She was shivering and upset that her scruffy fur coat did little to keep her warm. It was a coldish day and rainy, and Anyr wished she were home under the warm covers of her bed.

It is also the story, I might add, of heroes, and of villains, and of great battles fought long ago. This is the story of how a family was nearly destroyed because of terrible lies, and how an evil queen threatened all that was good in the kingdom of Kaldan. But perhaps she was simply jealous of all the attention her brother got, being that he was to become king one day. Some said it was because she was his half-sister and came from the land of fairies where little boys were thought of as silly creatures. But Laris, who was the oldest, was unhappy with Kòdobos. Now Anyr, who was the youngest of the children, was thoughtful of her brother and always had his welfare in mind. They were the children of a mighty king and queen who lived long ago. His name was Kòdobos, and the names of his sisters were Anyr and Laris.

Once there was a boy who had two sisters. However, this is not the usual happily ever after type of quest, but rather one with real, deep and enduring costs to the children. What's more is that they grow up as the deal with the ordeals. The children are terrified and they make significant mistakes. The three royal children who embark on a quest to save thier parents and kingdom are far more human and fallible then most young protagonists of modern fantasy books I've encountered. Furthermore, the story takes place in a very intricate fantasy world where our expectations are ever so slightly twisted.

The reader is immediately caputred on the very first page by the plight of a kingdom that has to sacrifice some of it's daughters to a terrible queen. I could not get over how rapidly the plot progressed or how fast the many different threads of the plot intertwined and branched out into new aspects of the story. The whit, humor, creative solutions and mystical creatures clashed in an effective and interesting way with the bitter conditions and overwhelmings odds that the children of Witch Bane were faced with. 'The Legend of Witch Bane' is exceptional especially in Kevis Hendrickson's use of a child's fairy tale narrative voice to tell a very dark and hopeful story. Overall, an exceptional and thrilling tale about three very young children thrown into a very harsh reality.

The Blue Witch by Kevis Hendrickson