Ghost Rider teams up with a coven of witches to take on Lucifer himself in Carrie Harris’ Marvel prose novel Witches Unleashed, part of Aconyte Books’ Marvel: Untold range. When he escaped from Hell, Johnny Blaze – the Ghost Rider – unintentionally freed Lucifer’s soul too, broken into 666 fragments, and ever since he’s been hunting them down and returning them to Hell. With only a few fragments remaining, Johnny seeks out the LeFay sisters – not actually sisters, but rather sorceress Jennifer Kale, mystic Topaz and half-demon Satana Hellstrom – for help, as one of the final fragments has possessed the body of another Kale. With the powers of a witch at his disposal, Johnny and the witches have no choice but to work together to stop Lucifer before he can complete whatever evil plan he’s concocting.
What follows is a lot of (largely) good-natured bickering as the witches and Ghost Rider try to figure out how – and to some extent whether – to work together, amidst worries about what Lucifer might be planning and whether even the four of them together can take down the King of Hell. Add in Jennifer’s concern familial responsibility to keep the powerful Tome of Zhered-Na safe from not just Lucifer but also Satana’s father (the devious demon Marduk), a fair few deep-seated insecurities across the board, and a general wariness about letting other people in, and you’ve got a mission that’s daunting even for these fearsome heroes. Much soul searching ensues, but plenty of ass-kicking too – of both the magical and physical varieties – the foursome proving in the end to be quite the team-up, even if Johnny’s alter-ego Zarathos (which comes to the fore when he becomes Ghost Rider) doesn’t really approve of half-demon Satana.
Despite the presence of Ghost Rider, demons and Lucifer himself, and the slightly darker tone of the Marvel: Untold range compared to, say, Xavier’s Academy, it’s worth pointing out that this isn’t exactly a gore-fest. It’s more PG-13 really, with plenty of fighting but not a lot of actual blood being shed, and while it would undoubtedly be fun to get a novel where Ghost Rider really gets to cut loose, the levels of action, violence and viscera here are perfectly suited to both the story and Harris’ style. It’s pacy and fun, exploring the various personalities on display and digging into what drives these characters, their motivations and their fears, the witches’ collaborative approach contrasting nicely with Johnny’s lone warrior stylings. Even for the witches though, while their powers complement each other well it’s not always easy for them to work together, and this does a great job of getting to the heart of why that might be.
It’s a book about found family, about facing demons (literally and metaphorically) and having to make difficult choices. About these characters learning to acknowledge and understand their own powers, having confidence in their own abilities but also taking strength from the people around them who care about them, and who they care about in return. Despite the relative lack of physical darkness (relative being the key term – some pretty grim things do happen), the book’s emotional impact comes from watching all four characters processing their guilt, shame and anger – each of them handles their pain in different ways, but they get glimpses of other possibilities through their connections with each other. So if you like the idea of a kickass magica/mystical team-up overcoming their differences to face down the King of Hell, you could do a lot worse than give this thoroughly entertaining book a try!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
See also: my interview with Carrie Harris discussing Witches Unleashed
Witches Unleashed is out now from Aconyte Books – check out the links below to order your copy:
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