The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam (review)

When Queen Moira seized the throne with dark magic, broke the temples of white magic practitioners, and caused the last windwitch to disappear, the seasons became unbalanced and an encroaching blight fell upon the land. Foundling apprentice hedgewitch Brida struggles with her magic, but she’s determined not to let her mentor, Mother Magdi, down. Local unrest and suspicion come to a boil when long-gone mythical stormhorses return, further upsetting the already troubled rural ecology and catching the attention of cruel Queen Moira. When the queen sends her Huntsman, Hounds, and Crows to capture them and harness their power, Brida must stop her for the sake of the land and the elemental beasts. While plot and pacing aren’t at the level of the world building, the workings of Brida’s unusual magic are beautifully described, and her affinity for the natural world—particularly the wondrous stormhorses and her own beloved, personality-plus pony Burdock—carries a lot of emotional resonance. Touches of Celtic neopaganism structure the broader, suppressed magical religion. Readers will easily recognize kinship between the ailing fictional ecology and our own climate crisis, and they’ll appreciate the emphasis on individual kindness and widespread cooperation between different kinds of magic users and ordinary people united against oppression and cruelty.