The Last Windwitch
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Fans of Shannon Hale and Kelly Barnhill will delight in
this charming and richly imagined middle grade fantasy debut, featuring a
wicked queen, magical animals, a henchman with a golden heart, and a small girl
with a great destiny.
Many years ago, in the kingdom of Fenwood Reach, there
was a powerful Windwitch who wove the seasons, keeping the land bountiful and
the people happy. But then a dark magic drove her from the realm, and the world
fell into chaos.
Brida is content in her small village of Oak Hollow. There,
she’s plenty occupied trying to convince her fickle magic to actually do what
it’s meant to in her work as a hedgewitch’s apprentice—until she accidentally
catches the attention of the wicked queen.
On the run from the queen’s huntsman and her all-seeing Crow
spies, Brida discovers the truth about her family, her magic, and who she is
destined to be—and that she may hold the power to defeating the wicked queen
and setting the kingdom right again.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An intriguing setting, an interesting magical system, and a resourceful, empathic heroine mark this ambitious fantasy debut by Adam. Brida, 12 and good with horses, is finding it difficult to master the hedge magic she's learning from her mentor, hedge witch Mother Magdi, who took her in as an infant. After she hears a forbidden story of mythical stormhorses that embody uncontrollable aspects of weather, then spots them, she determines to prove her worth to the tiny village she calls home by getting to the bottom of their destructive rampages. But her efforts place her in the path of the wicked Queen Moira, who seeks the stormhorses for her own unfathomable ends. Captured by the Queen's Huntsman and brought to the capital city, Brida learns more of the ways in which magic manifests and is used—from hedge magic to ruthlessly outlawed sacred spells to sinister shadow magic—and the relationship between her family and myriad magical forms. While the leisurely, sprawling epic occasionally meanders, Adam succeeds in bringing everything together, emphasizing forgiveness and healing over vengeance and anger. Ages 8–12.
