The most recommended books about witches

I'm a fan of Wells' Murderbot series, but I've always been more of a fantasy reader, so I was excited to hear she had an epic fantasy coming out. Wells did not disappoint!

The story begins with a mystery. Powerful characters awaken after being laid low by treachery and don't know who did it to them. As they seek answers, we learn about their world's history and how they found their true family after it seemed they lost everything. 

I loved the inclusive cast, and the rich description of food, clothing, cultures, and geography. I can't wait for a follow-up!

I’ve described this half-jokingly to adult horror fans as “baby’s first Misery.” When young Alex is kidnapped by a wicked witch named Natacha, he must tell her a new scary story every night... or face the consequences. More than a fun, shivery adventure, this book Is a godsend to kids who love scary stories, assuring them that there’s nothing weird or wrong about their interests (and scaring them silly in the process). Even if your children have seen the movie, the book adds new layers to the story and its themes, and it’s delightful to hear Kirby Heyborne offering a different take on the characters’ voices; I will never be able to read Natacha’s dialog without hearing his unhinged shrieking in my head.

The first book in the Kingston Cycle series, Witchmark is set in a magic-powered Edwardian era just after the end of a World War. I loved the balance of soaring magic and gritty realism as well as the unexpected revelations surrounding each of the characters.

Miles — a witch who is desperate to keep from being used as a power source by mages — has faked his death and lives in hiding as a military doctor. However, when Tristan Hunter brings a dying man to Miles’ hospital, Miles’ secrets are threatened. But Tristan isn’t interested in blackmailing or exposing him. Instead he needs Miles to help him to track down a murderer and uncover an epidemic threatening to destroy all the magic in their world.

Obviously, the setting and premise had me from the start but the real fun of the book was following Miles and Tristan as they tried… show more.

Another middle grade fantasy, Eva Evergreen: Semi-Magical Witch, follows a young girl trying to prove herself even with a lack of magical ability.

Though away from her parents, Eva’s not alone. Her trusty companion throughout her journey to help the residents of Auteri and earn her title never leaves her side. And, what’s more, is her animal companion is one I hadn’t seen before reading this book—it's a flamefox.

The flamefox, better known as Ember, loves food but loves her person, Eva, more—something that will resonate with people who love pets (and people who just love, well, love)!  

I love fantasies flavored by fairy tales, and Nettle & Bone is certainly that, with a strong feminist backbone.

Speaking of bones, it starts out dark, in a mysteriously ravaged landscape where a dog is being constructed of bones, which made me nervous. Dark is one thing, but I have my limits, and they end well before quite dark and never go anywhere near relentlessly dark.

But Bonedog turned out to be a very good boy, and the story quickly developed into a quest featuring three seemingly impossible tasks for the stalwart heroine, and I settled right down. Enter the demonic chicken, and I was going wherever this endearingly peculiar group led me.

Nettle & Bone is such an enchanting, hopeful book that I recommend it to fantasy (and chicken) fans to the point of being annoying.  

I absolutely loved the premise of this book, where a novelist’s main character comes to life to solve a crime.

It has twists and turns, witches and paranormal characters galore, and a plot that kept me guessing to the end. I adored its irreverence and was so happy to learn it’s the first in a series.

I love books about books, so I was thrilled when Oxford's Bodleian Library and a bewitched alchemical manuscript turned up as the linchpin of this enchanting love story between a vampire and a reluctant witch.

While this story was made into a television series, do yourself a favor and read the entire trilogy. Harkness creates a compelling framework of history and heroics, love and loss, and friendship and betrayal for her underworld creatures to inhabit. And these are not your typical creatures of the night, but accomplished scholars, physicians, and scientists.

This book is one of those rare novels I wish I could read again for the first time and fall under its magical and mesmerizing spell anew.

I love witches and serial killers as much as the next paranormal thriller fan, so I was truly delighted to learn that a book featured both.

Not only that, but the way the witches in this book get their power is truly unique and—sorry, not sorry for the pun—spellbinding. The only thing I didn’t like about this book was that it ended.   

For any kids that are looking for their next space adventure. Davault's art style is welcoming and the story is a delight. I found Star Knights to hit that string of what it means to stand for our friends and how, as a kid, I too was looking for ways to connect with others. 

I can still quote the opening of this novel verbatim: "It was around the hub of the evening on the planet of Porlumma that Captain Pausert, commercial traveler from the republic of Nikkeldepain, met the first of the witches of Karres. It was just plain fate, so far as he could see." Thus opens the most delightful romp in all of science fiction. When Pausert rescues three enslaved young girls, he sets in motion a comedy of errors, conspiracy, piracy, and intrigue that expands to involve the entire galaxy. Just who are these mysterious witches of Karres, and how can Captain Pausert return them safely to their home when everyone who's anyone is out to get them...and him?