Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

Books about magic/witches....

30 replies

ginger987 · 19/02/2018 17:38

I have an urge to read something thats about witches or magic in some way. I've read the 'a discovery of witches' trilogy and cant think of anything else.....any suggestions?

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
inthekitchensink · 06/03/2018 17:18

I love all the Sarah Addison Allen books - really warm and comforting, and Alice Hoffman. I have a bookshelf for all these for Autumn and really look forward to it.

BlueUggs · 24/02/2018 15:53

A discovery of witches by Deborah Harkness is brilliant.
I've also read the Mosaic Chronicles by Andrea Pearson - first few books are great then it peters off a bit....,

TeenagersandFurbabies · 24/02/2018 15:52

You could try Nora Roberts Three Sister's Trilogy- This has witches & magic-
(1)Dance Upon The Air. (2)Heaven And Earth. (3) Face The Fire.
Or her Key Trilogy- This has gods & magic- (1)Key of Light. (2)Key of Knowledge. (3)Key of Valour.

slightlyglittermaned · 24/02/2018 15:51

Meant to point out that the Witches of Lychford series is novellas, so a quick read.

slightlyglittermaned · 24/02/2018 15:40

Diana Wynne Jones did write A Sudden Wild Magic for adults - a group of witches are responsible for looking after the world, and discover a bunch of mages from another universe are meddling with things. Naturally they pack a bus full of witches and send them off to sort out those mages.

Paul Cornell has two ongoing series involving witches, both fairly gritty urban fantasy:

The Witches of Lychford: set in a village, proposed supermarket on edge of town turns out to be backed by dark forces.

The Shadow Police: a police team suddenly acquire occult powers & have to work out what to do with them while struggling to track down a child abductor who is hiding her victims with magic.

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 23/02/2018 01:48

Kim Harrison's "Rachel Morgan" (just noticed a pp recommended these too as the Hollows) series is fab, or the "Rain Benares" series by Lisa Shearin.
Or try Terry Pratchett's Discworld witches - start with "Witches Abroad" - they are brilliant Grin
Or the "Night Watch" series by Sergei Lukyanenko. They are all about magic in a mundane setting in Russia - not so much witches, but the policing of magic use. They are very "Russian" in tone, but are a great read.

Orlandointhewilderness · 22/02/2018 21:56

i loved the witching hour by jean stubbs.

weebarra · 22/02/2018 21:54

Love the Dresden Files! Nightside books by Simon R Green, but a bit gory. Ilona Andrews - innkeeper and Edge series. Patricia Briggs, Mercy Thompson series.

dementedma · 22/02/2018 21:28

not witches but "The Watchmaker of Filigree Street" is a good read.

PavlovaPrincess · 22/02/2018 21:10

@MrsDilber I saw an exhibition of the original artwork from that book a couple of years ago...in the Witchcraft Musuem in Boscastle!

sakura06 · 22/02/2018 21:05

Not exactly about witches (although the main character is accused of being one), but definitely about magic: 'The Bear and the Nightingale' and 'The Girl in the Tower' by Katherine Arden.

LilQueenie · 22/02/2018 20:57

I was about to say gothic grimoire and nocturnal darkness but I think its fiction you are after.

ChillieJeanie · 22/02/2018 20:54

Dresden Files are excellent, I second that suggestion.

Also, Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series and Kim Harrison's Hollows series are also pretty good urban fantasy.

MrsDilber · 22/02/2018 20:52

I love folklore and witches fascinate me. My husband bought me Witches by Erica Jong a few years ago, it's beautifully illustrated.

Also The Witchcraft Museum in Boscastle, Cornwall is fascinating, well worth a visit.

lucysnowe · 22/02/2018 20:49

Uprooted by Naomi Novak is awesome. Rereading it right now.

Cary2012 · 22/02/2018 20:47

The Mayfair Witches trilogy by Anne Rice is daft, but hugely enjoyable!

Lessstressedhemum · 21/02/2018 11:58

Not witches but absolutely magic, Brandyn Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy is really good.. It has a very novel magic system.

cdtaylornats · 20/02/2018 22:37

www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25929

Daemonology by James I of Scotland - free at Gutenburg

PavlovaPrincess · 20/02/2018 22:18

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. Or most of her books, in fact. A lot are centred around magic-y stuff.

cdtaylornats · 20/02/2018 22:02

The Jim Butcher series "The Dresden Files"

Harry is the only wizard openly operating in Chicago.

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Reasonable rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.Harry Dresden is the best and technically the 'only' at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they come to him for answers. For the 'everyday' world is actually full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a - well, whatever.

Original poster
ginger987 · 20/02/2018 17:55

Those all sound brilliant, thank you! I shall be doing some shopping later!

OP posts:
MealyPotatoes · 19/02/2018 22:11

Not sure if it’s the type of thing you’re after but The Daylight Gate by Jeannette Winterson is about the Pendle witch trial.

Corrag by Susan Fletcher is about a young woman imprisoned as a witch. It’s set in 1692 at the time of the Jacobite Rebellions.

StoatofDisarray · 19/02/2018 21:08

Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy.

Arapaima · 19/02/2018 21:07

I love Diana Wynne Jones (eg Charmed Life) but it’s YA so wouldn’t appeal to everyone.

DapperDame · 19/02/2018 21:05

"Last Rituals" by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir is quite witch-related if you fancy something a bit different with a detective story thrown in.