A blend of fairytale, magic and modern teenage life, The Witch’s Kiss trilogy follows trainee witch Merry and her older brother Leo. When a prince who has slept for hundreds of years finally wakes up, Merry has to deal with an Anglo-Saxon curse and a dark wizard hell-bent on revenge, whilst she and Leo discover whether true love’s kiss really can save the day. But curses are hard to kill, and the ripples of Merry’s choices and actions – and her growing power – attract more attention than she bargains for. As witches start dying and an ancient fairytale becomes a horrifying reality, both Merry and Leo have to choose who to trust, risking their lives and even their world in the process. Past and present collide and Merry faces a decision: how much is she really willing to give up to finally lay the curse to rest?
Our Favourite Book Battle Scenes
The Witch’s Blood is the final book in The Witch’s Kiss trilogy, so we knew wanted to include an epic battle scene at some point before the end. Lots of our favourite fantasy books have epic battles in them. Here are our top four….
We love the battle scene between Lord Voldemort and Harry at the end of The Deathly Hallows. Not only does Harry finally destroy Voldemort once and for all (with a fine display of magical outmanoeuvring), but he mocks the hell out of Mouldy Voldy whilst doing it. And it’s joyful to behold. After all the pain, death and destruction inflicted by the Dark Lord, there’s something VERY satisfying in hearing Harry ridicule him:‘Yes, I dare,’ said Harry, ‘I know things you don’t know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don’t. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?’
The Two Towers – JRR Tolkien
Battles don’t get much more action-packed than the battle for Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers, the second book of The Lord of the Rings. There are orcs and wild men, kick-ass elves, ruckus-loving dwarves, and of course the dark and brooding Aragorn (oh, be still our beating hearts). Throughout the siege the men of Rohan (lead by King Theoden) valiantly defend their fortress from the vicious onslaught of Saruman’s forces. Lots of people die, and at various points it looks like the battle will be lost. Yet help is at hand in the form of Gandalf the White…
‘The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled. Wailing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from that shadow none ever came again.’
Ah, the revenge of the trees. As battles go, this one’s truly epic.
The battle scene in Goddess, the final book of the Starcrossed Trilogy, is notable in part because of the sheer number of Greek gods (and their mortal demigod descendants) that Angelini manages to pack into it: Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Aphrodite, Helen, Lucas, Hector, Orion – you get the picture. We were impressed by how Angelina pits her modern-day characters against those from Greek history in one all-out blockbuster battle. Best of all is the beautifully triumphant moment where demigod Helen manages to trap big bad gran-daddy Zeus in Everyland (an alternate world she’s created), averting a war between the gods and their half-human descendants on Earth. Finally, we see Helen complete her transition from awkward teenage girl to world-building superbeing…
‘Zeus looked around in panic. Helen knew he was trying to open a portal and leave. She could feel it, but he couldn’t do it. And as long as Helen existed and held ownership of the borders [of Everyland], he would never be able to leave.
‘Welcome to my Trojan horse,’ she said with a tight smile. ‘Enjoy. You’re going to be stuck inside it for eternity.’
Helen saw Zeus’s face freeze with horror, and then she left him, locked in her heavenly prison forever.’
Equal Rites – Terry Pratchett
Last but not least is Equal Rites, which is a book chock full of battles (between good and evil, witchcraft and wizardry, the sexes, etc). It has one fight scene however, between badass witch Granny Weatherwax and stuck-in-his-ways Cutangle (Archchancellor of the Unseen University) that trumps the rest. Determined to help Esk realise her destiny as the first female wizard, Granny Weatherwax won’t take no for an answer when the University refuses to admit her. There follows as standoff between witch and wizard of monumental proportions…
‘Cutangle vanished. Where he had been standing a huge snake coiled, posed to strike.
Granny vanished. Where she had been standing was a large wicker basket.
The snake became a giant reptile from the mists of time.
The basket became the snow wind of the Ice Giants coating the struggling monster with ice.
The reptile became a sabre-toothed tiger, crouched to spring.
The gale became a bubbling tar pit.
The tiger managed to become an eagle, stooping….’
Thank you to the lovely Emma for being part of our blog tour!
About Kate and LizWe are sisters and best friends (try writing a book with someone else and you’ll see why that last bit is kind of important). After spending our childhood in Essex, we now live ten minutes away from each other in Surrey. We both studied history at university and went to work in London for a bit. When we both decided to write novels – on account of fictional people being much easier to deal with than real ones – it was obvious we should do it together.
Stuff Katharine likes: playing instruments badly; dead languages; LOTR; loud pop concerts; Jane Austen; Neill Gaiman; Loki; the Surrey Hills. Killing off characters.
Stuff Elizabeth likes: sketching, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, cinema, long baths, kitchen discos, Terry Pratchett, Thor, London. Saving characters.
