A Spell for the Revolution

After both the Continental Army and the witches of the Farm scored victories against their enemies in The Patriot Witch, Finlay ups the stakes while weaving in the near destruction of the Americans with it--the British are landing more troops, defeating Washington's army at nearly every turn, and the Covenant now has its eyes fixed solidly on Proctor, Deborah, and the other witches of the Farm in Salem, Massachusetts. The Covenant has cast a new curse upon the American army, and Proctor and Deborah need to travel again--often behind enemy lines and into the thick of the action--to rescue an orphan boy who may be used to facilitate the curse. In the meantime, old enemies resurface to threaten Proctor and Deborah too. Fortunately Spell doesn't suffer the middle book lag that many second books of trilogies do. It's faster paced than Patriot, and the interweaving of the heroes' actions with the actual historical events is ingenious. Historical buffs will also relish the occasional appearances by figures such as Thomas Paine and Nathan Hale, along with regular showings by George Washington and his staff. The book is excellent well done, as some back in the day may have said.

This volume - the second on a trilogy, perhaps in a series - takes place during the American Revolution. In here we continue reading the events affecting a young man, Proctor Brown, as he adds his magicks to the effort shaping the American Revolution. We see him facing curses, golems, evil witchery, hauntings, and finally, facing the big baddy only to lose him in the skirmish. While this is the center novel of a trilogy I found it to be a faster read than the first. While the first book had an overly long section that seemed to drag along, each incidence here was taken in a good, fast direction. Heck, we even get to see a bit of intervention from the other side... If you are looking for a close-up depiction of historical figures, forget it - this if a fine fantasy in which the history is the background. If you are looking for a fine read set during the events of the American Revolution, with historical characters seen from the eyes of a fighter, wherein the spirit of the revoluion is strong, get this set. You won't be disappointed.

Alternative histories are great. Even better are stories drawn from actual history, offering fantastical explanations for real anomalies in our timeline. Second in Finlay's series Traitor To The Crown, A Spell for the Revolution picks up where The Patriot Witch left off. Proctor and Deborah have new trials to face, new enemies to battle, and more magic to learn. Like all the best 'middle bits' of epic sagas (The Empire Strikes Back, The Two Towers), A Spell for the Revolution tests a reader's willingness to bear the burdens of the characters. The misery of war, Proctor's internal struggle with being unable to fight openly on the side of the Continental Army, and Deborah's frustration at pitting her magical abilities against those of their enemies - the reader keenly feels the losses and setbacks the characters experience. The magic in these books is fantastic. It's well drawn, believable, and yet riveting. To describe events further would be to spoil the best bits, but it's as good as the magic in The Patriot Witch, and better. At the end, the looming threat of the mysterious Covenant of Witches hints at a final battle. The third book will be out June 23, and I can't wait!

Just read the first two books of the series and eagerly waiting for the third. Finlay does such a great job with the idea of witches working behind the scenes during the Revolution. He makes the magic (and its use and its place in the culture) entirely plausible. The relationships between the characters are beautifully developed. The romance is natural and mature. Page turners in the best sense of that phrase. Highly recommended!

C. C. Finlay is an adept world builder, and this ability shines as he places the reader smack in the middle of the Revolutionary War. The battle scenes are rendered with attention to historical and meteorological accuracy, as well as the more personal and mundane concerns of grime and blood and mortal peril. The appearance of numerous founding fathers as walk-on characters is completely charming. Even Betsy Ross gets to play her appointed role. But it is the intersection of history and the lives of the protagonists that grips the reader. There they are, present in some way at all the important battles we vaguely remember from American History classes. The people who populate the story--a small band of well-meaning patriotic witches--are sympathetic, but somewhat bumbling. The secrecy they've taken on for generations has stripped them of the full ability and even willingness to use their skills. Their ambivalence shows as they vacillate between determination to help the rebel cause and a desire to hide from personal harm. Most of them take time out for self-training in this novel, so that the action is carried by Proctor Brown and Deborah, a more powerful witch, until the climax scenes, at which point they reappear. Proctor, as a lone male witch in this predominantly female company, seems doomed to associate with powerful women who don't understand him and, in fact, are rather mean to him--his mother, his former fiancée, and Deborah. For her part, Deborah serves as an object lesson to people who insist on doing everything themselves. So, story aside, there were several things I loved about this book: Finlay can certainly turn a phrase, and at times I wished for a highlighter in my hand. I truly appreciated his original take on magic spells--not reciting the "secret names" of objects or speaking in Latin, but applying talent accompanied by fervent prayer. The smooth marriage of magic talent and religious faith was a refreshing change. The manifestation of the antagonist's curse (no spoiler here) is brilliant. If I were pressed to find a complaint, it would only be that at times I felt over-reminded about what had happened earlier in the story and what our goal was--"to break the curse"--a phrase that echoed every few pages. Having read the first two volumes in three days, I can assure potential readers that this series is a page-turner.