Customer Reviews

Witch Hill

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This tale is a great introduction to the authors distinct style, characterization, and intricate plots; which are all very well developed and fine tuned in this novel. The story is told by a female artist who suddenly realizes she carries the seed of witchcraft, which has been passed on for hundreds of years, before her generation. The book gives gruesome and explicit details of her struggle with how she feels about these spiritual connections and the ensuing events. As usual Marion Zimmer Bradley paints a lifelike experience for the reader which could be compared to Mists of Avalon on some levels. Bradley's empowering style and spiritually enlightening ways with words keeps readers' interest and coming back for more. This is a great novel to get your palate wet and acquire the taste for Marion Zimmer Bradley. Truly a talented author in our time; She has a lucid and articulate knowledge of her subject(s) including Wicca (or Goddess orientation) with strong historical accuracy, spiced with just a touch of erotica

Witch Hill was a decent summer read. I picked it up Monday night and had it finished by Thursday afternoon. The story wasn't bad, it kept my interest. There are just a few things about this book that irked me though. One, if you read any of MZBs books about Avalon, it is very evident that she knows a great deal about the old religion and has great respect for it. In this book, however, she gives the old religion involved a very negative slant..the stereotypical view that pagan religions are satanic religions. The second problem with this book is the number of typos in it. To me, that says that this book wasn't taken seriously enough to even proof read it properly. The third problem with this book is the use of the character Colin. He and Claire also are characters in the book the "Inheritor", but there are many inconsistencies in the characters from one story to the other. Colin and Claire's characters add nothing at all to this story line except confusion. There is a scene where Colin is telling Sara stories about the people in the town, one of which involves a situation with Brian. But a few pages before when Sara and Brian run into Colin at the store, Brian asks who he is and Sara introduced them. Supposedly Colin is just there to give a lecture at the local university, but he speaks of the people in the town as if he knew them all personally and for a long time. Sara only questions this ever so briefly, and it never comes up again. Colin and Claire also end up at The Great Rite. In the "Inheritor",they follow the path of good. In this book, apparently they follow the path of bad. We really just don't know. MZB never really explains why they are there. Colin is just introduced by Matthew to Sara as "an adept from the West Coast".

I've liked other mooks by MZB in the past. Even when I disliked her stories or characterization I thought she could write well. I picked up this book, figuring I wasn't really going to go wrong with a good witch story.

I don't know quite what's going on with this book, but rather than reading like a book by MZB, it reads like a book by a high school sophomore trying to write like MZB. A not very imaginative high school sophomore, who thinks an overuse of cliches will make her story dramatic.

It also reads like it might have been a sketch for a novel (was this book published posthumously? That would explain a lot. I can't imagine any author *wanting* this to get out as a representative of their work.) It has weird lapses and jumps, and things happen with no setup whatsoever.

Good horror needs an element of realism, but the way the characters in this story behave is so laughably divergent from actual human nature that the supernatural elements are almost mundane in comparison.

The main character is your standard odd, pretty, redheaded artist type, so we all know SHE'S in for some supernatural highjinks. Upon inheriting an moving into her aunt's house in New England she begins getting compulsions to sleep with one guy after another, and a woman as well. Okay. Whatever. Somehow this is an indication of the fact that she's really a reincarnation of her witch aunt, which no one in town doubts. She looks like the aunt, so she must *be* her. Y'all know how simple dumb country folks is.

This book is insulting to everyone it attempts to portray, from magical pratitioners to young country doctors to anyone who ever lived in New England. The fact that the plot is also senseless and the resolution completely glossed over makes it one of the worst books in this genre I've ever read.

Go pick up Web of Darkness or the Mists of Avalon if you really like this author, but give "Witch Hill" a miss.

Sara Latimer is the last of her family. After the shocking deaths of her parents and brother Sara is left all alone in the world with no direction or plan. After receiving a letter regarding the estate to her late aunt (also named Sara Latimer) sara decicides to leave New York City and travel into the county and spend the summer in her new house on witch hill.
It is here in this rual small country town that Sara learns the secrets to her family's past.

