Witchlanders

Witchlandersby Lena Coakley

High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.It’s all a fake.At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned— Are about him. (goodreads.com)

Release date: August 30, 2011This high fantasy book showed up as a surprise from Simon & Schuster Canada and I was so excited when I opened the package to find it among the spoils. I can't remember where I saw the book mentioned before but I had and I was eager to try it out when it was published. Lo! It ended up on my doorstep. ;)It did take me a few chapters to really get into the flow of the story. I think I was expecting something else. Once I realized what the story was about and whom it was about I fell easily into the narrative. I didn't think I would like Ryder at first and it turned out I did. I think I liked Falpian the best of the two though (even though I constantly read his name as "fallopian" heh).This world that Coakley has created is rich and folksy. The enemies are not always the enemy and the allies can't all be trusted. There's a constant guessing game over who to trust throughout the story and I enjoyed that aspect of it.It's rare to find fantasy-only type books in YA. There's normally some aspect of paranormal romance stuck in between the pages, but this one is pure, sweet, fantasy and I was so happy about that. Though the summary hints that there should/will be romance in the story, it's pretty much just quest and action and magic. Also a lot of focus on beliefs as Ryder struggles with his faith. Not in an overly religious way at all - don't get the wrong idea here. He's got to figure out what he  believes to help him figure out how to help is country and people. Do you have to believe in the goddesses in order to do magic? Does it just come naturally. IS there such thing as magic and what of the Baen? Maybe they aren't all as bad as they seem!Although Witchlanders didn't grip me as intensely as other fantasy novels, I think for a YA debut this did a pretty darn good job! Looking forward to reading more from Lena Coakley and her world in the Witchlands!PS - not only is this a Canadian author'd book, it's also a 2011 Debut! You can add this to your Challenge list if you so desire!