Marion Mavis’ The Supremacy Witch kicks off a series of fantasy novels in which witches travel around a fantasy world of non-witches called Nomystics. Light and dark witches exist in covens with the light witches ruling the people in the beginning. The witches are organized in covens and our main character, Evelyn Emmerich, is preparing to lead her own coven.
The premise, Evelyn travels to meet with the Elders to train in one-word magic spells and returns as a leader, is set up in the first chapter. A high fantasy in time period and tone, the novel gives the reader a twist right at the beginning, When Evelyn’s best friend Amelia is accused of hurting her in practice, Evelyn protests and is cast out of her coven. She goes to live with Nomystics in Aleston where she hopes to make her way but instead is attacked. From there, the plot grows more complicated with betrayals and the introduction of side characters whose intentions are dubious at best.
Though I read The Supremacy Witch to review it, taking time to note details, I breezed through it quickly. It drew me into its world, made me care for its main character, and kept the action rolling through point-of-view change-ups and interesting side plots. I was quite surprised at my progress every time I had to stop, and I didn’t want to put it down. Mavis’ prose rolls along, carrying the reader from one scene to the next without slowing down.
The novel doesn’t exclusively follow Evelyn but jumps to scenes involving her former coven and other minor characters. In general, I’m not fond of first novels of a series switching viewpoints, but it worked here. If an author uses this technique then it’s best to build suspense and character insights rather than using this device to prolong its text. Mavis does that here, keeping the story on-track despite jumping from one plot thread to another.
In The Supremacy Witch, one of the characters picks up the mantle of The Chosen One and finds it a heavy burden to carry. For the first half of the book, I was acutely aware of this status on the character and wondered (as I usually do) “why this character?” It’s often a question that is answered with the unsatisfying phrase “because the author wanted it that way.” I was pleased when the author introduced a sensible reason for a Chosen One. While not fully explained, the details are left to the reader’s imagination, at least in this novel. No matter, enough is explained to start the Chosen One on the journey through the series.
At the conclusion of the first third of the book, a game-changing (let’s call it) “event” happens to Evelyn which sets the course for the rest of the novel. This event radically alters Evelyn who must cope with its aftereffects. One issue I took with the narrative was the event happened to Evelyn without her choice. Her decisions from that point forward were so different from the first third of the book that I had trouble sorting out what was happening because of the event, and what was happening of Evelyn’s free will. Post-event Evelyn, to me, remains an interesting but a compromised persona, and I had a tough time rooting for her. The people she trusts manipulated her and the event was so damaging, I had hoped her character would reclaim a bit of her innocence she had at the start. However, by the end of the novel, I had reconciled with Evelyn’s character and her overall arc was satisfying.
Often people tell me they like villains more than heroes because the villains are more realistic. I found the opposite was true here. The heroes, especially Amelia and another called Anima were quite fascinating. Of the dark witches, I think many would agree that Mae was the most fun. I hope the little mischief-maker is around future installments.
If you’ve read my reviews before, you know I’m usually harsh on a book that doesn’t come to some sort of a resolution by the last page. I realize authors want to tell long stories, especially in fantasy, but I feel strongly novels in a series should reward its readers with some conclusion even if the main narrative continues. Fortunately, The Supremacy Witch comes to a reasonable resolution, answering many questions while tempting readers to continue. Note: the second one is available—first thing I checked when finishing the novel.
The Supremacy Witch is filled with great magical sequences, interesting plot twists, and a cast of characters worth investing in. In the near future, I plan to pick up the next book in the series, The Shadow Witch, and return to the world of Evelyn Emmerich and her coven.
