The First Witch-Mage

The Chronicles of the WitchBorn #1

by Isabel Campbell, Michael Anderle

Those who cross a Blackwood soon learn that they won’t like the results.

Theadora Kathryn Blackwood’s life is just the way she wants it. Thea focuses on what she wants to do, what she wants to study, and the local COVEN hierarchy leaves her the hell alone.

It took years for her to accomplish that much freedom, and now she is about to graduate college, the local coven leader has given her what she wants most.

The opportunity to be freed from the shackles of Coven Politics for the rest of her life.

The catch is that she must join the Arcane Investigations Division as an Arcane Consultant for three years.

If Thea is still employed at the end of the set time, the Coven will absolve her of all ties and responsibility to them.

The downside is that NOLA AID has lost two witches in the last four years. No one expects an untrained witch without the Coven's support to survive.

Even if she is a Blackwood.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Witches, Magic, Romance, Ebooks

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There are multiple authors by this name in the Goodreads database. This profile may contain works from multiple authors.

Reviews

[CB · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting first book to kick off this new series for me, different than most of the UF books I read but one I enjoyed. I especially liked the dynamic once the AID team of Thea-Brandon-Jax was formed and they stared to gel with one another. The writing style of the author at times did feel a little off to me, but overall I enjoyed the story and connected with the characters, and I’m intrigued to see how this series will evolve. 4 stars.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not impressed with how the Covens are ... not doing anything but onwards to #2. World building is decent enough to see how it settles in the next effort.

[Sandy Schleich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book more than I thought I was going to. Thea is a very powerful witch with an obnoxious attitude. I think most of her attitude comes from the way that other people treat her not necessarily because she’s a bad person. At first when she starts working for the bureau, she believes that she has the option of only working there for a month, and then she realizes that her coven leader basically gave her to the bureau for three years and if she doesn’t die in those three years then she has the option of leaving the coven like she always wanted to. She has also dipped into the lake of magic and has pulled out an entity that likes to be a cat. It’s kind of funny because it makes me wonder if that’s where familiars came from. apparently the witches in this book do not have familiars so it’s odd to some that Thea carries her cat around with her. I think she’s finally starting to learn how to work as a team in this book and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

[Alarna · Rating 2 out of 5]

i didn't like this book, it was just so boring and drawn out. it doesn't feel like much happens most of it just seems to be an info dump about a confusing magic system. i didn't like the charaters exspecaily the h since she bassicly blamed everything wrong in her life on having dead parents and using that as an excuse whenever she does something wrong or to get sympathy from people so they won't be mad at her, they died like 3/4 (it keeps changing) years ago she cant still be using that as an excuse for being a terrible friend and person. i ended up skipping to the end in the last few chapters because it was just so boring. :(

[KLynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
This book serves as an introduction to a world that is aware of supernaturals, but not one that is fully integrated. The book focuses mostly on witches and humans, but let's the reader know there are more out there.
I only rated this 3 stars because there were some pretty big plot holes in this first book. The MFC comes off more as a witch greedy for power than one driven to it by life events. Her background is left fuzzy and at times seems pretty illogical.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf 30%

DNF @30% I don’t know why it is a fad to make the fl be so rude and yet somehow you are supposed to relate? I like the ml but was mostly just irked the whole time at the fl.

[Beebs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got about 25% into the book and had to stop. It was flat and unimaginable while also full of extra details without an emotional connection. I didn’t like the two main characters… not worth the time to finish.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of books 1 & 2:

These first two books in The Chronicles of the Witch Born series was a fairly decent start of the series.

Book one, The First Witch Mage, introduces the main characters and the background story including the obligatory mystery surrounding the main protagonist.

Overall I quite like the main characters. A witch with an attitude, an agent running a special investigations division and a marine happy to kick ass. What is there not to like?

There are the usual snarky dialogue, interpersonal relations and, of course, some mysteries and crimes to solve and some ass-kicking, both mundane and magical.

The second book, The Witch-Mage Awakens, develops the story and expands on the mystery of Theadora’s background and family misfortunes. All accompanied by some more mysteries and crimes to solve, with a suitable combination of investigation and violence, of course.

Overall pretty good reading.

The one thing that made me a bit disappointed though is that in the second book, given that the title was The Witch-Mage Awakens, I expected her to actually awaken as in grow noticeably in power but that did not really happen.

She was the same fumbling amateur witch as in the beginning of the book… almost.

