#witchlands

[lottiesoka]

Safi, Merik, Iseult, and Aeduan from Susan Dennard’s Truthwitch (and her Witchlands series in general)

[slumbering-shadows]

I think my favorite thing about Aeduan and Iseult is that they are obviously head over heels for eachother but neither of them has any frame of reference for those feelings so they're just ????? at all times. they're basically the "what was that?" "affection" "disgusting. do it again." meme

[oncesneverenough]

Aeduan did the Darcy hand flex. I repeat. The Darcy hand flex.

“He took a moment to answer, his hand flexing, as if she’d squeezed too tight.”

- Windwitch, Susan Dennard

[katewibberlystan]

I’m always gonna make me specific memes

[polite-bear]

So team how are we feeling about needing to survive a further 6 months without Witchlight 🥲🥲

( Susan pls take as much time as you need we ❤️ you)

[andromeda3116]

and rereading windwitch and getting vivia's point of view and how she interacts with serafin, it's just. shit. this is such a well-written depiction of emotional abuse. vivia is desperate for her father's love and approval, and he seems to give it to her -- and then wrench it from her in turn. and she's left to make up excuses as to why, to fill in the gaps with what she must have done or said wrong. she knows he means best for her, he must mean best for her, surely he loves her and favors her, surely if she can be just like him then she can keep his favor and never disappoint him again, never lose his fickle favor again -- surely if he's angry at her it's because she failed him, that she wasn't good enough, she must have made some kind of mistake.

serafin never raises a hand to vivia. he never has to.

[vavuska]

The dead of Loraille do not rest. Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on. She’d rather deal with the dead than the living, who point and whisper about the odd girl who was once possessed by a violent spirit. When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia fights back by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a high saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being now whispering in her head. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her in body and soul. But death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has a chance of stopping it. As Artemisia investigates a mystery of saints, secrets and dark magic, an ancient evil is stirring. Can an untrained girl, tormented by the burden of containing the revenant’s devouring power, have any hope of defeating it?

The complete Book of the Ancestor Trilogy, a stunning epic fantasy series by Mark Lawrence! Red Sister: At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In some few children the old bloods show, gifting rare talents that can be honed to deadly or mystic effect. But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls. Grey Sister: Behind its walls, the Convent of Sweet Mercy has trained young girls to hone their skills for centuries. In Mystic Class, Novice Nona Grey has begun to learn the secrets of the universe. But so often even the deepest truths just make our choices harder. Before she leaves the convent, Nona must choose which order to dedicate herself to—and whether her path will lead to a life of prayer and service or one of the blade and the fist. Holy Sister: The ice is advancing, the Corridor narrowing, and the empire is under siege from the Scithrowl in the east and the Durns in the west. Everywhere, the emperor’s armies are in retreat. Nona Grey faces the final challenges that must be overcome if she is to become a full sister in the order of her choice. But it seems unlikely that she and her friends will have time to earn a nun’s habit before war is on their doorstep.

This two books are very similar: both the protagonists, Artemisia in Vespertine and Nona in The Book of Ancestor, are orphans raised in a female-dominated holy place, trained in their ways. Both became possessed by devious spirits at some point of the story and both are reluctantly call to save the day. Both the characters are highly influenced by the traumas they endured (physically and psychologically) but while Artemisia — at the beginning of the book — is more isolated and lacks of friends, Nona, despite her more feral nature, is more easily going with people who became loyal friends to her. Both in Vespertine and Book Of Ancestor Trilogy there's a great curruption in the secular and religious hierarchies, but while in Vespertine those religious authorities are victims in their own way, in Book Of Ancestor the corrupted spiritual leaders are more mundane and their action are plotted by the political plans and ambitions of the royal family members.

The main difference is that Artemisia is not a warrior herself: when the convent is attacked by possessed soldiers (Revenants), she takes up a reliquary kept by an elderly nun and, thanks to the spirit that resided there, she runs into the fight, saving the day. Afterward, she is arrested by a priest — probably a future love interest — in conflict with himself and his religious beliefs.

