Today, I have a review of YA author Mark Rosendorf’s latest installment in the excellent Witches of Vegas series, Witch’s Gamble. You can read my reviews of the previous novels in the series here and here. As with the other two books, I received an ARC from the author in exchange for the review.
Fair warning, minor spoilers might be present in the review.
A magic-filled adventure through time.
In Witch’s Gamble, Mark Rosendorf has crafted another exciting, fast-paced adventure full of magic, vampires, and in this installment, time travel that is appropriate for adolescent and adult fantasy lovers. Fans of the previous books in the series will find plenty to savor in this latest installment.
The story begins two hundred years after the events in Journey to New Salem. Isis and Zack are the leaders of the last remaining human community and immortal vampires to boot. Many of the humans in the community possess Wiccan abilities, which they use to protect this last bastion of humanity against what I would describe as vampiric zombies. These monsters are one example of slight twists on genre tropes Rosendorf sprinkles throughout the narrative that I found delightful.
Although New Salem is full of competent protectors, the town’s situation is precarious. The vampiric zombies are relentless, and the townsfolk know they must leave no stone unturned to ensure their survival. Tension builds when the town oracle predicts death and destruction.
So when Isis discovers she might be able to use magic to time travel, she does so against Zack’s wishes. At first, her intention is only to travel a few minutes into the future to reconnoiter the movements of the vampiric zombies. However, what she ends up discovering is a future and past dystopia.
Isis must master her unpredictable time travel abilities to prevent catastrophe. As well documented in the previous installments of the series, Isis’s earth magic is temperamental. This makes her time traveling as wildly unpredictable as riding in Doctor Who’s Tardis.
Isis’s harrowing adventure through time presents her with several gnarly moral dilemmas. These give Isis a chance to shine as the protagonist and impart to the reader that sometimes there are no easy choices.
Witch’s Gamble feels like the conclusion to the Witches of Vegas series, although I might be wrong. If it is the conclusion, it is a fitting end that leaves the reader satisfied and inquisitive to know what Rosendorf will write next.
A magic-filled adventure through time.