doubt the empress would not be pleased with you if you returned to her party sopping wet.”

“Safi would cover for me.”

“Safiya is a fool.”

“Safi is a competent fool.” 

They lapse into silence, but it is comfortable. Which is odd to think about, because every one of Iseult’s quiet moments are comfortable. Safe.

“We can stay out here, if you want,” says Iseult.

“That would be nice.”

And thought Aeduan cannot see their Heart-Thread, it is glowing, twining, letting Aeduan know, for the first time, he is not alone under a darkening sky.

[fantasyoverreality98]

Windwitch was such a good book. I think Bloodwitch is even better though, especially for Aeduan and Iseult content.

I need to befriend people who've read the Witchlands because I'm going crazy over here having no one to talk to about it

[longsightmyth]

Why don’t you stand by Susan den std anymore? (Re: books/authors you like)

Between the milquetoast both siding re: Palestinian genocide, the mediocre edging into bad prose of witchshadow, and the assertion that cait corran shouldn't have been penalized because other authors have done the same or worse without reprisal I just don't have it in me to rec her anymore

In full fairness it's possible she has figured out the genocide but since I blocked her on all platforms due to being done I couldn't say.

The mediocre edging into bad prose of witchshadow has not changed and I couldn't even get through half, which is unfortunate since I really liked Bloodwitch and Windwitch.

The defense of cait corran can be found on twitter

Idk. Read her if you want. I no longer recommend her.

[slumbering-shadows]

I will say though I don't like the Paladins thing. I don't really care about these people that lived thousands of years ago I care about our characters in the here and now. I wish Witchshadow had been more about them and less about the Paladins. take it away. except Leopold he can stay

[safifonhasstrel]

Hi!

I’m not sure if you’re still in the witchlands fandom anymore but I saw I post where you said the fandom died after witchshadow and it kind of concerned me. I just joined the fandom recently and I’ve almost finished bloodwitch. I’m obsessed with literally everything but I’ve seen so many people say witchshadow sucks so I’m pretty worried. But is the fandom truly dead rn? I don’t see many people talking about it online but I just assumed it was always like this before I joined. And what do I need to emotionally prepare myself for when I read witchshadow?

Oh anon, I am so sorry. I guess I am still kinda in the fandom? I still have this url after all, but I am definitely a lot less active than I uses to be and witchshadow is definitely the reason for that. I believe for quite a few people it must have been the same. I know from several people on here that they felt led down by the book. The fandom has never been huge, like for six of crows for example, but it definitely used to be more active. It especially seems like the people who used to create a lot of content were disappointed in witchshadow, because all the edits and art kind of faded out and disappeared. I like to joke that witchshadow is the equivalent to game of thrones season 8, but it's not really a joke at all. But I don't want to scare you. There are definitely people who liked the book well enough. (Even though I do question the reading comprehension of the people giving it 5 stars on goodreads.) Just be prepared that a lot of things will not make sense and several things will come out of nowhere or have been retconned even. Especially if you have read the previous books back to back...(like I did with my reread) But hey, maybe you enjoy it well enough! Depending on which characters you like best. But if not feel free to rant in my inbox!

[thiscrazywonderland]

A little trouble I keep having with the witchlands series is that throughout the books we keep getting told that when Safi and Iseult are together they're just this incredible team and can pull off just about everything and whatever, but... When do we really see that?

I mean, they do have a great friendship, but can they actually work together tho??? I don't know if I'm not remembering things correctly (I'm on the final book currently) but I just don't remember a moment in the books in which they actually manage to pull off one of their plans, It always seems like they end up being too reckless and everything ends up going wrong.

To me it just seems like they are best friends but can't find common ground on their personalities when working together. Safi, on her part, is super active and reckless and she is always pushing Iseult to do things she's not comfortable with, even when she knows she's not a good strategist. On the other hand, I think Iseult let's herself be overpowered by Safi and doesn't trust in herself enough to be able to push back on her when she's not thinking things through, so Iseult ultimately allows her loyalty for Safi to cloud her judgement.

Listen, I'm not saying they don't have good chemistry or that they aren't amazing friends, but I do think that the books keep trying to tell us that they have a certain type of dynamic that I'm just not sure is there

[lottiesoka]

Iseult because she’s my weaverwitch queen and Safi because she’s hilarious. We love an iconic set of besties.

[sxfik]

Hiiii oh my god you've read it!!! The conversation surrounding Witchshadow is honestly so exhausting emotionally for me because I feel as if I need to justify both liking the series despite it and liking some elements of the book to myself. I'm definitely of those holding out for the last book (and shamelessly seeing nuance that isn't there in the threadsisters thing—totally could just be a way to say best friend (it isn't)) but it's interesting to see your thoughts and I'm glad you're back!

-@un-empressed

heyyy!! yes, finally after like seven years, i read (reread) the whole series including witchshadow. i completely understand where you're coming from, bc ive avoided reading the book for so long because of the same thing. and even now, i feel like this emotional ping ponging between loving so many elements of this series and feeling let down by witchshadow? the witchlands was such a special series for me, with it starting off this tumblr account itself and encouraging me to start my ao3, and making so many mutuals and friends on here, and idk witchshadow really kinda soured it for me.

i'm still going to support susan though, bc from what i understand there were a lot of publisher/editor/industry issues, and i still love the series for what it was. i hope that the book was just a dip, and that the rest of the series wraps up well!! maybe i can start writing for safik/baesult again (and fix up my old fics bc jesus christ)

[dark-giver]

"Safi and Henrick will soon parade through the great hall. So dramatic, so public. Nothing like the braiding ceremony for Nomatsis. Then again, Cartorrans do not marry for love. There’s even a song about it. Something with robins and magpies."

-witchshadow, chapter 26

BRAIDING CeREmOnY?!?! 🥹

[libraryinthecountry]

★ Have you read anything by Susan Dennard yet? I have read @stdennard’s Witchlands series, aside from Witchshadow (🙈), but haven’t read anything else by her (yet!). I did however, have so much fun on Twitter in 2019, participating in the first #SoozYourOwnAdventure that grew to eventually be #TheLuminaries! And to see this book now, as this quite beautiful @illumicrate edition no less, is really something else! The whole aesthetic of this cover and book design … can I live in it? I want to live in it. Also, please jump over to @stdennard’s post today, featuring an annotated copy of Truthwitch, as it is being auctioned off to support disaster aid for victims of the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria! The Luminaries was featured in Illumicrate’s November box and if you’re keen to add editions like this to your shelves, jump on the waistlist and use LIBRARY5 when you snag a spot! 😘 ★ HASHTAGS // #bookstagram #fantasybooks #coverlove #prettybooks #totalbooknerd #becauseofreading #bookshelf #bookboxes #bookaesthetic #myfavoritethings #quietandstill #illumicratenov2022 #illumicrate #susandennard #yabooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CoV-1PIrTQE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=