Book 1), Witchling (Sisters of the Moon

Read this book, despite the next line of my review! This book was not the greatest, but not bad at all. Like others, I had a problem with the sisters not immediately trying to find the guy with the seal. But, don't let this stop you from reading this series, which just get's better and better. Think of this book as the introduction, as this is where you are getting to know the family and meet some of the characters that will mean much more in later books. Just see the reviews for the rest of the series and you will see what I mean. The next book was much better and every book since has been fantastic.

Each book is written from a different sisters perspective. One is a Witch, one a Were Kitty and one a Vampire, all half fae and half human. They start out as misfits who are not accepted in either world. Their powers are weak and unreliable at best, but as the stories progress, these girls become very powerful, each in their own unique way. They form strong alliances and caring friendships while kicking evil demonkind butt. They acquire a large extended family of misfits that make the stories even more engaging. Through it all, the sisters have an unbreakable bond between them.

Someone talked about how much of a let down this book was after reading Kim Harrison. Let me tell you that I think this series is even better than Kim Harrison's. I just don't feel the connections between the characters in Kim's books. In this series, you really feel the emotions between all the characters. They go into battle together and kick serious butt. A group of ragtag, yet powerful misfits become a close knit family.

This is one series you really don't want to miss.

Witchling / 0-425-21254-8

When I first read "Witchling", I was inclined to give it a mere 3-4 star rating, but now that I've re-read it again after reading the next two in the series, I can admit that I really love this series and I enjoyed "Witchling" far more now that I can see where the series is going.

A fun and fantastic series, the "Sisters of the Moon" books feature a sort of "Charmed"-esque world, with the three titular sisters combining good sense, strong magic, and family ties to defeat powerful demons and solve supernatural mysteries.

One of the things I like best about this series is the thought and care that Galenorn has put into building her world - the magical residents of "Otherworld" are out in the open, with no Masquerade to maintain, and much care has been put into fleshing out what such a world would look like, with new businesses popping up to cater to the OW residents and with human groupies and protesters taking to the streets. Creating a world without a Masquerade is tricky, and requires a lot of care and thought, but it allows the story to focus on the important elements of plot propulsion and character development, rather than having to devote huge chunks of time and space to cleaning up magical messes that really shouldn't be possible to hide in the first place.

More than anything else, the "Sisters of the Moon" series focuses on character development. The very few things I disliked about this novel - Camille's "Sex in the City" like obsession with clothes, lingerie, and other novelties she shouldn't be able to afford and wouldn't have the time and luxury to enjoy under the developing serious circumstances in the novel - melt into the background over the series as the sisters change and develop. Each of the sisters has her own personal demons and difficulties - in part due to their cross-breed heritage, but also in part to their own past difficulties that need to be overcome. As the world starts to fall apart around them over the course of the series, each sister starts to grow, evolve, and tackle her own personal demons. This isn't, in short, a series for reading out of order, because the sisters change slowly but noticeably over each novel.

"Witchling" is told from the point of view of Camille, the oldest sister, and it's interesting to see her from the perspective of her two younger sisters over the course of the next two books. She is deeply passionate and extremely sexually liberated, attracting a small harem of gorgeous, dangerous men over the course of the series. And yet, her first passion is always for her sisters and her family as she struggles to shelter the other two in her role as oldest sister and surrogate mother.

I highly recommend you check out this wonderful series. "Witchling" admittedly gets off to a gently rocky start, but if you enjoy this novel even a little, you will almost assuredly love the overall series, and this fantastically charming world will draw you in and refuse to let you go.

~ Ana Mardoll

The magical races of Otherworld make their presence known to Earthlings and the Sidhe travel through guarded portals to terra. They have agents on Earth that belong to the OIA and these agents guard the portals and fix things that involve Earth otherworld inhabitants. Three of the OIA operatives are the half human half faerie D'Artigo sisters: Camille the powerful witch whose spells sometimes backfire, Delilah a were who shifts into a cat, and Menolly a reluctant vampire.

The sisters learn that there has been a change of leadership in the Subterranean Realms where the demons reside and the new ruler Shadow Wing wants to gain control of the same magical seals that the elemental hands lost. When he has the seals he will be able to have his army pass through his realm into earth. He hates humans and wants earth scourged of their presence and his minions in control of the planet. Both sides know who has the seals and they are in a race to claim it.

