A review by mewsie
Wit'ch Fire: Book One of the Banned and the Banished, by James Clemens

3.0

Here is the tale about Elena: a simple country girl whose life takes a sudden turn for the worse when she becomes a woman. She is no longer the daughter of an apple farmer in a quiet valley; now she becomes a Wit'ch, a woman who can wield great power but is feared among her land. Her destiny was forged five centuries earlier when three mages brought their powers together and sacraficed themselves to create the Book, which contains the last powers of the Chi in a land that was to succumb to dark powers. Once Elena became the Wit'ch, the Dark Lord who now rules over her land of Alasea is seeking her power, and she finds herself alone, very confused, and running away from the only home she knew. On her journey to find someone that can help her, she meets up with others who help her battle the Dark Lord's minion: a one-armed man, a half-breed troll, a nymph, and two shapeshifters stuck in their current forms. They work together to keep Elena from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord.

I read this book on recommendation from my husband and was pleasantly surprise with it. The book was a bit tough to stick with at the beginning, whether it was the writing style or the focus shifting constantly between characters, but it melded nicely in the end. I did like the fact that the story didn't just focus on Elena but included the stories behind her ragtag friends as well. Clemens did a good job giving life to these supplemental characters with intriguing stories of their own. Yes, there are issues with his writing style, especially all those added apostrophes (hence the three stars), but I think that it was worth working through since the story had a nice plot and good character development.