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Herb-Witch (Lord Alchemist Duology Book 1) by [Elizabeth McCoy]

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Elizabeth McCoy

Herb-Witch (Lord Alchemist Duology Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Elizabeth McCoy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The Lord Alchemist must be immune to hostile potions. But in all the country, there are only two known immunes: Iathor Kymus, the Lord Alchemist, and his feckless brother, Iasen.

Kessa is a half-barbarian herb-witch, arrested for crimes she didn't quite intend. But when Iathor discovers her immunity to truth potions, he'll do whatever he must to court her. Guilty or not, she's his only hope of banishing his nightmare: a son enslaved to him by the loyalty potion that each Lord Alchemist's heir must drink, and defeat.

But Kessa doesn't trust him, Iasen despises her tainted blood, and there's still the mystery of who complicated Kessa's little crime into the bigger one she didn't intend. They don't even have the benefit of lust at first sight. All they have in common is the alchemist's immunity, and an ability to get on each other's nerves. Will it be enough?

(Contains mature situations.)

Print length

388 pages
Language

English
Publication date

2 December 2013
File size

1059 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007DCCVH8
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1059 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 388 pages

Customer Reviews:
37 ratings

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Elizabeth McCoy

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Elizabeth McCoy's fiction has appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress #7, in the "Best In Show" anthology by Sofawolf*, and in the fanzine "Pawprints" (published by Conrad Wong & T. Jordan Peacock). Her tabletop RPG writing is published by Steve Jackson Games. As her author bios in SJ Games' material continually state, she lives in the Frozen Wastelands of New England, with a spouse, child, and assorted cats.

She hopes that her work will be enjoyed, and is always a bit awkward about referring to herself in the third person.

*Best in Show is available from Amazon as "Furry!: The Best Anthropomorphic Fiction!" (Fred Patten, ed.)

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

37 global ratings

5 star		41%
4 star		31%
3 star		17%
2 star		11%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from other countries

Paul May

Four Stars

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on 16 December 2017

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Good. Get your head around it.

Chelly Madock

Love the whole series!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 9 July 2017

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I REALLY liked this book. It's important to note that it is a Duology (which it says in the title, but some people managed to miss that, and complained about how the book "ended" without resolving everything), so this is only the first half of the story. The first book is pretty firmly in the fantasy/world-building genre with only some romantic undertones, but those romantic undertones grow in the second half (the fantasy/world building is still going on in the second book, but I know some people were disappointed that romantic story line grew. So if you want purely a book with no romance/sex then this series isn't for you. While there's no sex in this book, the second half definitely has sex). Also: If you're particularly squeamish about bodily functions, then this book is not for you ("moon flows" come up a few times and the ashes of them are even used in contraceptives -which is less gross if you keep in mind some of the amazingly disgusting things people in real life used to use as contraceptives, such as crocodile dung).

Elizabeth McCoy has created a fantastic fantasy world where alchemy and herb-witchery exist. Alchemist's immunity is an important trait and is required for the Lord Alchemist, or else Loyalty potions (which let you control the dosed person) or poisoning would be a risk. Unfortunately the current Lord Alchemist, Iathor Kymus, and his brother are the only immune people left in the country. Until a half-barbarian herb-witch with blighted eyes, Kessa, is accused of disminding a moneylender.
Iathor goes to question her with a potion dosed tea, and realizes she's immune.
So he proposes to her on the spot. In her prison cell. After having just met her a minute beforehand. After having just dosed her with an unknown (to her) potion. Which isn't exactly a trustworthy thing to do, and Kessa isn't someone who trusts easily to begin with, so she just... ignores his proposal but lets him take her out of the prison while the disminding is being investigated.