Yasmine Galenorn has written a fantastic, exciting and electrifying urban fantasy that is on par with such greats at Laurell K. Hamilton, Mercedes Lackey, and Kim Harrison. Camille is torn between two different magical beings, one of which belongs to a fickle fae group who always leave their lovers and the other is a fae creature of earth that has powers equals to his lover and his rival. There is plenty of action witty dialogue and a well crafted plot in this be-WITCHLING tale.

Harriet Klausner

I always look forward to new fiction from Yasmine Galenorn, and the first of this new supernatural fantasy series about three half-human, half-Faerie sisters promises to take her writing to a new and darker level. Camille d'Artigo, the narrator of 'Witchling', is smart, sassy, sexy and powerful, a good witch whose half-humanity makes her magical powers unpredictable. The book suffers from the need of all first-in-series books - to introduce and establish the background and landscape of the fantasy - but the action is hot and strong enough to carry us through all that.

Camille and her sisters Delilah (a were-cat) and Menolly (a newly-fledged vampire) work in urban Seattle while maintaining their secret lives as intelligence operatives for Otherworld. The murder of another operative leads them to the existence of a plot by an evil demon, Shadow Wing from the Subterranean Realms, to seize power not only in Otherworld but on Earth. Bureaucratic inertia in the Otherworld Intelligence Agency, and the neglect of the Queen of the Faeries, leaves them to fight the threat of a series of increasingly-dangerous minions of Shadow-Wing alone with only the help of such friends (and lovers) as they can muster.

The brief taster at the end of Witchling brings us to the next book, Changeling, told by Delilah the were-cat, due to be published in 2007, and Darkling, the third in the series, told by Menolly. Now we know the landscape of the series, I look forward to enjoying even more of Galenorn's ability to craft a well-told story with some beautiful quality writing.

If you are looking for a light-reading romp under the moon, this book is for you. The first novel in the Otherworld series, Witchling takes place in Seattle in a world where Earthside coexists with Otherworld, the place of the fae. There are three half-human, half-fae D'Artigo sisters (Camille the witch, Delilah the werecat and Menolly the vampire) who are trying to stop a demon named Shadow Wing from destroying both worlds. Although this series has been categorized as Paranormal Romance, it is far from harlequin. I would consider the Otherworld novels as mostly urban fantasy with a little bit of mystery and a few steamy scenes. The adult content is a side note that complements the story without dominating the plot. What keeps this series fresh is the rotation of the point-of-view between the three sisters. Each book is purely told through the eyes of one sister, then the next book features the next sister. On that note, Witchling is told from the oldest sister Camille's point of view.

As with the first book of any series, there is a lot of time spent on establishing the characters, but it is very much worth the effort. As the books continue, it is difficult not to become personally-invested in the characters as you gain a rich backstory that is recommended to further enjoy following novels. The drawback with this book is the dialog. It is easy to misinterpret lighthearted, snarky comments with juvenile, cheesy comebacks. The problem with dialog decreases over time, either due to Yasmine gaining more experience over the years as a writer, or that the sisters have evolved from being naive to serious about the war they are facing. With 13 novels in the series at the time of this review, each book has been better than the last. Yasmine has become a skilled story weaver with such a large cast of characters, exotic locations and mythical creatures. Smart, sexy and imaginative, her books offer a fantastical way to momentarily escape reality while having a little fun.

Meet the D'Artigo sisters: the oldest Camille, the middle sister Delilah, and the youngest Menolly. All of them smart, pretty, and deadly. They're half human, half Faerie and that messes with the magic in their blood. Camille is a witch who's magic can short circuit at the worst possible times, Delilah is a were cat who shape shifts when she becomes stressed out and Menolly is an acrobat, who when she fell at the wrong moment, was turned into vampire. She is now learning how to deal with being one of the undead and controlling herself.

The three of them live in an alternate version of Seattle where humans know about the Fae and some of the other things that go bump in the night. Currently a few bad things are going down, starting with the murder of a giant, a bouncer named Jocko, at the bar where Menolly works. It appears that the demon Shadow Wing is trying to break out of the Subterranean Realms and wants to take over and destroy Earth and Otherworld where the girls grew up.

And so, the three are changed with the following from the Otherworld Intelligence Agency (OIA, think like the CIA/FBI except it's magic): Keep Shadow Wing and his minions from coming though however possible.

I first picked this book up because of the cover; the art of this series is, in my opinion, just beautiful. Yasmine weaves a lovely story and you can see the love the three sisters have for each other. I've heard some people say that the three sisters' thing is a rip off of "Charmed", but it's not. Three is a magical number and has been used way before "Charmed" ever got a hold of it. (Besides for "Charmed" it's technically four sisters.) I've read this book three times and its sequel Changling twice and am dying to get a copy of Darkling come January. There is some violence and sex, but I think that it's very well written and is done better than some of the other authors out there; and is not as in your face about it as some authors can be.