Anyway, this was still a pretty decent start. Certainly better than An Aria for the Vampire series which I have decided to drop after the fourth book. Review of that one is in the pipeline.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough to read the sequel.

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well…

Honestly I don’t know if this books is any good or not. I read the first 30% of the book and just couldn’t get into it. I had to force myself to read that much. I didn’t really feel a connection with any of the characters and being almost 1/3 of the way through, I still felt like there hadn’t been enough of a plot to really seize on to. I assume Thea is going to avenge her parents. And I’m guessing she’s going to do it with the help of Brandon and Jax. Are at least some of the coven members in on the crime? I’m guessing but who knows. I really hope this is a great series that I missed out on but I have no idea.

[Bonez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I saw the title and the description and decided to get the book. Sadly i saw too late that Anderle is involved.
He had one good idea in his life and that was Kurtherian Gambit. Since then, he has taken the blueprint of Overpowered Female Lead + a supporting cast of paramilitary, military or lawenforcement men and forced it on every single story he is involved in.

In itself that would not be the biggest problem, if the cast was not eerily similar everytime. The men are basically the same personalities every time, just a new name and a slightly altered appearance tacked onto them.

There is a bit more variety in his female characters. But memorable are few of them.

My advice for everyone: If Anderle is involved, steer clear of it.

[2TNWalkers · Rating 1 out of 5]

The little tidbit before each chapter is that for the author’s to remind each other what they are writing or written about. If it was new info it’s worth reading but it’s regurgitated info…also repetition in events…clock 3 regurgitation of why Thea does not live at the estate. Also think author’s change Names of lead character as the coven mother refers to her as Isadora, and Mia calls her Iz quite a few times.. Material feels dry at points. And this book feels racist towards White men, so I guess to entice the younger readers who are white man haters…

[Blake · Rating 1 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

48 pages into the story. I keep being thrown out of the story by the idiotic size of the coven. The author keeps going on about it being 13 members... that's lost 2 people in the last few years and that are finally happy to 'lose' a 3rd.
IMHO the 13 would make far more sense if it was the number of leadership roles. Otherwise, if you figure you have to be an adult to be in the coven, then every time a child born to members became an adult unless it co-coincided with a death or someone leaving, they'd have to move away. The fact that the MC's family has been in that coven for a long time and that it seems like all the coven are forties or older, yet they're insistent until the time of the book, on keeping hold of MC after 3 years of her wanting out... It doesn't make sense, because they'd be forever sending off most of the younger witches!
Now if the leadership hierarchy in each coven is always 13, with the various groupings like the sabbat and such she keeps going on about, then that would actually make sense if the witches having an actual community with the most powerful gaining leadership roles. Those who don't show enough power to remain in the coven, fall to be hedge witch status and outside the coven... as follows the rules of this world. -- If its only 13 people, why do you need to split it into two groups, then those have two teirs... -- If each of the leadership in the coven ran a 'sabbat' and within that large group, was the smaller coterie groupings, that MC is part of, that'd make sense! -- She can still be noticed to be missing from the gatherings, even if they're far larger than 13 people, close knit communities would notice missing people even if they number in the few 100s!

Also with a coven only being 13 adults, then just why is it so important that the witch liaison come from the MC's coven? -- There must be 100s of not 1000s of covens in the USA, so why is it imperative and / or only option of a liaison is from MC's coven? -- 'Because its needed for plot' is not a good reason! -- Now if the coven was as I actually envisioned and they rule over 100s of people covering a few states and it's decided that each 'coven area' needs a witch liaison then it'd make sense!

That sort of non logic re the covens would also have bugged me as a teen.

So now I'm confused, was her father a 'hedge' witch, since he wasn't part of the coven, but her mother was in the coven. I guess hedge witches with the right bloodline, are not looked down upon like the others.
Now her dad was a member of the coven leader's Sabbat... which is the name for the two main groupings within the coven. I wish this author would stick to her world-building, as nonsensical as it is!

I know it's a culture thing, but as a non American it's somewhat eye rolling that the 23 year old is being thought of more like an 18 or 19 year old. 'The MC has developed a maturity not many her age have, it must be due to being an orphan etc...' -- Also she does seem to be written more like someone still in their late teens, which is annoying.

Interesting premise, but the execution didn't live up to it.

First time read the author's work?: Yes = Isabel -- No = Michael.

Will you be reading more?: Not for Isabel -- Some of Anderle's work I do like, I think he's more idea and let someone else write for many of the books with his name, so it can be hit or miss.

