The Crimson Witch

by Dean Koontz

A young man's struggle with destiny and desire in a post nuclear world. Jake Turnet's overdose of the drug PBT had opened the psychic doorway into a world where nuclear disaster had happened in a much earlier century - a world where sorcery had replaced science.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction, Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human.

Dean, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Facebook: Facebook.com/DeanKoontzOfficial
Twitter: @DeanKoontz
Website: DeanKoontz.com

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a man who crosses into a different realm and his journey to get back home. The genre of this book is fantasy.

This book is one of this author's early offerings. In fact if you look on his bibliography on his well known novels these early offerings are not even listed on it. This is his attempt at fantasy. I consider these books a novelty read. Chances are they are not going to be good but I am so curious to read about them and see the evolution of the author's writing. This lived up to my expectations. I will say there is a decent outline for this book. The problem was that it was streamlined and we flew through the plot. We learn that the main character is in a different world and he has befriended a dragon. How did this happen? No idea as we never find out. We learn that the crimson witch is after revenge because they were lovers that did not end well. Next thing you know they are talking about getting married and I thought I missed something. That was this whole book. Everything happened within a blink of an eye and I could never get into it. If this was developed I believe this could have been a good book. As for my curious nature one could see the author's writing as he goes into great detail with his descriptions.

In a day when fantasy book is a sprawling nature and we have a vast world building a book that is streamlined and flies through the plot is not exactly the best fantasy. Like I said this was Koontz attempting fantasy. I am glad he did not decide to stay in this genre as he is my favorite author. He is much better suited for the thrillers he writes.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slightly expanded version of a story with the same title from the October 1970 issue of Fantastic Stories magazine. It's from very early in his career when he was remarkably prolific and has never been revised or reprinted. It's a nice blend of traditional science fiction and fantasy, in which the hero, Jake, uses a powerful drug to open a psychic doorway to a world where a nuclear holocaust has resulted in sorcery replacing science. He meets the mysterious Cheryn, the witch of the title, and tries to convince her to help him get back to his own world. Things don't work out quite as well as he wanted... It's a clever and imaginative story and stands well with other such genre titles of the time, though it isn't comparable in characterization or eloquence with his later, longer novels. It's good early stuff.

[Katrina McCollough · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty basic story, with pretty basic male and female interactions. And there's a dragon, and manbats. That about sums it up.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** 3.1 STARS ***

Much like Dean Koontz's other early short novel, Nightmare Journey, The Crimson Witch was an enjoyable, if somewhat mediocre, fantasy book.

The best aspect of The Crimson Witch was it's atmosphere; the dread that the world invoked was tangible, at times. And as great as the world seemed, the world-building wasn't quite up to scratch. The Crimson Witch went at a break-neck speed. Going from one set-piece to another every 10-15 minutes, or so. But, probably the worst thing about this book was the dialogue, which, at times, was cringe.

I know Dean Koontz has wrote some great stories in his early, pulpy, career. A Werewolf Among U was an excellent science fiction mystery, however, The Crimson Witch was definitely below par for what I expect from Koontz.

[itchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p5: No one used Cheryn the Crimson Witch and got away with it.

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All the quotation marks and some full stops have somehow been replaced by weird characters that e-readers cannot render properly. It was a quirky read because of that, but thankfully there weren't any others as outlandish.

I never thought I'd encounter a drug-induced fantasy genre.

That crossover to the contemporary world was epic.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really enjoying reading the early works of Dean Koontz as they are very different from his novels I started reading (Phantoms, Night Chills, Strangers etc.). Crimson Witch sees Dean turn his hand from pure science fiction into the world of fantasy and he does it really well.
The premise of the story is that Jake has by using a large dose of a psychedelic drug manage to pass through a portal to another timeline of the world. In this timeline nuclear war has taken place and within the ravaged world magic has replaced science. Jake is desperate to return home and forms a loose alliance with a talking dragon and the Crimson Witch to sneak into the castle of the local head man and most powerful of the ‘talented’ (magic user) for miles around, to access the portal that has been reported to be there. Both the Crimson Witch and the dragon wish to accompany him back to our timeline. Can Jake succeed in getting back home and what will home make of a fully-fledged witch and a talking dragon? Only time will tell.
In this work I think it is fair to say that the action and overall plot is superior to the characterisation. Maybe this is down to the length of the novel, after all 176 pages isn’t long to world build, develop action and produce full and rounded characters. But overall I enjoyed the story.

[MaryReadsRomance · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Koontz's earliest books. Sweet and magical. When Demon Seed took off, he dropped fantasy for the more lucrative horror books. Mad me sad as he could have written some outstanding fantasy books had he continued.

[Takedown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unusual fantasy in Koontz books but i really like it

[Taverna]

It's a good book!

[Al]

A young mans struggle with destiny and desire in a post-nuclear world.

[Rob Mamede · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book, kinda silly actually, add it was one of Koontz' earliest novels.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far from one of his best,but still a fun and entertaining read. I highly enjoyed it.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very early Koontz book. Fantasy based rather than his now usual horror.
Post nuclear and an overdose of PBT leads to another world based around sorcery rather than science. Adventurous and other worldly. Dragons, witches and evil kings.
Good read, really weird but not in a bad way.

[Stuart Lilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

For one of his first novels Dean Koontz turns to fantasy.
After taking drugs the main character ends up in another timeline of planet earth.
Featuring Dragons,witches and evil Manbats.
a real good read

[A.C. Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up after 28 pages of poorly written wanna-be fantasy. This one reads like it was written by a 13 year old boy fixated on female anatomy, so I relegated it to the DNF (Did Not Finish) pile.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

His 8th novel. Still immature in many ways, vocabulary has improved, concepts of magic, psionics, hallucinogen-induced portal. Repetitive battle scenarios.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story line was WAY outside the box, but was written with Koontz quality...

[Xiamera · Rating 2 out of 5]

This PBT really is a wonder drug. It's opened up yet another facet of the futuristic world Dean Koontz has created. This time we're in an alternate world where psionic powers are more common place. This was definitely a bit lighter in tone at times but did it ever gloss over some issues. Jake basically raped Cheryn. It also seems that Koontz was obsessed with racial quotas. This is the second black friend/acquaintance that I've noticed in these books. Also, what does he have against Asians? All in all, not bad but just ok.