Customer Reviews

SPELLBINDER: NIGHTWORLD

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Spellbinder" (also published as "Enchantress") is the third book in L. J. Smith's `Night World' series, concerning the secret world of supernatural creatures that live among normal human beings. Called the Night World, there are several rules imposed upon the witches, vampires, werewolves and shape shifters that inhabit this world, namely that they are to never tell a human being about their secret society, and never to fall in love with one of them.

This is the first book in the series to deal with witches rather than vampires, and concerns the lives of two seventeen year old witch cousins who made their first appearance in "Secret Vampire": Thea and Blaise Harman. The two girls are complete opposites; Thea is fair and quiet, whilst Blaise is black-haired and someone who enjoys playing with the human world for fun - making boys fall in love with her and then discarding them. After a series of expulsions from high schools around the country (the last one having resulted in the school burning down), the cousins are brought to live with their grandmother Edgith Harman - the Crone of All the Witches, a prestigious position within the Circles of Night World witches. In other words, the cousins are on thin ice.

But Blaise doesn't trouble herself with things like this - she's always played her love games and doesn't plan on stopping now. Thea however, is desperate to live a quiet, peaceful life. But then she finds her soul mate: Eric Ross, a human. Their connection is powerful, but Thea knows that should they be discovered, it could result in executions for both of them, or in war among the factions of the Night World. When Blaise finds out about Thea's feelings, she decides the only way in which to act is to separate the two of them: by using her own charms to divert Eric's attention away from Thea...

The blurb would have you believe that Blaise is an out-and-out villain, and the focus of the story is on the two girls fighting over Eric's affections. This however is not so - the main conflict in the story comes from Thea's attempts to protect Eric by summoning up a benevolent spirit. However, when the spell goes wrong, Thea finds that a murderous witch-ghost is on the loose, and perfectly capable of killing. As well as this there are numerous sub-plots, including Edgith's failing health, Blaise's exploits at her new high school, a few spells and meetings with other witches, Thea's various attempts to allure/dispel Eric's affections and an introduction to Eric's family and his radical-feminist little sister.

All this equals a rather slip-shod plot that slides all over the place. It's not that the story isn't interesting, but L. J. Smith doesn't seem quite sure on where it's going, or where the true conflict lies. Instead it comes across as a series of magical events and workings that don't quite have the urgency and suspense of other books in the series - especially the later ones.

Furthermore, many of the plot points and characters in the book were rather familiar - Smith has been recycling her own work, most particularly "The Secret Circle" trilogy. Blaise and Thea are almost identical to Faye and Diana (and both sets were cousins!) whilst things like the vengeful spirit, the death of a school student and the forbidden love affair all have their counterpoints in this previous trilogy. As such, the story has a lack of originality (and the coupling of Thea and Eric doesn`t come across as *that* genuine).

But there are some nice touches throughout: we get another piece of the ever-growing history of the Night World (this time it's the story of Hellewise and Maya), some names of other characters that have either been in previous books or will pop up in later ones (such as Aradia, Ash, Quinn and Thierry) that make the book feel like a small part of a larger whole. Smith also makes good use of folklore and mythology, weaving little bits of `real' legends and practices into what the characters say and do - like the Cup of Lethe or the many allusions to Aphrodite.

All in all, not a bad contribution to the 'Night World' series, though by no means the best: things only get really interesting when we hit book five: "The Chosen".

With the reappearance of two characters in Secret Vampire, L.J. Smith has launched into her first book centred around witches. I enjoyed this book and if you're an animal lover, you'll probably find a few scenes regarding them but it's not quite as good as her first two books in the series.

Thea and Blaise are two cousins who have been expelled from five high schools because of Blaise's exploits. Unable to control her, Thea can only watch as Blaise toys with human boys and commands them to do her bidding.

At their new school, things seem no different with Blaise setting her sights on Eric, a boy Thea is strangely attracted to. Amused by his refusal of Blaise, amusement soon turns to anxiety as Thea realises that her cousin is determined to make Eric desire her.

Breaking the rule of never loving a human, Thea puts both her and Eric's life on the line as she tries to ward Blaise off.

The two main characters (Blaise and Thea) are very well written and I could visualise them quite easily. They are both strong women and Blaise is not the complete ... that she seems to be. Nor is Thea the obedient, good girl she seems to be.

