No creature under the sea is born dark; some just lose themselves.
Irsa's name was lost long ago to the obscurity of being labeled a villain. Born with enough magic to boil the ocean, all Irsa wants is a simple life with her best friend, Aislin. But when they discover their connection is more than just friendship, the pair must fight all odds to be together.
Surviving the sea isn't easy, but Irsa has never known any different. With Aislin by her side, she must face a wicked witch, defy a prince, and maybe gain all she ever wanted: a happily ever after.
Tales of a Sea Witch is an origin story full of mermaids, and undersea magic for fans of Tithe by Holly Black, and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.
No creature under the sea is born dark; some just lose themselves.
Irsa's name was lost long ago to the obscurity of being labeled a villain. Born with enough magic to boil the ocean, all Irsa wants is a simple life with her best friend, Aislin. But when they discover their connection is more than just friendship, the pair must fight all odds to be together.
Surviving the sea isn't easy, but Irsa has never known any different. With Aislin by her side, she must face a wicked witch, defy a prince, and maybe gain all she ever wanted: a happily ever after.
Tales of a Sea Witch is an origin story full of mermaids, and undersea magic for fans of Tithe by Holly Black, and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.
From the lowliest of sea urchins to the most powerful of witches, everything under the sea is born and must die before it can be born again.Â
In between birth and death, each creature lives with at least a drop of magic in their veins. This magic connects one being to another, joining two halves of a wholeâa soulmate is what the merfolk call it. A creature could live for centuries, never having found their other half, but when they have joined it makes each more powerful for the connection. Should they lose that other half, the magic in their veins can sour and twist into something that can only be described as dark.
No creature is born dark; they have darkness thrust upon them. Such is the case for the infamous sea witch. Her nameâlost long ago to the vagueness and obscurity of being labeled a villainâbut for our purposes, we will call her Irsa.Â
* * *
Born to a doting mother and a frequently absent father, the gray-haired child arrived as most merbabes do in a flurry of bubbles and wailing. Her fatherâa merchant named Calix of some small fortuneâwas not so mysteriously absent on the day of her birth.Â
âWhere do you suppose he is?â Irsaâs grandmotherâa graying, bent battle-ax of a merwoman named Dianthaâgrowled, glancing out the window at the darkening ocean once more.Â
âHeâs busy, Mother, donât you fret. We got through just fine, didnât we little Irsa?â Hali asked, bending her head to brush a kiss to the childâs head. Innocent black eyes peered up at her from her arms, the child making a soft, satisfied noise at the attention.
âIrsa? Tck,â Diantha muttered in disgust. When Hali paid her no mind, the old woman continued, âCouldnât you have chosen something more normal? I thought you would name your firstborn after your fatherâPoseidon rest his soulâDorian.âÂ
âNo,â Hali responded primly, sinking back further into the soft bed of kelp beneath her. Her fingers brushed along the delicate amethyst scales of the babyâs little tail. Irsa murmured affectionately up at her mother before promptly drifting off to sleep in her arms.Â
âWhat an odd-looking child,â Hali heard her mother mutter before she twirled to watch for Calix, again.Â
* * *
Haliâs nearest and dearest friend Evadne gave birth to a fire-haired little girl whom she named Aislin, not but a fortnight later.Â
Hali laid Irsa next to the bright-haired baby in the kelp lined crib and laughed softly. âHow strange they look,â she murmured mostly to herself.
âHm?â Evadne asked. She swam over to peer at the infants lying side by side in the crib.
Hali looked up, shaking her head ruefully. âI was just thinkingâthey seem to complement each other so nicely.âÂ
Indeed, the pair was quite the sight laying side by side as they were. Aislinâs shimmering jade tail flapped, and the baby began to fuss. Then Irsaâs amethyst tail reached out to press one gauzy fin to the other childâs, and her chubby hand wrapped around Aislinâs, and like that the two merbabes were silent once more.Â
âThey will be the best of friends,â Evadne announced with pleasure.Â
âYes, they shall,â Hali agreed, hugging the other woman tightly and laughing with her.Â
* * *
And they were the very best friends the tiny village of Tjena ever saw. From that moment onward, Aislin and Irsa were inseparable.Â
âThe first one to the bookshop gets to pick the story,â Aislin shouted over her shoulder with a giggle as she raced down the street, her shimmering tail whipping along behind her creating a stream of angry bubbles.Â
âThatâs not fair! You got a head start!â Irsa shrieked back, but she was laughing. She squeezed her dark eyes shut, the water rushing through her hair. In her hurry to keep up with Aislin, she bumped a merman with his arms full with baskets of crabs, clicking their claws together in agitation.Â
âHey! Look where youâre going, little girl!â The blond hunter growled, throwing up a fist to shake it at herânearly dumping his catch to the sand.