Upon arriving at the town Sara notices the odd reactions she receives from the fellow towns people, although there is only one person Sara takes particular interest in. While Sara discovers her creepy and some what seductive house she finds herself trapped in a cultic plan to make her the priestess of her late aunt's coven. The only power that can save Sara from her aunt's spirit and her coven's follwers is a man name Brian who can teach Sara how to love, something that a witch cannot do.

I found myself loving this book for it kept my interest while introducing interesting and gothic characters. Witch Hill is known for it's erotic flavor so I wouldn't recommand this to some one who blushes easily. I particularly admired Marion Zimmer Bradley's style of writing. The story was a quick read with a lot of plot and depth. I recommend this book to someone who wants a gothic tale told in the 70's.

I gave this book 3 stars because, while I enjoyed it, it was totally unlike the other MZB books I have read. But thats OK. It was essentially pulp. It reminds me of some of the Gothic type romances I used to find at our local used book store when I was a kid. Way back in the day when books cost a dollar! So I guess I enjoyed this story, with the old dilapidated inherited home setting, and steamy sex scenes more out of a feeling of nostalgia. But, you know, sometimes it's just nice to read something that flows along and allows you to relax. There's nothing wrong with that. A Calgon bath for the mind. I am tempted to give this a higher rating just because I enjoyed it, but I suppose it doesn't really warrant it. Not a bad read for all of that.

But the same story appears in Heartlight, book 4 in the "'Light" paranormal series. If your going to read this series, start with Ghostlight instead. _Then_ read Witchlight, Gravelight and finally Heartlight. The first half is a prequel to the first three, folllowing up to just prior to Ghostlight, where a possibly condensed version of Witch Hill is told from the protagonist's (Colin) view and procedes on to the 'heart' of the Heartlight story.

I'm a fan of MZB, but this book was just- different. I felt that it definitely was rather risque, and believe that it definitely has some chapters that are just pure porn, which is unlike MZB. I think it's very pro-sexuality. The plot gets a little bit odd, and is sort of cut off, but is not impossible to follow. It starts out well, but about halfway through goes sour. I really wish it had been better, and I enjoyed it even though it was absolutely nothing like what I expected. I just wouldn't expect something like that out of MZB. She's usually different.

I've been an avid fan of the late Ms. Bradley for years. I've devoured nearly every book she's written. Her characters, normally, are so full of life, they can step off the page. Plots move along logically. Unfortunately, Witch Hill is such a 180 from her normal writing, I could barely believe she authored it. The central character of Sara is neither logical nor interesting. Her bahaviour waivers from ditsy to bizarre to incomprehensible. The side characters, it seems, were designed to be eccentric, yet are irritating. For instance, Tibby. With her jackdaw familiar and slightly off center womens' lib ideals should seem spunky. Instead, she is an unsympathetic user. The background love story moves too quickly and is nonsensical. And as a Wiccan, her twisted vision of a sabbat offended me. This book claims to be part of the "Light" series, yet lacks the heartfelt 'truth' in each book. Anyone who has not read Ms. Bradley before should chose another place to start. Either The Mists of Avalon or the Inheritor. All in all this was a disappointment with poorly envisioned characters in a thinly created plot doing incredibly stupid things.

I gave this book 3 stars because, while I enjoyed it, it was totally unlike the other MZB books I have read. But thats OK. It was essentially pulp. It reminds me of some of the Gothic type romances I used to find at our local used book store when I was a kid. Way back in the day when books cost a dollar! So I guess I enjoyed this story, with the old dilapidated inherited home setting, and steamy sex scenes more out of a feeling of nostalgia. But, you know, sometimes it's just nice to read something that flows along and allows you to relax. There's nothing wrong with that. A Calgon bath for the mind. I am tempted to give this a higher rating just because I enjoyed it, but I suppose it doesn't really warrant it. Not a bad read for all of that.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I picked up this book but I certainly didn't expect what I read. I figured it was a love story with a sort-of-plot thrown in about witchcraft. Boy was I wrong. I suppose if I'd known what I was about to read I wouldn't have disliked the book so much but I don't know...something about it just didn't all click together. Of course, this is my first ever MZB book and I haven't heard anything about her so I'm giving the book 2 stars because of my obvious lack of knowledge about these kind of books.