Cedar Sanderson returns to Underhill in The East Witch:
Anna’s rescue training kicked in when she tripped over the injured elf. Getting him home? No problem. Getting herself home again? That’s going to be a little more complicated.
Trapped Underhill, in the land of the fae, Anna has to remember everything she knows about fairy tales. Not the sweet happy ones: the stories where Baba Yaga boils you alive and giants grind your bones for bread. Her skills as a hunter and her good manners might be all that keep her alive. At least, if she can keep the Wild Hunt at bay!
Fans of the other books in this series are in for a treat, and so are new readers.
Mrs. Sanderson uses her exquisite talent for painting settings and characters to good work when she introduces us to Anna and her companions as she tries to find her way home. I quickly became entranced by the adventures, paced just right, that she and Ivan, the elf, go through as they try to navigate the treacherous and twisty byways of Underhill.
Along the way, they meet and befriend everything from giants to magical carp to Baba Yaga herself. All of the main characters are well fleshed out, and the author has me hooked enough to hope that they reappear in future stories so I can learn more about them.
Like I said, the story is well paced. Where necessary, the author slows down to let us get to know the characters and the world they live in, but when the story calls for action, I found myself reading as fast as I could to find out what happens next.
While The East Witch is part of a series, it is enough of a stand-alone story that a new reader could pick it up and be able to enjoy it just as it is. Readers who enjoyed the other Underhill stories will find this one as easy to slip into as a warm sleeping bag on a cold night.
If you’re looking for a good book to curl up with in front of the fire, The East Witch should be on your short list.
DaddyBear’s Den 
Grumpy
/ February 10, 2021Thanks for the review. Amazon doesn’t list this as part of a series and I can’t figure out what the other books are, much less the order. Can anyone help? Thanks!
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Cedar Sanderson
/ February 10, 2021Hi Grumpy! The book is meant to stand alone, but the Pixie for Hire trilogy, which starts with Pixie Noir, is the first series I set in my Underhill universe. If you enjoy a mix-up of Noir and contemporary fantasy, you may like. I can’t call it urban fantasy – there’s no ‘urb’ in it, but there is a midair dogfight with a bush plane and a Roc, and bowling for ogres with a logging truck.
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Grumpy
/ February 11, 2021Thank you. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the Pixie for Hire trilogy some time ago, and thought the universe of East Witch sounded similar. I’d already bought East Witch and was getting ready to start it when I read this review. I just wanted to be sure that I read anything that came before first, even if not absolutely necessary. Keep up the good work. I’ve read much of what you (and Tom) have written and consider myself a fan.
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