I was surprised to discover just how much I enjoyed this novel. The story is about three sisters, all half faery. One is a buxom witch who turns all the guys heads, but is intellegent and strong-willed. The second is a changeling, tall, blonde, and athletic with a soft heart. The third is a recently turned vampire, small, petite, red-headed and tough. The three sisters work on earth as a go-between between the faery world and ours. Unfortunately they are called in when a giant has been found murdered and uncover a horrible plot to take over both worlds. Basically the girls are all we have to stand between the terrible evil coming and the world.

I won't say more, but suffice it to say this is no fluff novel. It is a fast-paced fun ride in which I can't wait to read the next one.

I picked this book up with the second one -Changling -in the library hoping for a good paranormal/supernatural series and was disappointed to find that although the story had alot of potential (and reminded me a bit of Charmed), the characters are annoying. Camille, the main sister in this first book reminds me of Prue -Charmed- only much much sluttier. The story wouldn't be bad if there were less focus on all the new men the sisters are trying to sleep with and/or decide between, and more mystery,horror, and action. I flipped past the tedious sex scenes in hopes that there would be more to the actual PLOT, but no such luck. Also annoying is the bad decisions the sisters make regarding the men they date which just adds more annoying characters. I will not be getting book three unless I am seriously,seriously bored!

Yasmine Galenorn's Witchling isn't a bad book. I just didn't find it all that engaging. The story centers around a half-fae/half-human witch named Camille. She and her sisters work for the Otherworld Intelligence agency. In this world the fae have "come out" and are known to the humans of this world.

I think part of the problem I had with the book was insufficient world building. I never really got a sense why the Otherworld made itself known to our world, or why the agency they report to was having trouble. I couldn't relate to Camille's character, or her problems with her ex-boyfriend. I got a sense of being told why she'd dumped him, but not really shown.

I might pick up the other books in the series to see if I can find the other sisters easier to relate to than this one. Although, I have a lot more pressing things that I want to read in my TBR pile.

An explanation of my rating system, so others will realize where I'm coming from:
5 stars = excellent book, I couldn't put it down.
4 stars = good book
3 stars = OK book may or may not read on if it's part of a series
2 stars = not good, book drags
1 star = bad book

I have been waiting for months for Yasmine's next endeavor to hit the shelves and it was well worth it! In the ever-growing genre of urban fantasy her name is going to be one of the big ones.

We tend to see elements of things we enjoy in every book we read, there are no new stories after all. The trick is when an author manages to portray themes in a new light. Witchling is all that and then some. Steeped in mystery, magic and mayhem she seamlessly blends together a world that as the reader you're never really sure hasn't existed all this time.

Otherworld and Earth, two planes of existence that co-exist are on the brink of destruction. Only no one wants to acknowledge it. The FBH (full-blooded humans) are mostly clueless, and the Crown and Court are too busy with their opium dreams to bother outfitting for war. So it's up to Camille and her two half-human/half-Fae sisters to stop the demon armies from shattering the divisions between the worlds and turning all of existence into the devil's playground.

For those of you who like stories rich in mythos, a world that is rich in scenery and characters who are real enough to step off the page - don't pass up this book. This series looks to be one that will keep you on the edge of your seat for the whole ride!

Slow start, but got better...

I thoroughly enjoyed that the protagonists, especillly Camille, were somewhat normal in their desires and actions. 

While many books in this genre have a virgin Mary approach to female protagonists, where heroines are completely non-sexual if not "untouched" until the meet the love of their life, Camille is a 21st century woman. Kudos to the writer for this.

It started off rather lackluster. But I was willing to read the first 100 pages just to make sure I wouldn't like it. There's a murder first off, and the heroine stands around talking smack with one of the officials from the Alphabet Soup Government agency which she also works for. At one point, the author actually popped her head up and says "Oh, I think you need a little background information.." Then the reader gets treated to a mini-Bio of the heroine that goes on for several pages. It's like she wrote out the backstory when she was outlining the book and inserted it as is without even trying to subtly weave it into the story. The thing read like a book report! This was annoying to me, like those movies where the main character actually turns and starts talking to the camera because the writer was too lazy to think of a clever way to impart the information. *ugh* I put the book down and probably won't go back to it.

Finished Kim Harrison's new book and wanted to try something similar from others and happened to come by this book by chance.

