elzbethmrgn's Reviews (667)

This was a comfortingly cozy read. A mystery to solve, a betrayal to suffer, a romance to swoon into, all wrapped in a delightful cover of magic. Hints of [b:The Watchmaker of Filigree Street|22929563|The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, #1)|Natasha Pulley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1418113344l/22929563._SY75_.jpg|42499104], so if you liked that you'll probably like this one, but I enjoyed this one so much more.

I started out listening to this one, but the narration was terrible. Read it, if you can.

I'm not going to not like anything from the World of the Five Gods (fantasy! magic! religion! theology!) but (not a spoiler if you've read literally anything else in this universe) I do greatly enjoy a legitimate reason for deus ex machina.

I am...underwhelmed. I liked the world; I loved the linguistics. I feel like 462 pages later I still don't know who any of these people are or why I should spend time with them.

I'm not a fan of fish-out-of-water stories, which I can't hold against the book (it's me, not you), but I am a fan of mystery and this one was only half solved (it's you, not me).

It ticks another book club/hugo read off the list, but I won't read the rest of this series.

An absolutely excellent academic overview of the history and historiography of witch beliefs, placed in a world context. Highly recommend if you have an interest, particularly in early modern European witch beliefs, and have a passing knowledge of the history and historiography.

(Although it's not required, you'd get more from Hutton's critique of the developments and trends in witchcraft historiography if you knew the works of [a:Richard Kieckhefer|184604|Richard Kieckhefer|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], [a:Carlo Ginzburg|40230|Carlo Ginzburg|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1392573232p2/40230.jpg], [a:Norman Cohn|53186|Norman Cohn|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], [a:Robin Briggs|41776|Robin Briggs|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], [a:Lyndal Roper|223364|Lyndal Roper|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], to name just a few titans.)