There are a handful of supporting characters with their own special traits: a soldier who experienced a similar trauma to what Artemisia went through as a kid, whom she's able to connect with and help; a fellow nun from the convent who is very different from Artemisia (I appreciated their enemies-to-friends relationship, and her cleverness); and a grouchy but powerful elder who you can't help but adore (which is very similar to the cunning Abbess who took Nona under her care) .

The Revenant is an interesting character, who is supposed to be evil, and it is in some ways, but it’s also caring: it's the revenant that taught Artemisia to take care of herself, to consider herself worthy of being cared for.

Artemisia isn't as kickass as Nona ––many of the badass moments were due to the revenant controlling her––but she has her strengths. I appreciated that she grew to trust and care for the revenant despite how she was raised, and that she was able to push out of her comfort zone at times. It's nice to see how people in similar situations can turn out differently based on their individual experiences.

Book of the Ancestor, on the other hand, follows the growth of young Nona Grey, adopted into a convent of nuns known for their martial and magical skills. Nona and her friends must learn how to utilize the magic of their world to hopefully save their empire. Nona’s story, as she taps into her own potential and makes peace with herself — and the violence within her — is well-written and the self-immersion in her thoughts is cathartic and immediate.

The world of Book of the Ancestor deserves special attention. It is, in my reading, wholly unique. Giant ice sheets are slowly covering the world, squeezing nearly the entire population of the world into a narrow strip of land. It's a fascinating concept and becomes a major part of the series.

Overall, I enjoyed the series. It's fast-paced with characters that I came to enjoy (more on that in a moment). The books have a fun magic system that leads to excellent pay-offs in each of the books, and Lawrence plays with time, too, keeping the tension high throughout the stories.

I'm not a huge fan of magical academy tropes, which are very prevalent in Book Of The Ancestor (like the first book of the The Poppy War Series by R. F. Kuang). There are occasional moments of familiar tropes (there is a brief period where the book seems like it is aping the story of the first Harry Potter book beat for beat; luckily, that quickly fades out), but in the end, Nona and her friends more than turn this into their own story…helped by the fact that this most definitely isn’t a Chosen One story. Indeed, within the first few chapters, it’s revealed that the Chosen One prophecy of this world is hokum designed to distract people – and it’s that sort of decision that makes Book Of Ancestor a great trilogy.

In Book Of Ancestor, magic and supernatural abilities are more common and accepted, while in Vespertine is more marginal, at the point that only elderly nuns have a deep knowledge of the precious powers of the reliquary that they kept.

Nona Grey is also very similar to Rin from The Poppy War Series by R. F. Kuang: high skilled warriors, dominated by their fury, but loyal to their friends, used as weapons by powerful authorities. Even if Rin, at the end, falls victim of her rage and is more eager to be manipulated than Nona, who seems to be unaware of the deeper meaning of her own battles all the time and just follows the Abbess' indications.

And also the detailed distinction made by Lawrence of the four tribes and their powers reminds me of the one created by Susan Dennard in her Witchlands saga, in which every nation has their own elemental-related talents.

[susandennardfan]

The highly-anticipated finale in Susan Dennard's New York Times bestselling Witchlands series. Paths converge and prophecies unfold as Safi and Iseult—the legendary Cahr Awen—fight their way across the Witchlands to heal the final Origin Well. With ancient figures rising from the past, the Raider King’s armies gathering for war, and the magic at the heart of everything dying too fast, the entire world is now on the brink of collapse. But when Safi and Iseult reach the Air Well with the Bloodwitch Aeduan at their side, they discover too late that Eridysi's Lament is not the prophecy they thought it was—and their journeys are only just beginning.

[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!

[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!

[lottiesoka]

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

[slumbering-shadows]

Just finished Witchshadow, finally. There was no point in all of those 448 pages that I was having a remotely good time. What the fuck

[lilithsaur]

Safi+Merik

Iseult+Aeduan

[tealeavesand-roses]

Status: read Rating: 4.5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟✨

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (The Witchlands, #1) 🗡️👁️📜🫴🏻🧵 It's a travesty that I was unaware of this series until recently. I just finished the first book, and I'm hooked—wow. Dennard's world-building in the Witchland Series is intricate, beautiful, and, above all, magical.