Won't elaborate since many reviewers already gave their reviews with some details.

The narration is in the first person of Camille, the eldest sister.

The story is somewhat slow at times and can get quite boring.

Sometimes the dialogue sounds like something a college kid would say.
It's really difficult trying to feel anything towards the 3 main characters, of which are all sisters.

Are these sisters suppose to be older than they appear? They sound like college girls being on their own for the first time. There's no feeling in the book for readers to care about them!

Hadn't realized that it's scifi/thriller/romance or whatever passes as romance.

This series is probably geared toward the female audience than men.

It's just hard following the story. It's suppose to get you involved but it doesn't.

Listening to the audiobook version and the narrator sounds very young but not much experienced in voice impersonations since each character sounds roughly the same with not much distinction in tone or character.

I'd like to know what'll happen but sometimes have to put the story away and come back several times as it's... boring!!

Must... find... out.. the... ending!! ZZZZZ!!!

Even the older tv show of 3 sisters, Charms, was more interesting than this book!

Witchling is about three sisters half human and half farie. Who are sent to protect relations between humans and farie. This one mainly deals with the oldet, Camille who is part witch. Demons are after the seals that keep the worlds apart. It is a very slow read until abot half way thru. The last battle is anti-climatic. If I could I'd give the book a 3.25 but I can't so it'll have to be 3.5.

I enjoyed the storyline, the character descriptions were well developed, until they talk, the book is great. As soon as they begin to share dialog, you realize the writer must like illiterate, uneducated, profane people or at least that must be all she ever speaks to in real life. It completely destroys the effect and fantasy she has created up until that moment. I've read 4 of her books, they all are similar in the way they jar you out of the fantasy by the inability of the characters to talk like normal people. (I think she is aiming for edginess, but they all talk the same: abrupt, rude, vulgar, minimal vocabulary.) Shame, if she improved the dialog, these books would be fantastic.

Let me start by saying that I like Yasmine Galenorn's writing quite a lot. I love her pagan/metaphysical books--she's one of the few authors out there who seems to have a genuine passion for the subject matter--and I've also enjoyed the one installment of Chintz 'n' China that I've read.

That said, I didn't really enjoy this book, though I feel kind of bad saying so about something she's obviously worked hard on and feels strongly about.

Galenorn has set herself a difficult task here. Most writers of urban fantasy choose a narrator who has grown up in the ordinary, everyday world of humans. Whether the protagonist is aware of the supernatural at the start of the book or not, s/he does begin the story as someone who is more familiar with the human world than with the Otherworld. This enables the author to gradually lead readers into the world, because they can find out bits and pieces of information right along with the character. Galenorn's protagonist, Camille, is the opposite. She is half-human, but grew up in the Otherworld among Sidhe society and has now moved to Earth as an investigator of supernatural crime. (We'll leave aside the question of whether someone who grew up in Faerie would call it "Otherworld." It seems to me that our world would be called Other by the denizens of Faerie.)

So we have a narrator who ostensibly knows everything about Otherworld and almost everything about supernatural crime. And we have a very short novel, during which the foundation of a series needs to be laid and several skirmishes fought. There's very little "screen time" in which to gradually lead readers into the setting. Instead, every time Camille opens her mouth, an infodump falls out. Because Camille serves mainly as a vehicle for exposition, she isn't very well-developed as a character. Several other characters are either flat (the sisters) or else behave in completely incongruous ways that jar with the way the character seemed at first (Chase). I'm not talking about characters changing through their experiences. This is more like "BAM! I am a completely different person now!"

In addition, I felt that the final scene was sort of jarring with the rest of the story. Its purpose is to set the scene for sequels, but its atmosphere doesn't really fit with the rest of the novel.

However, I'm looking forward to seeing where Galenorn goes with this series. I suspect the characters will be more interesting now that the expository lump is out of the way.

Great start to a new series. Hardly any down spots and wasted page fillers. I love the diversity of having witches, vampires, fairie/fey and my fav demons. This book had good sex with hardly any romance which I more than appreciated and had great action. I'm looking forward to reading book 2.

Witchling had the potential to be a good book, or at least an intrueging one. The plot, involving fairies, shapeshifters, vampires, Tam Lin, dragons, and ordinary humans who coping with all of the above, could be an incredible read.
Sadly, the author can not write for her life. I had to force myself to finish through to the end. I didn't borrow the second book from the library, even though the werecat-themed sequel sounded like just the sort of thing I like.
Overall, I would recommend looking for a different book to curl up with. Try Ilona Andrews or Karen Chance.

