Witch and Wombat

Rating:
Summary: FUN FUN FUN
Review: A truely amusing book Witch and Wombat takes a slightly snide look at some of the best loved fairy tales. In this book the princes aren't so charming, the witches have consciences and contract problems, the king got his queen by herding goats and the troll behind the scences has problems with strikes. On top of all of this add some real world gamers looking for action and there is a perfect mixture for mayhem. This is not a traditional fantasy novel and it is not for some one who takes fantasy too seriously, but if you are just looking to laugh then this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, with spice
Review: Amusing and snide, this book pokes good-natured fun at the tooth fairy, war-gamers, Rapunzel's tower and the glass hill, Hollywood, the sanitizing of originally grisly fairy tales, and more. Its sly mockery of those who belittle all they see is clever: behold the fate of the supercilious critic whose carping goads a witch too far.

In this tale, the world of magic is sustained by the belief of mortals. To augment the dwindling supply of energy available, an ambitious troll organizes a fantasy game in which mortals actually visit the magical realm while thinking they are simply playing a fantasy game with an elaborate computer program. The four gamers who win the chance to experience the game first are reluctantly escorted (and guarded) by the witch Hali and her familiar, Bernie. Bernie, once human (a New Yorker who tried to pick the wrong pocket indeed!), had secretly liked his crow form and is miffed at having to take the more trendy form of a wombat. The plot avoids cliches and proceeds on its off-beat course through an enchanted forest with references to fairy tales from Sleeping Beauty to Baba Yaga. A most enjoyable book with a lot of chuckles for the reader! Also, though it has been compared to Terry Pratchett's work, I personally prefer Witch and Wombat because it has characters I can like. There's more warmth, and, thus, ultimately, more satisfaction for me in Cushman's characterization than in Pratchett's, and characterization is what makes me want to read books again and again.

It's interesting to compare Witch and Wombat with Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's The Godmother, which also touches on fairy tales. Witch and Wombat is lighter in tone than the sometimes somber The Godmother, but both are entertaining--and fascinating in their wealth of references to fairy tales, particularly if the reader is alert for such allusions.

Rating:
Summary: Lighthearted fantasy
Review: Business has been slow for Hali, and she's stuck in an irritatingly tidy
A-frame with a blue plastic roof. When her boss Bentwood comes up
with a scheme to lure fantasy gamers to the Inner World as tourists,
she agrees to help in exchange for a properly spooky witch's hut...

As witches go, she lacked a certain fearsome something...
Preteens, to her mortification, pegged her instantly as a pushover...
Hali liked to think that her mouse-brown hair snaked about her face,
but in reality it hung in limp tendrils that only came to life in wet
weather, when they suddenly sat up and curled wildly...

At the other extreme, Hali's most beguiling expression, adopted at
social occasions attended by attractive males, tended to send her targets
running for their lives.

The gamers are told that they'll have a chance to play a VR game of
*unprecedented* realism. They're duly ported over from the Outer
Worlds, and the fun begins. The first group includes two college boys,
one high-school girl, and a singularly obnoxious game-critic - in
terminal exasperation, Hali turns this last into a giant dung-beetle. He
finds he rather likes his new role...

"Trust me, he's a happy insect, " Hali said... "The antidote's the
usual... "

"True love's kiss?", Bernie asked, amused. "That one's not going to
find true love outside a mirror."

There are few surprises in this first novel, but the cheerful tone and
amusing skits keep the pages turning. Ms. Cushman is perhaps better-
known for her monthly column in Locus, where she reviews books
much like the one she has written (though most of those are not so
well done). She is a reliable reviewer and an entertaining writer. I
hope she got sufficient encouragement from "W&W" to write another.

[review written 1998]

Rating:
Summary: Rating: A/A- ; humorous light fantasy.
Review: Business has been slow for Hali, and she's stuck in an irritatingly tidy
A-frame with a blue plastic roof. When her boss Bentwood comes up
with a scheme to lure fantasy gamers to the Inner World as tourists,
she agrees to help in exchange for a properly spooky witch's hut...

As witches go, she lacked a certain fearsome something...
Preteens, to her mortification, pegged her instantly as a pushover...
Hali liked to think that her mouse-brown hair snaked about her face,
but in reality it hung in limp tendrils that only came to life in wet
weather, when they suddenly sat up and curled wildly...

At the other extreme, Hali's most beguiling expression, adopted at
social occasions attended by attractive males, tended to send her targets
running for their lives.

The gamers are told that they'll have a chance to play a VR game of
*unprecedented* realism. They're duly ported over from the Outer
Worlds, and the fun begins. The first group includes two college boys,
one high-school girl, and a singularly obnoxious game-critic - in
terminal exasperation, Hali turns this last into a giant dung-beetle. He
finds he rather likes his new role...

"Trust me, he's a happy insect, " Hali said... "The antidote's the
usual... "

"True love's kiss?", Bernie asked, amused. "That one's not going to
find true love outside a mirror."

There are few surprises in this first novel, but the cheerful tone and
amusing skits keep the pages turning. Ms. Cushman is perhaps better-
known for her monthly column in Locus, where she reviews books
much like the one she has written (though most of those are not so
well done). She is a reliable reviewer and an entertaining writer. I
hope she got sufficient encouragement from "W&W" to write another.

[review written 1998]

Rating:
Summary: Rating: A/A-humorous light fantasy.
Review: Business has been slow for Hali, and she's stuck in an irritatingly tidy A-frame with a blue plastic roof. When her boss Bentwood comes up with a scheme to lure fantasy gamers to the Inner World as tourists, she agrees to help in exchange for a properly spooky witch's hut... There are few surprises in this first novel, but the cheerful tone and amusing skits keep the pages turning.

Rating:
Summary: Lighthearted fantasy
Review: This book has a little bit of everything - and all of it well done! Fantasy, role playing, magic, romance, fairy tale, dry humor, and mythical creatures are all in this one. The good (Hali), the bad (snotty elflord), and the ugly (Bentwood) combine to keep you entertained throughout the book. I recommend this book highly. My only complaint is that there is no sequel. I would definitely like to see more like this.

Rating:
Summary: great lighthearted fantasy
Review: this was such a great book that i can only hope there are sequels. a dash of realism in the fantasy world leaves witch hali needing money for a new house. the idea of her running counseling sessions for a group of teenagers under the cover of 'virtual reality' to disguise the magic was lots of fun and leaves us open for a sequel.. which i hope comes someday.