Would you recommend?: No


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Spinneretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

Tapped by a vengeful Coven Mother to be the latest witch liaison to the Arcan Investigations Division, Theadora Blackwood isn’t too happy with how her life is playing out. She’s determined to be a mage, the first to access magic in the lake of power by herself, successfully.
Agents Brandon Cole, and Ajax Maddison are the other two members of her team, a team that Thea has to learn to work properly with; because this might actually be the opportunity she has been looking for.

While this was an entertaining read, it had the distinct disadvantage of two rather annoying main characters.
Thea is brash, confident, and very reluctant to admit any kinds of failings. She has a good reason for her mistrust, but it leads to the kind of reckless behaviour that gets other people in trouble
Brandon is kind of annoying for the opposite reason. As someone of his age, and his rank; he should be rather better at being confident. He shows skill, but not all the time, and there are other times where he just seems weak.
By contrast, Mia and Jax, our main supporting cast, are pretty great characters. They’re talented, reasonable, and definitely have more common sense than the MCs! In fact, they kept me wanting to read more, especially once the MCs actually started acting a bit better.
That all being said, Kira is my favourite, and I look forward to seeing what mischief she brews up in future.

This is a fast paced urban fantasy, and the first in a fairly intriguing new series.
The slowly evolving background story is definitely one that interests me, and I look forward to seeing the team evolve and uncover the mysteries.
Recommended for urban and contemporary fantasy readers.

[LWM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the two main male characters, Jax and Brandon. . .


Brandon was fairly young, especially compared to everyone else in their field office; Jax was his voice of reason as well as both their do-or-die compassion arms. Jax was a warrior - his combat, martial and other fighting skills were incomparable, superior to everyone else, and Brandon, though designated team leader, was greatly benefiting from simply working with Jax, who was Zen to Brandon's occasional anxiety, nerves and insecurity. I had so much respect for Claire, their boss.

As their witch team member, Thea had to adjust to and learn to incorporate becoming a team player mentally - her adjustment was brutal, since she had retreated into a solitary existence after the horrific deaths of her parents at the same time, but she quickly learned there was no alternative if she wanted to be achieve maximum success. Thea proves her high intelligence; her amazing, exceptionally superior magic; and accepts AID's thirty-six month employment contract. The storyline was well done despite the unnecessary snark and rudeness from Thea aimed at Brandon, and all's well that ends well. Michael Anderle has always been a draw for me; his partnership with Isabel Campbell produced a rocking, impressively intriguing story. I recommend this and subsequent installments from these two - they mesh well! Four solid stars.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's an Arcane Investigation Division which works with people from the local coven. Problem? The last two workers were killed. Solution? Hire another worker.

Theodora is headstrong, impulsive and unproductive. Coven says she's the one. (In other words, they won't miss her if anything happens.)

There's a technique called Fleecing which is stripping a witch of all their powers. It's a possible future for Theodora.

Complicating factor? The cover actually now owns the house she grew up in. There's not a whole lot of love there going either way.

So, she's chosen by the cover and gets all of about a month's worth of training.

Complicating factor 2: There's a Lake of Power that witches can draw power from. Problem with that? It can lead to their death.

Theodora wants to learn how to draw power from it so she can become a combination of a witch and a mage. She can't anyone know, though, otherwise she's looking at a fleecing.

Her task? Help raid a cemetery and deal with the ghosts and any wraiths that might be there. Yes, there's one more thing. The Pale Stranger that she has to deal with.

Her character is really neat. She knows what she wants to do and she's not going to let anyone stop her, but she has to do that without being punished. I think here character is very strong and helps the book a lot. Very good story.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The First Witch-Mage is a typical story of a witch coming into her power, only this one has the twist, that if a witch isn't in a coven, they aren't allowed to practice, and especially not for the government bureau of investigations. But, this witch is a problem the coven doesn't want to handle, and the government needs a witch, so they're stuck with one another, and things get a bit jumbled.
I liked the story, and will probably read more in the series, because I like the witch character, though I don't really care for the ghost/witch hunting part of the story, though it is an integral part of the story, so I'll either get used to it, or bale on the series, don't know which just yet.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took a while to get into the book. The intro of Thea painted her as a spoiled brat with a quest for lots of Power to discover why her parents died. She has one friend Mia who evidently does everything for her - from cleaning to cooking - since she can't seem to take care of herself. When she finally is volun-told to join AID for 36 months to get out of the coven (or be striped of her powers) she starts to make a change. The book starts to pick up then and she actually grows up and takes some responsibility. Bringing in an "entity" that stays mostly in cat form and fighting a few wraiths and other villains brings the team together - setting up Book 2. I'll continue with the series to see if the characters start to develop and some of the plot holes get filled in.

