Witch Way

Tonight, I finally got around to finishing a book loaned to me some time ago -- A Nameless Witch, by A. Lee Martinez. This was another book from the author of In the Company of Ogres, and I was told, a better one.

In tone, the books were rather similar. Both are whimsical and humorous fantasy stories built around an unusual protagonist. This story follows a witch with literally no name, afflicted by an unusual curse -- startling beauty. It might not seem like a curse, except when you consider that stock in trade for a witch is to be ugly, repulsive, and mysterious. Not to mention the small matter of her being a form of undead creature with a carnivorous appetite for human flesh.

The story begins when her mentor is murdered by minions of some unknown sorcerer, and soon she must set out on a quest for vengeance. She picks up an unusual coterie of allies along the way -- an animated broom, a demonically possessed duck, a troll with detachable body parts, and a virtuous White Knight that might be developing feelings for her (at risk to his own virtue -- and life).

The first half of the book strikes an excellent balance between humor and drama. The plot drives forward in a compelling way, and the characters are interesting. Things do taper off in the back half, though. The actual climax of this quest for vengeance is a bit... well... anti-climactic, rushed and a bit too neat. And then things just sort of end with little real resolution for most of the characters, as though deliberately leaving a door open for some sort of sequel. I say the door would have better been closed; it felt a bit drafty. (Ha ha!)

Still, there's more good than bad, and the book is rather a lot of fun. The witch of the title is a more enjoyable main character than Nearly Dead Ned, of the previous A. Lee Martinez book I'd read. This book feels more genuinely light, not forced to be cute. Still, where the humor gave out in that earlier book, the plot gives out a little bit here. I'd probably rate it right about the same as that other book, a B-.