The Winter Trilogy by Ruth Warburton (Hodder Children's Books) GUEST POST: Claire Chesser
This is a guest post written by Claire Chesser. Ruth Warburton is represented by the Eve White Literary Agency - Claire (like me!) interned for Eve and read the trilogy during her placement.
Being a huge fan of series such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and (slightly guiltily) the Twilight Saga, Ruth Warburton’s Witch Trilogy was something I was keen to read. Not very long later, I had devoured this series, desperate for more!
Anna Winterson arrives in the small town of Winter down in the dumps, unhappy to be separated from the familiarities and excitement of her London life but eager to please her beloved father. Soon it’s not long before Anna has far bigger issues to worry about, such as the fact that she is a witch! In A Witch in Winter, the first of the three, Anna struggles to reconcile who she thought she was with her new powers, made all the more complicated by a certain Seth Waters… When magic interferes in Anna’s budding relationship with Seth, she must work out what is real and what is not. However, as the trilogy moves on to A Witch in Love and A Witch Alone, Anna has even bigger concerns as she faces a conflict which threatens the delicate balance between the human and witch worlds – can Anna really be the key? And what will she have to sacrifice to put things right?
This trilogy seems to me to be the natural successor to the fan hype surrounding other series of its type. With a plotline and characters to rival The Hunger Games and stiff competition to Edward and Bella’s romance in Anna and Seth, Ruth Warburton has perfected her genre. Most importantly, she has fulfilled my main personal criteria for a good YA fantasy – the books have the believability factor down to a tee. The witch world is perfectly situated within the human world (my favourite detail has to be the Malleus Maleficorum HQ lurking beneath Vauxhall Bridge), allowing readers to let their imaginations run wild and really engage in the story – which is not hard!
I really feel that great things could come of this series – there’s huge filmic potential for example. Sadly A Witch Alone does seem to mark the end of Anna’s story (although Ruth does have a spin off – Witch Finder - due for release in early 2014) but, on the bright side, the fact that all three books are already out does mean that there is no tantalising wait for the next instalment! The trilogy already has a strong fan following and I really hope that this will continue to grow to the heights that Anna’s story deserves.
More about Ruth: www.ruthwarburton.com / www.evewhite.co.uk