The Book of Witches by Jonathan Strahan, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Amal El Mohtar, Andrea Hairston, Andrea Stewart, C.L. Clark, Cassandra Khaw, Darcie Little Badger, E. Lily Yu, Emily Teng, Fonda Lee, Garth Nix, Indrapramit Das, Kathleen Jennings, Kelly Robson, Ken Liu, Linda Addison, Maureen F. McHugh, Millie Ho, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, P Djeli Clark, Premee Mohamed, Saad Hossain, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tade Thompson, Tobi Ogundiran, Tochi Onyebuchi, Usman T. Malik
Published by HarperCollins
Illustrator: Alyssa Winans
Age Group: Adult
Format: Anthologies and Short Story Collections
Genres and Categories: Technomancy, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Authors, Asian Authors, Black Authors, British Authors, LGBTQIA+ Authors, Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Authors, Magic Users, Witches, Dark Fantasy, Detective Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Gothic Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Supernatural, Necromancy, Various Magic
My Rating:
Published on: 1st August 2023
Pages: 576
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones / BookBeat Audio
Add to Goodreads

With a breathtaking array of original stories from around the world, P. Djèlí Clark, Amal El Mohtar, Garth Nix, Darcie Little Badger, Sheree Renée Thomas, and two dozen other fantasy and science fiction geniuses bring a new and exciting twist to one of the most beloved figures in fiction, witches, in never-before-seen works written exclusively for The Book of Witches, compiled by award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan and illustrated by award-nominated artist Alyssa Winans.

Witches! Whether you know them from Shakespeare or from Wicked, there is no staple more beloved in folklore, fairy tale, or fantasy than these magical beings. Witches are everywhere, and at the heart of stories that resonate with many people around the world. This dazzling, otherworldly collection gathers new stories of witches from all walks of life, ensuring a Halloween readers will never forget. Whether they be maiden, mother, crone, or other; funny, fierce, light and airy, or dark and disturbing; witches are a vital part of some of the greatest stories we have, and new ones start here!

Bringing together twenty-nine stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today, including three tales from a BIPOC-only open submission period, The Book of Witches features Linda Addison, C.L. Clark, P Djeli Clark, Indrapramit Das, Amal El Mohtar, Andrea Hairston, Millie Ho, Saad Hossain, Kathleen Jennings, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Khaw, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, Ken Liu, Usman T. Malik, Maureen F. McHugh, Premee Mohamed, Garth Nix, Tobi Ogundiran, Tochi Onyebuchi, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Kelly Robson, Angela Slatter, Andrea Stewart, Emily Teng, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tade Thompson, and E. Lily Yu—and contains illustrations from three-time Hugo award-nominated artist Alyssa Winans throughout. This extraordinary anthology vividly breathes life into one of the most captivating and feared magical sorceresses and will become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales everywhere.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

Please note
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programmes I earn a small commission from items purchased using links featured in this post at no extra cost to you. Click here to learn more. Every purchase you make through Just Geeking By helps keep this blog running.

An anthology titled The Book of Witches, of course, caught my attention, and with such a showcase of writing talent on offer, I had to check this one out. There are twenty-five stories and four poems in The Book of Witches, and I enjoyed the wide variety of subjects covered under the umbrella term of “witches”. It is always interesting to see how each writer interprets the theme of an anthology, and The Book of Witches is a splendid example of creativity. The range of settings and genres means that this is an anthology that truly does offer something for everyone. From the traditional urban fantasy and paranormal themed stories, to tales of necromancers, vengeful spirits, techno-witches, and dream magic.

