Witchy Eye Is a Flintlock Fantasy of a Different Breed
Witchy Eye, D.J. Butler’s major-publisher debut, is dense and packed full of ideas, but it all fits together seamlessly. It’s a wild quest fantasy, but it layers in complex political intrigue, innovative magic systems, and a warped, slightly more inclusive alternate history as it speeds along. It might sound overwhelming, but the deep world design and unforgettable characters make it go down easy, a fast-moving and intriguing read, titanic scale and epic scope aside.
Witchy Eye
Hardcover $25.00
Witchy Eye
By D.J. Butler
Hardcover $25.00
Sarah Calhoun is a young woman with a talent for hexing and a massive deformed eye. When she accompanies her family to the local tobacco fair, neither Sarah nor her Appalachian siblings (the children of war hero and Imperial Elector “Iron Andy” Calhoun) have much on their minds other than the buying, selling, and priest-heckling that occurs every Fair. But an attempted kidnapping by a loathsome, gun-toting preacher and a rescue by an unusual monk named Thalanes reveal Sarah is the last of a dangerous lineage, and heir apparent to two fallen kingdoms—something that could catastrophically alter the balance of power in the American Empire.
To regain her birthright, Sarah sets out with her adopted brother Calvin and her newly sworn protector Thalanes on a quest to find three objects of power wielded by her dead birth father. The way is treacherous, and the trio find themselves contending with golem-like Mockers, the brutal armies of Emperor Thomas Penn, beast-people, and yet more dangerous threats, both natural and supernatural.
Butler’s worldbuilding is truly special. This is an ambitious book, sketching out numerous political, religious, and cultural systems for every region the characters travel through. The background for the area is one steeped in myth both based in American history and completely fabricated, with beastmen, wild gods, the founding fathers, magical artifacts, and the Mississippi River as the source of powerful magic. Magic in this world is similarly diverse, blending hexing, voodoo, and latin phrases that require mages to draw power from ley lines through focus amulets. It speaks to how deep and dense the world is that every character has their own understanding of how the world works, filtered through the systems available to them. The depth and density also makes the world feel incredibly vast—a day’s journey can take them through several exotic, fully realized locales.
Sarah Calhoun is a young woman with a talent for hexing and a massive deformed eye. When she accompanies her family to the local tobacco fair, neither Sarah nor her Appalachian siblings (the children of war hero and Imperial Elector “Iron Andy” Calhoun) have much on their minds other than the buying, selling, and priest-heckling that occurs every Fair. But an attempted kidnapping by a loathsome, gun-toting preacher and a rescue by an unusual monk named Thalanes reveal Sarah is the last of a dangerous lineage, and heir apparent to two fallen kingdoms—something that could catastrophically alter the balance of power in the American Empire.
To regain her birthright, Sarah sets out with her adopted brother Calvin and her newly sworn protector Thalanes on a quest to find three objects of power wielded by her dead birth father. The way is treacherous, and the trio find themselves contending with golem-like Mockers, the brutal armies of Emperor Thomas Penn, beast-people, and yet more dangerous threats, both natural and supernatural.
Butler’s worldbuilding is truly special. This is an ambitious book, sketching out numerous political, religious, and cultural systems for every region the characters travel through. The background for the area is one steeped in myth both based in American history and completely fabricated, with beastmen, wild gods, the founding fathers, magical artifacts, and the Mississippi River as the source of powerful magic. Magic in this world is similarly diverse, blending hexing, voodoo, and latin phrases that require mages to draw power from ley lines through focus amulets. It speaks to how deep and dense the world is that every character has their own understanding of how the world works, filtered through the systems available to them. The depth and density also makes the world feel incredibly vast—a day’s journey can take them through several exotic, fully realized locales.
The Remaining (Remaining Series #1)
Paperback $9.99
The Remaining (Remaining Series #1)
By D. J. Molles
Paperback $9.99
A world full of such dense beliefs, legends, and laws would of course be incomplete without larger-than-life characters, and here, too, Butler excels, building up a memorable cast through point-of-view chapters, dialogue, snippets of stories, and offhand comments, building them up even before they appear on the page, even granting each their own unique vernacular.
Flintlock fantasy isn’t a genre that often leaps into epic scope, so when it does, that’s ambitious enough on its own. What makes Witchy Eye even better is that D.J. Butler goes beyond, and gets so much right in the process. This is a breathtaking heroic saga that pays off in a really satisfying way. Between a world so deep you could get lost in it and a massive, distinct cast, Witchy Eye seems poised to bring Butler’s work to a wider audience (his other books were self-published). With a book like this one, it’s an audience he definitely deserves.
Witchy Eye is available now.
A world full of such dense beliefs, legends, and laws would of course be incomplete without larger-than-life characters, and here, too, Butler excels, building up a memorable cast through point-of-view chapters, dialogue, snippets of stories, and offhand comments, building them up even before they appear on the page, even granting each their own unique vernacular.
Flintlock fantasy isn’t a genre that often leaps into epic scope, so when it does, that’s ambitious enough on its own. What makes Witchy Eye even better is that D.J. Butler goes beyond, and gets so much right in the process. This is a breathtaking heroic saga that pays off in a really satisfying way. Between a world so deep you could get lost in it and a massive, distinct cast, Witchy Eye seems poised to bring Butler’s work to a wider audience (his other books were self-published). With a book like this one, it’s an audience he definitely deserves.
Witchy Eye is available now.