Irsa whipped around him with some trouble, still laughing. âSorry!â She called over her shoulder before turning back to continue her mad dash to beat Aislin to the bookshop.Â
âI win,â Her freckled friend declared triumphantly, panting hard from their race. âWhich means weâre reading a princess story!âÂ
Irsa rolled her eyes scoffing. âYou always want to read about princesses. Theyâre so boring.â She complained. âCanât we read about something exciting for once? Like pirates!âÂ
Aislin shrugged, her face still lit with a broad smile that made her green eyes shine. âMaybe next week. Come on, Irsa, donât be a guppy about it.â The little girl spun, her long red hair sweeping out around her, and then headed into the shop without another word.Â
âIâm not a guppy,â Irsa muttered irritably.Â
An hour later found the two little girls laid out on the soft sand of the small shop, a book of fairytales open before them. Irsa yawned in boredom, as Aislin read aloud. âAnd then he went down on bent fin and proposed. And they lived happily ever after,â Aislin exhaled dreamily. âIsnât that romantic?âÂ
âYeah, sure, romantic,â Irsa grumbled, rolling over onto her back to stare up at the carved coral ceiling.Â
Her friend glanced at her, a frown tugging down the corners of her lips. âWhatâs the matter?â  When Irsa didnât answer, Aislin gave her a soft nudge with her fin. âThis isnât about the trials, is it?âÂ
Irsa shrugged, not wanting to voice her concerns. She felt silly for being so worried. It was inevitable, and beyond her control. They would be tried, and then their lives would be decided for them. That was the end of that.Â
âIrsaâtalk to me,â Aislin insisted softly, unable to stand the worried expression that creased her friendâs brow. She reached over with her fingers to smooth the wrinkle in Irsaâs forehead.Â
The other girl didnât it away, but she didnât meet Aislinâs eyes either. âItâs justâŠâ Her words drifted off for a moment in embarrassment. âWhat if I donât have any magic at all? What if Iâm to be a-a-a sand cleaner?â She stuttered the words in mortification. âPrincesses donât talk to sand cleaners.â A bark of laughter left Aislin, drawing Irsaâs dark eyes to her. âWhat?âÂ
âYouâre much too smart to be a sand cleaner,â Aislin said between chortles. âIf anyone is destined to scavenge the sand for land debris, itâs me. Stop being silly.âÂ
Irsa huffed, an irritated bubble floating up above her. âYou and I both know itâs not about smarts! Itâs how much magic you have. And if I have none, theyâll apprentice me to someone boring.âÂ
The fire-haired mergirlâs giggles died down, and she shook her head. âEven if they do, youâll think your way out of it.â She tapped Irsaâs forehead gently, grinning down at her. âTrust me, youâve got nothing to worry about.âÂ
Then she took one of Irsaâs hands in hers and gave it a firm squeeze. The simple gesture soothed Irsaâs worries, and in a moment the pair were back to normal. All thoughts of the trials wiped away by childish chatter of princes and far-off waters.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Reedsy Discovery, and Lou Wilham for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
ï»żI know that there have been a few versions of the sea witch origin story, and some of them can be pretty similar which is fine, but I think that this is one of my favorite ones with a couple of exceptions.
First of all, I hate that in this one, we donât even know if Irsa is her real name because apparently it was forgotten in history. This is what the prologue said and it literally broke my heart because the sea witch is always vilified without any form of humanity attached to her:
Her name â lost long ago to the vagueness and obscurity of being labeled a villain â but for our purposes, we will call her Irsa.
I mean even whatever her real name was something that her grandmother didnât find particularly enjoyable or agreeing, so maybe itâs a good thing that history doesnât remember the name she was given by her own mother. But just completely writing her name out of history because the world only sees her as a villain, nothing more, just breaks my heart. She didnât start off as a villain, and in fact her story before she became this villain that everyone sees her asâŠ. was just heartbreaking. Iâm surprised she didnât turn into a âvillainâ long ago. Weâve seen others do it but we still remember their names, right?
Anyway thatâs just part of the plot that I was sad about, but I think thatâs what made me feel for Irsa even more, and not write her off as just another villain that wants to tear the world apart. Which I think was great on Wilheimâs part for bringing some humanity to the situation and really make us feel bad for her as the years go by.
I know that when I first read that Irsa was assigned to be Calypsoâs apprentice when apparently the âbestâ or âmost powerfulâ witch in all of Alon never took on an apprentice in years or something, I was hoping that things were going to be great. But nope, of course not. Because why would a villainâs origin story be full of something good, right? I think the only good thing that happened in Irsaâs life growing up was her friendship with Aislin, and Iâm so glad they had each other.
No, every brush of Aislinâs hand, every smile on her lips, made Irsaâs heart flip-flop. She couldnât explain the feeling, nor did she try to.
I love their relationship, and I was so glad that Aislin was able to see that something was wrong with Irsa and wanted to help save her somehow. She didnât believe Irsa trying to cover for her abuser, and helped her come up with a plan to get out of that situation without blaming Irsa for being in it. Which can be so hard for people to realize that they do, so it was really nice to see this reflected in this novel.
I would say that the second part that I didnât like was that Irsa was abused after having to deal with the first tragedy in her life, not to mention the POS âfatherâ that was mentioned a little bit.
Ugh.
But other than that, I really enjoyed this short novel and I think it was a really interesting take on the sea witch origin story. Irsa is pretty damn powerful, and I think that if she was able to truly foster that power without being abused by someone she had to trust with her life, then who knows? Maybe she could have been one of the good guys. But villains are always more fun to read about, right?