I was eagerly awaiting this book because I wanted to read fiction from one of my fave Wiccan authors. I like the sisters, but the world building in this novel got in the way of the character development of the sisters. The key to building a series is to concentrate on the characters so we get interested in the world they live in but not the other way around. I will definitely read the next book in the series cause I think there will be more character development in the next book.

All in all it was a good fantasy, but not great.

Are you attracted to powerful dangerous beings? Have you ever felt that you were at the mercy of Murphy's Law? Well, then this books for you. The heroine is powerful, but her power doesn't always work the way it should. Good thing that she can think on her toes and make the best of her situation. The type of girl who likes men who are dangerous. Good human guys...they don't stand a chance.

Every time I turn around she is introducing some new "creature". Some new "supe" i think we are up to 25 just and just in chapter 6. Camelie spends more time explaining what all these new creatures are and lets not forget their special powers and characteristics.. ohh and how many times do i have to hear "by the moon.. by the gods". At first i was intrigued by the supernatural mystery aspect but after each new "supe" I can't keep track and my insterest is depleting

Three magical sisters have come from the Otherworld as supernatural operatives. The three sisters, Camille; Menolly; and Delilah, each have their own unique abilities. Camille is a witch. Menolly is a vampire, and Delilah is a were-cat. But because these three magical sisters are half human, their powers tend to misfire and go altogether wonky. So when a fellow operative is killed and the sisters are assigned to investigate, they must learn to harness their powers and find the killer before it's too late.

I was tremendously disappointed with this book. I am a huge fan of Yasemine Galenorn, both her pagan writings and her cozy mysteries, but this book just plain sucked. First, there are three magical sisters. Hmmm...where have I heard that before...? Oh I know! Charmed! Then, just for good measure, she blended in a little Buffy the Vampire Slayer and stole some Laurell K. Hamilton and presto! One book that was a giant rip-off of other popular works, full of poor dialog, a plot that was ridiculous, and the book was about 50 pages too long.

I will not be reading anymore books in this series. I would not recommend this book for anyone.

With the popularity of the Anita Blake series, everyone seems to be trying to cash in on the dark urban fantasy pony. Fortunately, the series that popularized the genre has gone so far downhill in quality that most fans are eager to seek out new series to get their fix. Some writers like Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison try to recapture what was good about the Anita Blake series before Laurell K Hamilton started pandering to the hairy palms crowd. Unfortunately, Yasmine Galenorn is going the Charlaine Harris route in giving us series that repackages everything that is horrible about the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series and adds insult to injury by adding in Hamilton's universally reviled Merry Gentry series in the mix.

Camille D'Artigo is an agent of the Otherworld. A world of fairies, elves, vampires, and demons and every other supernatural creature one can shove down a kitchen sink. She is a very special human-fairy hybrid who is also a witch. However, more than the first person narrative perspective, the series reveals its chick-lit ambitions by making Camille and her two sisters cutesy. By cutesy, I really mean incompetent. Camille's spells often backfire on her. Menolly, the vampire, is a member of a sort of vampire AA. Delilah, the shapeshifter, turns into a cute little tabby cat whenever she gets upset. Urgh!

The world is much like our own, except for reasons unknown, the denizens of the Otherworld have gone public. Magical creatures frequently travel between worlds. That's where the trouble starts.

Some demons are trying to open a portal to Earth and the Otherword from their own world, and the D'Artigo sisters have to guard nine magic seals from them. In otherworld, the corrupt Fairy court is fiddling while Rome burns so our none-too-bright sisters are pretty much on their own against three super-duper demons. Also, Camille is dealing with her rather complicated love life as she juggles two boyfriends, Trellian, the dark Sidhe, and Morio, the demon fox.

If this plot sounds familiar to you, then you probably read the first couple of Anita Blake books. However, imagine cramming an investigation, a love triangle, and an exploration of the consequences of establishing relations with the Otherworld into one tiny book that doesn't quite reach three hundred pages. It's rushed, full of clunky infodumping, and barely readabel. By taking on too much in too little space, only one of the plot threads is resolved. From the excerpt in the back, the next book seems to focus on the werekitty sister so I imagine the tepid love triangle won't be resolved anytime soon.

I love this series! I recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy fiction.
However, it would probably be best for "mature" teens, and adults. There are some "sex scenes". It's not really for kids.
This series is one of my favorites.

I really like the ideas behind the stories Galenorn writes, but there is way too much unnecessary kinky sex. Good thing that it has nothing to do with the plot so those parts can be skipped without losing anything of the story line.