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard is the first book in the Witchlands series. It is a story about two unregistered witches, Safiyah, a truthwitch, and Iseult, a threadwitch, who are on the run from various opposers, such as empires and mercenaries. Both Safi and Iseult must navigate a tense and scary political landscape. Along the way, they encounter allies and foes, including Prince Merik, a windwitch, and the bloodwitch Aeduen.

To give a little backstory, I had begun rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender, and as with every rewatch of Avatar, my heart swooned for Zutara. Listen, the first season came out when I was 13; I fell hard for Zuko and never looked back. I also immediately questioned why he and Katara didn't end up together once the series concluded, as their chemistry and scenes were *chef's kiss* 🤌🏼. Moving on, I wanted to know if any books/series exuded similar ATLA attributes/were identical in any way. I ended up finding A Clockwork Reader's BookTube video that recommended books for fans of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Thus, I was introduced to the Witchlands series. 🌬️ Side note, I love that A Clockwork Reader is a shameless fan of Zutara like myself, and she mentioned how she got a chance to chat with the author, Susan Dennard, and apparently, two characters in the series were inspired by the dynamic between Katara and Zuko, which of course piqued my interest even more.

⭐️⭐️SLIGHT SPOILER⭐️⭐️

Overall, I loved this book! I haven't read a YA fantasy in a while, but it's such a good read. I'm starting book two next week; I'm swamped with homework, so I need to put that first 🙃 Also, um, I'm sorry, the phrase Aeduan said to Iseult in her native tongue quite literally tugged at my heartstrings and nearly brought me to my knees. Like-are you kidding me?! I gasped when she divulged what the phrase meant, like...that's something heartmates say to each other, not a girl you swore you'd kill the next time you'd cross paths. Lmao. They've had such minimal interactions, but I'm obsessed with them.

[andromeda3116]

idk, upon rereading truthwitch, i wonder if safi and merik actually aren't going to be endgame like i'd originally assumed. like, when iseult is thinking about the heart-threads, it's always in a potentiality -- like they are forming, but not formed. they could be heart-threads. but they were parted, and life goes on. there was a possibility there, but it fizzled out with time and distance.

idk if safi is going to end up with anyone at all, tbh, and at this point, i don't think i really want her to. maybe it ends with her and merik re-introducing themselves to each other, to see if there could be something there, after the events of the story? or maybe it ends with her and caden reaching out to each other now that the hell-bards are free? (i do believe that caden is either in love with safi or on his way to it, and i'm on the fence as to whether or not he'll survive the finale.) or just with safi finally free to choose her own fate, no longer someone else's pawn or ace up their sleeve.

i'm not of the opinion that safi and/or iseult will die -- i don't feel like this is the kind of story where one of them die, and i don't feel like aeduan will, either. i definitely think aeduan and iseult have suffered enough and it would be a betrayal of the narrative to kill either of them when they're finally starting to come to peace and find love. if one of the main four is going to die, i think it will be merik, in killing the fury -- he and kullen, thread-brothers to the end.

idk, truthwitch set up safi/merik but the rest of the series kinda dropped it, and i'm not sure that wasn't intentional. like, it's one of those almosts, you know? the guy you met over the summer, felt a connection to, had a few deep conversations with over a case of beer in front of a fire pit, imagined that he might be the one for you... but then the semester started up and you went back to college and lost contact with him, and... that was that.

i just don't see it actually happening anymore, at least before the end of the story. it's an almost. a could-have-been. at best, the ending may give them a chance to start again, but i just don't think they're the same people anymore. what they had was ended by circumstance and they've spent three books (well. two, for merik) changing and growing totally apart from one another. i don't think they're incompatible now, i still think they could connect with each other, but the connection that they had formed was between two people that they aren't anymore. they'd have to start over.

idk, i just really like safi/merik as a whirlwind could-have-been romance that got torn apart before it could become something that would have survived the distance.

[dark-giver]

Safi: People tell me I have a unique way of lighting up a room.

Iseult: It’s called arson and those people are called witnesses.