I like Kessa. She's an odd character. She's a bit bitter and a lot suspicious, but I think that makes sense when she was raised with little kindness and when there are so many biased people judging her for being half-barbarian (and since I've seen some reviews mention how pale Kessa looks on the cover of both duology books: she's supposed to be more olive skin toned, rather than black. But I'll concede it is a little odd to look at the cover after hearing her "dark" skin tone mentioned multiple times in the books). I've seen people complain about how strong female characters are often curse-word-spewing, and a little too easily provoked to violence. I'd say that this is a good example of breaking that trope. While she is fiercely protective of her family and smart with protecting herself, she often plays at meekness. To pull a quote from the duology: "She's a small rat, pretending very hard to be a mouse. Often, she nearly succeeds. But rats had sharper teeth."

And this review is getting longer than I was expecting so I'll try to wrap it up: There are a lot of interesting characters and hints into an interesting world, and while I sometimes wanted more details into the history of certain things (like the old Empire and its Imperial plots which are hinted at), I think Elizabeth McCoy smartly avoided info dumps that could have risked boring people. While the story wasn't rapid paced, I didn't think it dragged on either.

My main complaint would be that I would have like peoples' ages to be stated a little more firmly. Iathor is old enough to have hints of gray in his hair but no wrinkles, thanks to alchemical youth potions which keep the body young but doesn't work as well on hair (so 40? 50? older?). And Kessa is... old enough to have finished her apprenticeships and become a tradeswoman? It's mentioned Iathor's probably twice her age, or more. So she's ... mid 20s? Some ages for other girls/women were given by "probably a few years past her first moon-flow" or "probably around the age of their first moon-flow, if even that old" but the age of puberty can vary a bit (currently around 11-12 for girls (in America at least), but historically has been 13, 14, and even 16).

4 people found this helpful

Wiredferret

A precise mixture of down-to-earth fantasy and thoughtful romance

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 26 November 2012

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I really loved this book, and bought the second one from my Kindle the second I clicked the last page. Then I spent the next three weeks telling people about it in person and trying to decide how to write the reviews.

So here's what I told people:
It's got an interesting and well-realized world, with the feeling like we are only seeing a very small part of a much bigger map. The character motivations are not baffling or arbitrary, which one might be more tolerant of if it were being sold as a romance. And it certainly has every element of a forced-marriage romance. But both main characters are also independent and self-sufficient and have their own wants and needs which do not center around short-term desires. Sometimes they are stupid, but only because they don't have all the information to make a better decision.

It's self-published. I wonder if it is that lack of "saleability editing" that makes the flavor just a little unusual. This book (and the one following) are full of sexuality. Not sexiness, or explicit sex, but the different functions of men's and women's bodies. Perhaps the best illustration is this glossary entry:

"dry tea: a contraceptive preparation for women. "Dry" refers to "infertile fields," parched from drought; the tea is brewed and drunk normally. An integral ingredient is maiden's blood; the definition of "maiden" is very strict, for this purpose."

There is a male equivalent, also. Fertility, and the prevention thereof, figure heavily in the storylines. Also Kessa is one of those women with apocalyptically bad periods, and it's just... a thing. No one avoids talking about it, it's not taboo or secret, it's just an impediment she has. The whole culture is set up so that women are as capable of almost everything as men are. Kessa is not exceptional because she owns a business, nor because she knows how to defend herself. She is exceptional because she is imaginative and stoic and flexible. And the stubborn doesn't hurt, either.

She also has extremely striking eyes, and unlike any romance novel I've ever read, they are not a point of beauty, but a disfigurement. I thought it was interesting that she uses her ugliness as a weapon, and even the man falling in love with her has trouble making eye contact with her.

Kessa is a herb-witch, working with naturally occurring ingredients to make simple potions and mixes to help people stay or become healthy. Iathor is an alchemist, and works with chemicals or "metal-salts" to create more powerful medicines and potions. One of the ways he woos Kessa is to offer to teach her more alchemy to enhance her existing knowledge. And he needs all the lures he can get -- it turns out that proposing to people when you first meet them in a dungeon and you are in a position of power makes it hard for them to trust you. Who knew, right?