Eric - and most human males in the series I must admit - is a bit of a weak character. When you really think about it, it's not that surprising. How can a weak human male compare to a cool, ruthless, strong vampire guy? He's not written in as much detail but you do get the general idea.

There is a very good twist at the end and if you read carefully, you won't really guess it but you'll pick up small clues. Quite a bit of suspense and I liked the extra touch with the spirit.

This book is sooooooo good, i have read most of the books in the Night World series, but so far this is my fav. i love the way she describes the witchcraft and makes u feel part of the powerful magic that takes place. If you like witchcraft and a mysterious book, do as my title tells you too!!!!!

Cos' you don't wanna miss the book of the century!

As a Pagan Witch, I found this book both entertaining and fascinating. It is a work of fiction and that shows strongly in the plot with devices such as the bad witch vs. good witch theme and a total disregard for human life. I include this as a warning to other Pagans who may be offended by these themes.

Despite the facts above, L.J. Smith actually did her research! If you are Wiccan, you will get a kick out this book if you can ignore the innacuracies of the plot line. You'll find the Rede, mentions of herbs and their associations, a fairly accurate portrayal of the Burning Times and a few mentions of circle casting and spellwork. You'll also find a running theme of Maiden/Mother/Crone. For those Pagans or Witches who are not Wiccan (like me), you might enjoy the overall message/s of the book as well as the fairly accurate Pagan elements.

Of course, the first thing that impressed me were the strong female Witch characters. The second was the actual accuracies in the book. Oh yes, and there were male Witches. Pagan fiction isn't exactly readily available, so I'll take what I can get in that department. The plotline is VERY innacurate (includes vampires, a "world" of Witches and a hatred of humans), so be prepared for this.

Onto the entertainment value of the book. I devour books. I picked this one up for a quick "fluffy" read. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was really quite good. Her writing will take you into another world and if you love reading, you will likely devour this book in one sitting. The writing is fantastic. Most of the characters are well written and the book flows very well. Very entertaining and satisfying.

I have to rate this book with 5 stars as a result of incredible energy rush I received after reading it.

Off to ground myself, Enchantress B. RM.

I love L.J. Smith's books and this I have to say was one of the best. It was a night world book which is sometimes very far fetched but this one had a surprisingly realistic feel to it, if you understand what I mean. It was a great book. I've read it twice already. So, if you have any interest in L.J. Smith, make sure to read this book. It's one of her best, after the Secret Circle and Dark Visions triliogies.

This book like all of L.J.Smith's other books is absolutely divine! I luved it. Blaise was a perfect witch in my opinion. The only thing that disturbed me was the awful torture chamber for Halloween in the Gym. How can people actually laugh about that (I've met people who think it's funny)?

Hey, it's not called Spellbinder here in England, but it is still the best book I have ever read! I thought that Thea was just soooooo groovesome and as for Blaise, well anyone who has read this book will probably know what I mean! I just loved the way they told you specific spells and stuff and I also thought that it was cool how Thea could get into the minds of animals. To anyone who hasn't read this book - Are you crazy or something!!!! I would say that this is definately the best Night World book because it is so different from all of the other ones. If you are interested in the Night World please e-mail me. Mary

This book definitely rates in my top five of L. J. Smith books(of course, I haven't yet read a book by her that wasn't really good and that I wouldn't want to read again and again). I really liked how Eric Ross and Thea Harman just *had* to be together, through spells and high water.The way that Blaise and Thea were still incredibly good "sisters" that would never let themselves be parted by illegal spells or by bewitched boys was really nice. All in all this book was just really great, just enough romance and just enough adventure. Plus, if you're an L. J. Smith fan, like me, please e-mail me. It's always nice to find other people who enjoy her books as much as I do!! Most importantly, READ THIS BOOK! Sunny

L.J. Smith is right about almost every witchy detail, from the Burning Times (which is waht witches do call it), to the Circles, to Hecate, the first witch. l.j. smith has to be the qoolest Young Adult writer, it would be a sin to compare her work to that predictable 'Goosebumps' crap

I am a British fan of all the Night World series, but particularily enjoy this one as Thea is a really rounded character who doesn't really want to do wrong, but must protect Eric. It's called Enchantress here, but i think Spellbinder is a better name! Enjoy the whole series, they are a magnificent achievement, and i would reccommend them to everyone!