The Patriot Witch (Traitor to the Crown)

If you're like me, you don't get to read as much as you'd like, or rather, what you read isn't exactly "for pleasure." Therefore, when you do have the opportunity to read what you want, you get picky. In my case, that means turning to the works of a rare dozen or so authors who have never failed to engage me in their fictional worlds. C.C. Finlay is most definitely on that list. There's an ease to his use of language, a rich tapestry of setting and character that immediately pulls me in, and his stories are always fresh in their plotting. I've yet to be disappointed in reading any of his work. Finlay's latest historical fantasy novel, The Patriot Witch, provides an extra bonus as it's set against the rich AND realistic backdrop of America's struggle for independence (a personal favorite historical period). War is not pretty and Finlay never shies from showing us the clear and dirty details without ever slowing down the story. If you wanted to fight for freedom, more power to you. Don't have a rifle? Just wait a few moments. Someone else will fall and you can use theirs. If nothing else, Finlay makes it clear that a pragmatic mind is the only thing that keeps you alive in the midst of battle... if you're lucky. As it turns out, luck - or to be more specific, MAGIC, may have something to do with staying alive as well. While there's ample historic underpinnings to The Patriot's Witch, the story's heart lies with Finlay's protagonist Proctor Brown, a 20 year-old young farmer and minuteman. Proctor learns many a painful lesson in this first part of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy. Coming of age during the American Revolution is one thing. Discovering the dark ugly side of magic is another. Up until the story's kicked into gear, Proctor's only exposure to magic is the benign art of scrying - the ability to see into the future (though interpretation is key as he painfully discovers). He soon learns that his dreams of peaceful farming have no place in the harsh realities of a war reaching far beyond the battlegrounds of Lexington and Bunker Hill into the realms of the rights and wrong of magical power. It is that exploration of what defines right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, which makes up a sizeable portion of this novel. Finlay allows the reader to share in Proctor's confusion, discovery and realizations by exposing the character to witches loyal to opposing sides in the colonies' fight for independence. Desperate to hold on to their lands, the Brits will do whatever is necessary... including enlisting witches of dark magic to defeat their enemies. The American witches, however, (ever the underdogs) resist the use of life taking magics, even when it comes at a price. Yes, there's a metaphorical element to the story with bad witches as the British (the bad guys) and good witches as the Americans (that would be us good guys). That said, several threads are set up in this first novel that make promise of a more complex, less easily defined sense of

The Patriot Witch is the first in a trilogy of historical fantasies in the Traitor to the Crown series by C.C. Finlay also known as Charles Coleman Finlay author of The Prodigal Troll. Del Rey is releasing the series one a month with the first this past April and the 2nd and 3rd books following a month apart similar to how Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy and Naomi Novik's Temeraire / His Majesty's Dragon were done. I love it when a publisher does something like this, especially given the lag time most of us wait for our favorite series to have a new release. Although publisher a has to have a lot of confidence in the books as their expectations would have to be high. I can say without any reservations that The Patriot Witch hits all the right marks with gritty action, believable characters, and good magic while nailing the setting. The story is centered during revolutionary times in Massachusetts, mostly in the Lexington to Boston area. From a historical aspect The Patriot Witch is completely accurate to the point you could consider it a secret history instead of an alternative one. The story just mixes in magic here and there to help explain how events unfold as they did in ingenious and completely logical ways. I'll refrain from mentioning specific events as it would ruin the fun of finding out what the characters were involved with. The lead and some secondary characters have a lot of depth given the length of the book at 330 pages, which nowadays I'd consider a light read in the fantasy genre. The Patriot Witch gives you the common people's view of the revolution through the eyes of Proctor Brown, a christian farmer and minuteman who also happens to be descended from a line of witches with magic in his blood. I watched the John Adams HBO mini-series last year, which was enthralling but it differed in that it was from the perspective of the leaders of the time so I found Brown's everyman POV refreshing. Proctor is very conflicted between his faith, his newly found powers, and also turning against the British. Even nowadays it is strange to think that people considered themselves British just as much as American during revolutionary times. There is a second war being fought at the same time. One with arms and the other magical as the British side has witches of its own helping. Although it is unclear how much the Brits know about their involvement, but more of the intrigue will probably unfold in succeeding volumes. At it heart The Patriot Witch is a story or responsibility, courage, and selflessness with the main characters sense of doing the right thing driving them even when alternatives from danger are given to them time and again. The one slow point was Proctor's time spent on a farm while trying to learn about his abilities, but even that sequence ends on a high note of surprises and action. The battle scenes are well drawn from historical sources with very realistic combat. The ending plays out well and leaves you wanting for so much