Of course, the other reason she can't trust him is she has a second life, and doesn't think he would approve of it, not in the least, but her second, secret life involves her family, and she's not about to give them up or endanger them by exposure.

Like I said at the top, I really liked this book. I was blown away by the worldbuilding and structure, the seamless genre-bending, and the interesting investigations on the nature of consent, love, dynastic marriages, and birth control.

Read if: You're looking for something living comfortably between fantasy and romance. You like thinking about the problems of consent and forced marriages. You love a heroine who has a bit of sneak thief in her. You're my sister.

Skip if: You are really going to be ooked out by female biology. Romance only clutters up your poisoning mysteries. You are allergic to the Magical Dark Skinned People trope.

Also read:
The Midwife's Apprentice for herbal healing and strong-minded women.
Herb-Wife (Lord Alchemist Duology) It's what I read next!

24 people found this helpful

FreeP

A wonderful book with a fully fleshed-out world

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 20 February 2018

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A wonderful book with a fully fleshed-out world. The magic is well defined and has needed limitations. Herb-witch is one of the most unique novels I have read in a while. It feels almost dicksonian in its story about a orphan being thrust into high society. Some of the characters are stock characters, but the protagonist is so steely and determined to care for her adoptive siblings and protect herself that I can forgive it. It's also a story of internalized racism as the protagonist comes from a minority group that is treated poorly. The "savage girl" trope can sometimes be heavy-handed, but that is my only complaint. I hope to read more in this world.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

well written but falls flat

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 13 October 2012

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This review is for both books in the duology, Herb-Witch and Herb-Wife.

Herb Witch is the story of a young woman who is, as the title of the book indicates, a witch skilled in herbs. Kessa owns a small shop and dispenses various potions and manages to barely skirt the edges of poverty. She has a unique ability to be unaffected by the potions and poisons of her trade. Because immunity is a very rare and desirable trait the head of the Guild (of which she is a member) seeks to marry her. Kessa has faced prejudice her entire life due to being half barbarian, and this coupled with the circumstances of her poverty make it difficult for her to trust anyone. When she refuses to marry, the Guild Master takes her under his wing anyway, and decides to train her in alchemy. The story is part mystery, part romance, and part fantasy novel.

Herb Wife is the continuation of the story, in which Kessa agrees to the marriage for reasons of her own, and adjusts to life as a noble. There is a continuation of the themes from the previous book (prejudice against her half-barbarian background, study of alchemy, and the mystery of who wishes to do her harm), and there is also much exploration of the relationship between the Guild Master and Kessa. There is also the subject of Kessa's pregnancy and her fear of giving birth.

I'm not sure that I'm doing the book justice in describing the bare elements of the plot. The book is well written and at times engrossing. My favorite parts were the descriptions of Kessa's growing study of alchemy.

But for some reason, I can't put my finger on exactly why, I didn't find the series to be very satisfying. Elizabeth McCoy does a good job of world building and her writing is clean and evocative. I think the problem for me was that the book tried to be too many things at once. The mystery was flat in that the one person who is the most unpleasant to Kessa from the beginning is the person who turns out to be the villain in the end. And while Kessa proves to be an apt student of alchemy, she doesn't do anything especially thrilling with those skills - sure she fights off a few bad guys but there were no real surprises or feats of daring in what she did. And the growing romance between Kessa and the Lord Alchemist - it wasn't especially thrilling. There didn't seem to be any great depths of emotion there, and in my opinion it just dragged on too long.

I do want to give a special mention to the "dry tea" that Kessa makes. Eww! I imagine that males who comes across the scene where she's collecting the ingredients to this potion will end up with dry heaves. I get a bit queasy myself thinking about people drinking it.

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Herb-Witch (Lord Alchemist Duology Book 1) Kindle Edition

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Elizabeth McCoy

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