THE BOOK OF WITCHES

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

Jonathan Strahan has made a name for himself as an editor over the last several years and his anthology The Book of Witches demonstrates why he is a major editor in the speculative fiction field. The stories he includes examine a relatively narrow subject, witches, with an amazingly broad view, showing that vast differences between images of what witches are or could be. Furthermore, he has included authors with a very broad background, including many award winners, but also many whose careers are still in their early stages. Strahan also opens the anthology with a short introduction that attempts to define what a witch is, and it provides a basis, but the stories that follow provide their own, collectively more complete, definition.

Kathleen Jennings offers instruction in "Catechism for Those Who Would Find Witches," although as the story notes, the catechism was written to subvert those who would hunt witches. Offered as a series of questions and answers with some commentary, the work guides the reader from the belief that witches are evil and need to be hunted to a more full understanding of witches as women who know how to get things done. The catechism is placed well near the beginning of the book since it provides a definition for witches, although certainly not the only one and many of the stories offer variations of witches. Nevertheless, the "witches" portrayed in "Catechism for Those Who Would Find Witches" give the reader an interesting and through-provoking baseline for what follows.

Darcie Little Badger offers an interesting take on witches in "The Liar," which features an on-line "coven" of people who each have a special boon and curse that they can employ. Although they attempt to remain anonymous from each other, when one of their number goes missing, some of that anonymity breaks down as they work to discover what has happened and if they are facing an existential threat. Although the members of the coven all have differing powers, it seems that all of their gifts are tied to a Mysterious Woman who first gave them their gifts and curses and it may be time to pay up. Told through Jodie's eyes, who uses her gift of having all her lies believed when she speaks to helping her gamble, Jodie offers a blend of paranoia about the other people in the coven and her need to trust people who understand what she is going through as she tries to find out what is happening to the other members.

"Met Swallow" is the tale of a fox who has inhabited the body of Amaranth, who has recently been killed. Cassandra Khaw follows Amaranth, or Amy, over the years as she hides her true identity from her sisters while each of them fulfills their own purpose in relation to the others, creating a witching triad that is a far cry from the traditional maiden, mother, and crone, but is more codependent as each sister is able to take pain from the others to allow them to live a better life. While the mystery of Amaranth's murder is always in the background, it isn't an important aspect of the story until suddenly Amaranth realizes what has happened to her. At heart, Amaranth is still the fox who has taken over her body with no real allegiance to her sisters, even if the fox's own personality start to sublimate to the role it is playing as Amaranth.

Throughout much of history, "witch" was a term applied to women who were seen as outside of society, often with abilities which were needed by the community, but were frowned upon in some way. in Premee Mohamed,'s "So Spake the Mirrorwitch," witch hunters arrive at the home of Calder Ward, an outsider who has skills to make mirrors, accusing her of witch craft. Ward's ability to perform witchcraft aside, the witch hunter's lack of evidence and reliance on innuendo and rumors to make their accusations, which makes "So Spake the Mirrorwitch" an excellent allegory for attacks and accusations that are made without a foundational basis in evidence.

After Jian's husband drowned her, she was rescued from death by Miehe, a goddess who lived at the bottom of the river. In return for occasional help and a promise to stay away from the village in which she had lived, Miehe gave Jian a new chance a life, where Jian lives in an isolated cottage, performing magic, living with a cormorant familiar, and occasionally helping Miehe as a thank you for savin her in Andrea Stewart's "Her Ravenous Waters." When a young woman comes to Jian seeking an amulet of protection, it causes Jian to rethink her own history and memories that had been suppressed begin to come back, as well as clues that she hadn't managed to put together over the years. The story offers an intriguing exploration of gratitude and alliances.

Sheree Renee Thomas offers two entries in the anthology, a poem, "BOTANICA: A Song in Four Movements," and the story "Mask of the Nautilus." In th story, Gawd the Mask Maker is clearly a witch, but as witches appear in all cultures, she is quite different from the sterotypical witch, while at the same time sharing many qualities that immediately identify her as a witch. The story is told from the point of view of Kenyatta, who is standing in a long line waiting to collect a mask from Gawd. As she watches the masks others receive and sees how they are impacted, she reflects on her own needs, for the masks Gawd offers are promises of healing and community, both of which Kenyatta finds herself needing.

Although it is never quite clear how the torture factory in Emily Y. Teng's "The Cost of Doing Business" works, the important thing is that the Satanic workplace is a satire on modern factories, with a witch in the position of the factory's medical team. When Asmodeus is brought in to inspect the factory and some unknown irregularities, it becomes apparent that the factory is more accident prone than most, the factory workers seem to be unaware of how dangerous is it, and the witch, Irina, may not only be healing the factory workers who are injured, but may have more nefarious intentions. Yang's story is told from the point of view of Serena Cho, one of the workers, who is concerned about the injuries sustained by her friend, Annie, and begins to figure out what Irina may actually be up to.

The Book of Witches collects a wide range of stories, demonstrating not only the diversity of authors working in the field of fantastic fiction, but also the diversity of stories that can be told about what may appear to be a simple topic. The witch that appears in Alaya Dawn Johnson's "The Witch Is Not the Monster" and the witch that appears in Tobi Ogundiran's "The Nine Jars of Nukulu" may have similarities, but explore differeing traditions of the concept of the witch, and these differences are what makes this anthology so strong.

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