I couldn't even tell you how long it's been since I was totally sucked into a book by page five--before THE PATRIOT WITCH, that is. I almost missed my bus stop due to this book, and that hasn't happened on the front end of a book in far too long. Young Proctor Brown, descendant of the John Proctor tried for witchcraft in Salem, has powers that he does not understand, and that his mother has been pressing him to keep secret since he discovered them. But circumstances force him to confront his power: the Revolutionary War has begun, starting with a confrontation with a British officer bearing a charm that allows him to emerge from any battle unharmed. Proctor finds himself compelled to attempt to break the officer's charm, and from there, he embarks on a quest to understand his abilities. The secret history of the patriot witches of the beginning of the American Revolution unfolds quickly and grippingly from there, all the way to Bunker Hill. There are impressive historical details throughout, but the utter creepiness of the witchcraft was an unexpected delight for me, from zombies to human sacrifice. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

(No spoilers here!) Finlay does a whole lot of things right in this book (setting it far, far above Katherine Kurtz's disappointing 1996 Two Crowns for America, the only other work I've run into that handles witches and the American Revolution). His characters are human, believable, and sympathetic. They know weakness and uncertainty; they make mistakes; they change their minds. For the most part the emotional interactions between these characters are handled with a subtle, even lovely, touch. Finlay conveys big, important, tragic things without melodrama, both at the personal level and at the "Shot Heard Round the World" level. Which is not to say this book is the literary equivalent of a chick flick; on the contrary, the battles--again, both large-scale and small--are visceral and gripping, and they read fast. Even the reader familiar with the historical encounters can suspend that knowledge of the outcome and worry over how things will turn out. In fact, the integration of history with fiction is something Finlay always does well. (His 2002 novelet "We Come Not to Praise Washington" was a finalist for the Sidewise Award for alternate history). Finlay is a trained historian who's done plenty of academic work on this era, but don't let that scare you off, because he's a storyteller first. None of this reads as dry history; in fact this novel manages to breathe real life into an era that everyone knows at least something about, reminding us that the patriots and tories of the American Revolution had real-life, tough decisions to make, balancing love and family and fear against any political considerations. People died, many of them senselessly. Others were displaced or went hungry. Where pop history forgets them and academic history might render them dry figures, Finlay's characters fear and feel these losses. Maintaining historical gender roles while writing strong female characters is another place Finlay excels. The prose and dialogue convey the period and lifestyle well while remaining seamlessly readable, resorting neither to modern slang nor stilted historical usage. (Yes, as another reviewer noted--there's a stretch of thees and thous. But this comes from someone who would indeed have spoken like that, doesn't actually happen often or last long, and even gets noticed and discussed by the main characters later.) History geeks will enjoy having a few fun tidbits thrown their way, such as the answer to the historical mystery of the shot that started it all; similarly, the dialogue near the end over the name of a hill where a battle was fought manages to be both funny and sadly profound. All of the above said, while this is an excellent book, it is not a perfect book. For instance, a long stretch of the story relies upon the POV character not communicating information he has to the characters around him; I didn't buy his reason for this, in large part because he never quite explains it. Perhaps his reason was valid, bu

It's April, 1775, the time of year when a young man's mind turns to romance, cattle, and his poor fashion options. Young Proctor Brown has many things on his mind, not the least of which is his attempted courtship of loyalist Emily Rucke. Her father is none too pleased by the pairing and Proctor means to change his mind. Matters are complicated by the fact that Proctor is a farmer, a militiaman, and a witch. It's no easy thing being a witch in 1775 New England. It's a thing Proctor's mother has tried to keep well hidden, to the point she hasn't taught her son much about their abilities. Proctor can scry some, but often doesn't understand what he sees. He longs to get a grasp on his talents, and after a muster goes horribly wrong, he is given the opportunity to do just that. As Proctor discovers this side of himself, an entirely new world opens--just as one begins to for the country. Proctor's adventures in Revolutionary New England are filled with all you could hope for. It is a coming of age story, it is a romance, it is a magical journey through our country's bloody history. And? Look out for the zombies. Win! Finlay does for the Revolutionary War what Novik did for the Napoleonic with her Temeraire books; this is a rich blend of history and fantasy, that will only leave you wanting more when all is said and done. Fortunately, books two and three are coming in May and June. The wait will not be long.