[Kay Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read!

Isabel Campbell is a new author for me. Michael Anderson has been a favourite for awhile now. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm looking forward to more of this series. I am intrigued by the circumstances surrounding These parents deaths. I also n am left pondering the motives of Mother Folsom to turn the a to AID. Her actions as well as those of her minion Arthur are highly suspect. I look forward to incoming the truth as the storyline unfolds. This book is well worth the read.

[Andrea Stoeckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Find the truth. No matter what it takes."

Theadora Blackwood is a loner. Losing her parents to a fire didn't help. Questioning the higher ups in her coven didn't help either as they keep reminding her. And now, her coven mistress is giving her a choice: fleecing( aka removing her powers) or working for AID: the Arcane Investigation Division.

She and her hedge witch friend Mia get into some dicey situations but through it all Thea proves herself up to the task Question is: are the worlds ready for her? Highly Recommended 5/5

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at chapter 8.

The blurb drew me in, but I wanted to read about Thea, and I had to trudge through long blocks of the other characters' point of view that didn't seem important and definitely were not interesting. And then Thea herself wasn't really interesting. There's hints of stuff that could be fun, but it's just hints. Oh yeah, and then she meets the guy (already forgot his name, lol) and he reacts by CHASING her and then dragging her in in cuffs to try to recruit her? And this is okay, because it spites the witches and also he's hot? Ugh.

All I can say is: No. Thank. You.

[Donna Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice story with a little twist

Ms. Campbell did a nice job writing a fresh story line in a genre that can produce predictable directions.

Sure there are the good guys, the bad guys and the personal tragedy to over come. But the story has a few fresh characters and doesn’t rush to predictable conclusions of romantic relationships.

Book one done…. Looking forward to see what book two delivers.

[Carolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had an interesting premise, which is what drew me in, but ultimately when I finished, I wasn’t attached to any of the characters and I had no interest in seeing what happened to them in the future so I don’t think I’ll pick up the book . Also, Thea’s want for power was getting on my nerves at the very end and I’m a tad disappointed that we weren’t able to explore more of her parents death because I feel like that would be really interesting.✨3.5✨

[The Page Ladies Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

The First Witch-Mage by Isabel Campbell follows Thea a snarky, rebellious, and not your typical witch. She’s stuck working paranormal investigations in spooky New Orleans, juggling magic, ghosts, and a sassy cat familiar who won’t leave her side.

Narrator Bridget Bordeaux nails Thea’s attitude with just the right mix of sass and spook, making this a fun listen for urban fantasy fans. The magic world takes a minute to click, and the pacing starts slow, but stick with it things get good!

[michelle rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking Forward To The Next Adventure

I'm definitely looking forward to the next adventure in this interesting series. I really want to know what happened to Thea's parents! I love the characters in this series, they're quirky and entertaining, and I can't wait to learn more about them. I would definitely recommend.

[Kevin D Hamann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graduation???

Thea graduates from college and gets sucked into AID (police for magical crimes). She does not any better options. Luckily, her past helps, but her tendency to not follow the rules makes life interesting.

Plenty of action and plot twists. Looking forward to the next book!

[Joy Ki`Ili · Rating 4 out of 5]

New chances

The Beginnings usually have a lot of world building & while we get some of that, the author also leaves a lot left to be unwrapped. Our POV is young and definitely feels like she trapped in place she doesn't fit into. In this first book we see her take these changes in stride & grow more confident as she does.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventure Witches and Ghosts

Thera is in trouble. She doesn't want to be part of the coven. She doesn't trust the because her parents died and they wouldn't tell her what happened. They tell her she has a choice, the coven or AID. A group that that fights criminals that use magic. She decides on AID. The adventures begin.

[Shannon Risdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely want more

An amazing first book!! And if the others in this series exceed this one....Will be stratospheric...you definitely won't get anything done as you will be buried in this adventure!! Great characters with lots of development potential...and the possibility of so many monsters for this team to deal with. Will be interesting to see how things develop...

[John Nicolle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really surprising and interesting start to this series!!!!!

Condgratulations to Isobel Campbell and Michael Anderle for this amazing series. It’s extremely hard to find such interesting and e,xciting authors who not only write intelligently but also provide top rated plots, characters and excitement in the stories. I’m really looking forward to the next book.