Charmed: Let Gorgons Be Gorgons

Charmed Sequel Novels

by Paul Ruditis

When Piper, Phoebe, and Paige undo a spell that turned a local politician to stone, they little realize the powerful magic behind the hex. As attacks on innocents mount, The Charmed Ones enlist the help of their sister, Prue, confined on the magical Nexus, only to learn that the most heinous of mythical creatures—a gorgon—is to blame.

Freed from her underground tomb, Medusa joins her sisters in a crusade to avenge womankind, turning those who cross her to stone forever. At the same time, dark magic seems to be undoing all of Phoebe’s good works, distracting her from the impending battle with the gorgons. With time running out, will the sisters be able to defeat Medusa and restore their innocents to life?

Inspired by the hit televisions series Charmed, the new novel Let Gorgons Be Gorgons continues the story of the Halliwell witches. With only the Book of Shadows to guide them, the Halliwell sisters are the fulfillment of their ancestor Melinda Warren’s prophecy that three sisters descendin from her line would become the most powerful witches of all time. The sisters use the Power of Three to protect the innocent and banish evil from the Earthly realm.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 2, 2016

About the author

Paul Ruditis also writes under the name P.J. Ruditis.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia where I lived a typical childhood with a far more interesting fantasy life. I mean, how many other eight year olds were sticking their Star Wars action figures in Ziploc bags filled with water and putting them in the freezer to recreate the ice planet of Hoth? (Really? That many? Never mind.)

After college, I moved to Los Angeles and was very lucky to get a job as a page at Paramount Pictures only months after I got into town. I worked as a tour guide and usher, and I performed temp office work around the lot.
Eventually, I took a position working in the studio's licensing department where I quickly worked my way up to middle management.

After a while, one of my friends in the publishing industry offered me the opportunity to write a Buffy, The Vampire Slayer short story for a collection she was editing. Well, when I heard how little money I could make as a writer, I immediately quit my job to try it full time. (Stupid, I know, but it kind of worked for me.)

I started out by writing books based on such wonderful TV shows as Star Trek, Roswell, and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. I have since written over 30 books based some of the best shows on TV, adding The West Wing, Alias, and Prison Break to that ever growing list.

While I continue to work on these media tie-ins, I have also been focused more on my own original fiction, including my teen series DRAMA! and the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy Love, Hollywood Style.

- Abridged Bio - Official Website.

Reviews

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setup was very good - as were the characters' interactions - but the bulk of the book was concerned with that and so the ending felt very rushed and sudden. I think my favourite part was the Cole/Coop team-up.

[Phylicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is set a year or a few years after season 8. Some things have changed, some haven't.
It said Phoebe chewed on her pencils. I don't remember that. Must be a new habit. If they said Paige sucked on a lollipop, it wouldn't surprise me.
I didn't know a "medusa" was a gorgon. I didn't know Medusa had sisters. Witches before monsters (the most powerful witches, like the Charmed Ones). ALthough Medusa was not magical, her sisters were and she can glamor, blah blah blah. Weird.
The picture only shows 3 sisters, but the book has all 4 sisters. I don't know how they summoned Prue from the dead. It doesn't show it. But 4 girls said "the power of three" spell. Weird.
According to the book, Elise knows about Phoebe's magic. Must have been after the show. I am not a fan of season 8 (mostly Christy), so I don't remember much or care.
I didn't know Prue liked puzzles or they ate pizza. I never saw them eat pizza. I know Phoebe (so is Alyssa Milano) is a vegetarian so she would eat the veggie style. On the show Friends, Phoebe says she is a vegetarian, but I have seen her eat meat. I dunno. Even the dwarf ate a slice of pizza.
In this book, they said Prue broke the rules. How? Leo and Piper break the rules all the time.
I'm not used to the girls not being all in the manor, but they did.
I didn't know Athena cursed Medusa and her sisters. When Paige was changed into a war goddess when she and her sisters had to fight the Titans.
Leo and Cole are mortal.
Prue and Paige have new powers I haven't seen in the show.
They are still dealing with dwarves and fairies. I think they will when they are old ladies.
I noticed some typos. It's hard to enjoy a book or read when it has a typo.
In the book, Piper has a restaurant, not P3 and some of the people who ate the food were feeling nauseous. One customer wanted to sue. Yikes.
Piper calls her daughter Mel, not Melinda. Whatever works. I'm surprised it doesn't start with a P.
Paige and Henry's kids, PJ, Henry Jr, Tamora and Kat Mitchell. But it only talks about PJ, Henry and another one.

[Soulfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, more for the world building than the descriptions of the sister’s magic. I loved that it expanded on Coop and what being a cupid is, I always felt like he just sort of showed up at the end of the series and was just there, so it was really nice to find out more. Reading a magic fight, though, with the sister’s usual go to moves is kind of eh.
There were lots of call backs to older episodes, including the one where they turned into goddesses, not exactly a Charmed high point, but I enjoyed the addition of Medusa and her sisters. They were a villain that you could understand their side of, it wasn’t just an over the top demon.
The side plot had a rushed ending that mainly happened behind the scenes. Coop and Cole worked together and we saw them for brief periods, but they seemed kind of forgotten.
The book was a bit short, but it was a lot like an episode of Charmed, so while I would have enjoyed more it was pretty good.
3/5

[Brandi Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this was just like watching an episode of the show! The sisters’ personalities were captured perfectly by the author. The story was fast paced and entertaining too! I especially loved the continued storylines of the Charmed Ones’ families and relationships since the show ended. It was like a complete update. I also enjoyed all the Greek mythology throughout. It’s a really fun book for any fans of the show.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

LOVE the tv show. This book...not so much...

[Asheen Bhagwandin · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a decades-long Charmed superfan, I was ready to be swept back into the magic - potions, power struggles, sassy one-liners, the works. Instead, I got awkward dialogue, flat pacing, and characters who acted like they’d been bodysnatched by lesser writers. The Halliwells deserved better than this lukewarm, typo-riddled mess.

The plot was thinner than the Elders’ excuses, and the big “twist” felt like a last-minute rewrite powered by caffeine and regret. The main antagonist randomly changed personalities to serve the plot and the fallen Cupid subplot was as neglected as Dan in the second half of season 2. And tension? Non-existent. I kept waiting for a moment to care. Alas, it never came.

This wasn’t Charmed, it was Charmed-adjacent. A shadow of what made the show iconic. Enter this one in the Book of Shadows under “How to Vanquish a Plot by Missed Potential.”

[Matias · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun (and nostalgic) read!

Bored browsing got me into finding this book I didn't even know existed, and I started reading it immediately just because I hadn't even realised that now that I own a Kindle e-reader, a whole new universe had opened in front of me: the Charmed ebooks universe. Imagine my surprise when I read that Prue and Cole were alive and thriving, I didn't understand a lot at first but hell I was hooked right away. A dream of mine had always been to see the four sisters together fighting against the forces of evil and I got it here. I was ecstatic, loved every minute of this read because it truly felt like catching up with old friends I hadn't known about in many years.

[Azul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and easy to read. Similar to the show, since it's placed after the show ends we're stuck with a bunch of kids, and Coop and the dumbassery of the Cupid temple. Sigh. At least we get to go to the Underworld, that is always fun!

Coop and Cole team up to go to the underworld, and the whole time I was wishing it was Leo and Cole. I always loved when Leo and Cole would orb/shimmer away to investigate~

This quote irritated me, but at the same time I think that's how all the Halliwells think so on spot? Good writing?

“Truth be told, it had caught Coop off guard as well. To see Cole embrace violence so quickly even though the demon was long gone from his body was the most telling difference between the two men.
It wasn’t that Cole was evil anymore. He’d done more than enough to prove that since his return. But Cole lived by a different code, one that Coop would never embrace. But part of him—a small part—appreciated that aspect of Cole’s personality. It would be handy to have around when things got rough. As they often did when the Charmed Ones were around.”

Coop really is a true Halliwell, always ready to let Cole do the dirty work and then shame him because he is/was a demon half demon, his mother was a demon, he once talked to a demon and he can be god forbid violent when he needs to survive 😂 Maybe I should stick to fanfiction, Cole is never gonna be good enough for these characters. The problem with Ruditis characterization of Cole is that he too, like the show S5-onwards, thinks that Cole choose to become The Source when he was actually possessed. Why bring Cole back for this series? No idea. But from both the comics and this series it's clear that Cole is here so Ruditis can prop up Coop. Except the show already did this, so I don't see what the point is?

I was happy Prue and Cole came back, but it does feel like there's too many characters, too many cooks in the kitchen. I know I'm probably not supposed to think too hard about this but still feel like Prue being stuck in this state seems...sad. Like her sisters have their lives and she's just there guarding the Nexus.

[TeRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating as a fan more than a reader

If you are a fan of the show, you will probably enjoy this book. I was invested enough in the story and characters to look beyond the numerous grammatical errors and the few gaps in consistency with the show. I could envision each sister and other characters as they were on-screen.
Now, if you tend to get hung up on editing errors, this may prove to be a more frustrating read for you. It normally would have been an issue for me, but again I was in it for the story. So, ultimately it comes down to what you want to get out of the book. Enjoy!

[Diane Thorne]

Read pretty much like a typical episode of the show with very few surprises.