Publishers Weekly
01/23/2023
Divorced grandmother Claire Emerson is the refreshing chosen one at the helm of the fun Crone Wars series debut from Hawke (the Grigori Legacy series). After receiving a mystical magnifying pendant as a present for her 60th birthday, Claire discovers that she is vitally important to a hidden magical world. She’s pleased with the house set aside for her training; admires Keven, the living gargoyle meant to guide her in the ways of magick; and is even mutually attracted to Lucan, the shape-shifting wolfman who serves as her protector—but she rejects her destiny as Crone, part of a powerful group of witches whose lineage stretches back to Arthurian legend and who use elemental magick to contain centuries-old dark forces. Habitually nonconfrontational, Claire doesn’t want the power or the responsibility. However, as the threats against her and her loved ones escalate, she reluctantly takes up the fight. Claire’s character arc is immensely satisfying, but one gets the sense that the larger series plot is barely underway by the end of the book, making this volume feel frustratingly incomplete. Still, anyone looking for character-driven fantasy or a clever subversion of the “chosen one” trope will find much to love. (Self-published)
Kirkus Reviews
2022-12-01
Hawke offers an urban fantasy tale told from the uncommon perspective of a divorced grandmother.
On her 60th birthday, Claire Emerson receives a seemingly innocuous gift from her grandchild: a magnifying pendant that turns out to have magical powers. In the year since her husband left her for a younger woman, Claire’s life has stagnated, much to the chagrin of her best friend and neighbor, Edie James. Her other neighbors, Jeanne and Gilbert, and her son, Paul; daughter-in-law, Natalie; and grandson, Braden, are the only other people in her life. At Claire’s birthday party, she wishes only for a purpose—and the next day, she learns that she’s the latest in a line of elemental witches called Crone who are allied with the goddess Morrigan in an endless battle with the demon god Morok. In order to stop Morok from ending the world, Claire must learn to use her magic, fight Morok’s shades and gnomes, and find all the other Crones. Along the way, she meets her allies in the fight: a gargoyle named Keven; an immortal wolf-shifter, Lucan; and a group of “midwitches,” including police officer Kate Abraham. The enthusiasm with which this novel embraces urban fantasy tropes works well, as it adapts it to fit a protagonist who’s quite a bit older than most in the genre. It adheres to urban-fantasy norms but also pokes some fun at them. For example, the stoic, gray-haired, and muscular protector’s age offers an amusing counterpoint to the typical love interests in the genre; although he looks younger than Claire, he’s hundreds of years older than her. The writing is clever throughout, occasionally making use of extended similes: “My mind skipped from one thing to another like a little metal ball in a pinball machine, changing direction with dizzying speed and careening off metaphorical barriers and bumpers as it set off lights and bells and—I exhaled a long, slow, shaky breath.”
A genre-savvy adventure with excitingly unusual age representation.
