Review by Karl Verhoven

Marie Blackwood has distanced herself from the magical hierarchy, but is canny enough to know there are limits to her isolation and she shouldn’t antagonise. Therefore, when she’s asked to train teenage boy Theo, whom they seem rather fearful about, she reluctantly takes on the task.

Witch of Thistle Castle 1 ended with the pair in France learning about the differences between the magical authorities there and in the UK, and it’s not long before Theo is tempted in more ways than one. The more immediate is Charles, a confident young man to whom Theo is attracted amid much protocol and procedure in the opening chapters as some very powerful people dance around each other. Let’s not forget that Theo is referred to as “The Blood of Righteous Anger”.

Theo is puzzled at the mixture of awe and fear in which he’s held, not really understanding the term applied to him, and with his new glasses comparisons to Harry Potter are even closer. However, unlike Harry, Theo is relatively isolated. He has a mentor and protector in Marie, but no friends, which is the way he’s been raised. Marie, meanwhile, is unusually plagued by uncertainty and the warning of “don’t get taken in by the spirits” seems to apply. After her total confidence in the first volume, seeing her vulnerable is interesting.

John Tarachine plays a very delicate game in a subtle merging of script and art. He creates a deliberate sense of unease without revealing for some while why that is. It’s a fine line guiding readers to suspect all is not well without actually showing it. Charles is the exception, spoiled and manipulative, and ultimately the fatal flaw.

For all the cultivated tension of the Paris chapters, what follows is even better. Things move forward, addressing a problem Theo’s had, and the thorny matter of a companion. Tarachine establishes the pros and cons of working with a singular spirit, which is interesting background. However, the final chapter sends the young and uncertain magician with spectacles that many are in awe of to the school for magic. Tarachine has been creative and individual so far, but what’s to come in Witch of Thistle Castle 3 looks to be skirting dangerous territory.

The focus here has been very much on Theo despite the first impression that Marie was the title character. We’ll see.