My favourites from the anthology are ‘What I Remember of Oresha Moon Dragon Devshrata’ by P. Djèlí Clark, ‘The Luck Thief’ by Tade Thompson, ‘The Witch Is Not the Monster’ by Alaya Dawn Johnson, ‘Met Swallow’ by Cassandra Khaw, ‘The Nine Jars of Nukulu’ by Tobi Ogundiran, ‘What Dreams May Come’ by C. L. Clark, ‘The Unexpected Excursion of the Murder Mystery Writing Witches’ by Garth Nix, ‘So Spake the Mirrorwitch’ by Premee Mohamed’, ‘Her Ravenous Waters’ by Andrea Stewart, ‘Through the Woods, Due West’ by Angela Slatter, ‘Witchfires’ by E. Lily Yu and ‘The Cost of Doing Business’ by Emily Y. Teng.

Some of these are by authors that I’ve read multiple times and know to deliver sensational short stories, such as Cassandra Khaw and Angela Slatter. While others are on my reading list (C. L. Clark and Andrea Stewart), and confirmed everything that I’ve heard about their writing. The other authors I’ve not read before, but will certainly be checking out now!

The Book of Witches begins with a well-researched introduction by editor Jonathan Strahan. It’s an interesting read, however, as a disabled reader, I was extremely disappointed to see only BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers named when he mentioned diversity. This is such an ignorant perspective, and having it printed in an anthology published by a major publisher is rather upsetting. Despite this comment in the introduction, there is disability representation in The Book of Witches, most notably the excellent ‘Just a Nudge’ by Maureen McHugh and the brilliant ‘Night Riding’ by Usman T. Malik (please do check the content warnings for this one, though, as it is a very dark tale).

On a final note, I was disappointed by the illustrations. I didn’t feel that they were of particularly good quality, nor did they add anything to the stories they accompanied.

Full list of stories and poems:

• ‘Seed of Power’ by Linda D. Addison (Poem)

• ‘What I Remember of Oresha Moon Dragon Devshrata’ by P. Djèlí Clark

• ‘Catechism for Those Who Would Find Witches’ by Kathleen Jennings

• ‘The Luck Thief’ by Tade Thompson

• ‘Good Spells’ by Ken Liu

• ‘The Liar’ by Darcie Little Badger

• ‘Escape Artists’ by Andrea Hairston (Poem)

• ‘The Witch Is Not the Monster’ by Alaya Dawn Johnson

• ‘Met Swallow’ by Cassandra Khaw

• ‘The Nine Jars of Nukulu’ by Tobi Ogundiran

• ‘In a Cabin’ by In a Wood by Kelly Robson

• ‘What Dreams May Come’ by C. L. Clark

• ‘She Who Makes the Rain’ by Millie Ho (Poem)

• ‘As Wayward Sisters’ by Hand in Hand, Indrapramit Das

• ‘Orphanage of the Last Breath’ by Saad Z. Hossain

• ‘The Unexpected Excursion of the Murder Mystery Writing Witches’ by Garth Nix

• ‘So Spake the Mirrorwitch’ by Premee Mohamed

• ‘Just a Nudge’ by Maureen McHugh

• ‘Her Ravenous Waters’ by Andrea Stewart

• ‘Déjà Vue’ by Tochi Onyebuchi

• ‘BOTANICA: A Song in Four Movements’ by Sheree Renée Thomas (Poem)

• ‘Through the Woods, Due West’ by Angela Slatter

• ‘Nameless Here for Evermore’ by Fonda Lee

• ‘Mask of the Nautilus’ by Sheree Renée Thomas

• ‘Night Riding’ by Usman T. Malik

• ‘Witchfires’ by E. Lily Yu

• ‘The Academy of Oracular Magic’ by Miyuki Jane Pinckard

• ‘The Cost of Doing Business’ by Emily Y. Teng

• ‘John Hollowback and the Witch’ by Amal El-Mohtar

Thank you for reading my book review for The Book of Witches, an anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan. The Book of Witches is out on October 26th 2023 just in time for Halloween, and is available to pre-order from any of the links in this review.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

Support Just Geeking By

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you did please consider sharing it on social media using the nifty buttons at the end of this post <3

If you enjoyed this content please consider helping to support my blog. You can do this in multiple ways (click here to find out how!) or by donating via Ko-Fi to help me reach my current goal.