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    Welcome to Witchlandia
    Welcome to Witchlandia
    Welcome to Witchlandia
    Ebook343 pages4 hours

    Welcome to Witchlandia

    By Steven Popkes

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Katelin is a witch flyer, one of the few able to ride a Stick with the power of her mind. She flies for the Boston Police Department in a world where any paranormal gift is rare, and supernatural abilities are treasured--and feared.

    David Sabado has overcome mental illness to become one of the finest pianists in the country.

    Five years ago, Katelin Loquess thought she had everything--love with David, a wonderful job, and the joy of flying. Now, David has left, the job is miserable and the joy has disappeared.

    Then the murders start and Katelin and David meet again. Each murder connected to them. Each one getting closer. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookview Cafe
    Release dateMay 10, 2016
    ISBN9781611386066
    Welcome to Witchlandia
    Author

    Steven Popkes

    Steven Popkes lives in Massachusetts on two acres of land where he and his wife garden, grow bananas and breed turtles. His day job consists of writing support software for space and ballistic systems. He insists he is not a rocket scientist. He is a rocket engineer.

    Read more from Steven Popkes

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    Reviews for Welcome to Witchlandia

    3.5/5

    16 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Beautifully flawed main characters, and a twisty little mystery with a nice dash of the supernatural. Only a few little rough or awkward bits, so 4.5 stars for a very good story. Would definitely recommend it to others who like cross-genre books.
    • 4/5
      I received this book through the Early Reviewers program and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. Wow! This is an incredibly unique book. I kept trying to figure out what was going to happen and was consistently wrong until the very end. I haven't read anything quite like it. I don't want to give any spoilers, but if you're into police procedurals and the paranormal, and the unexpected, this is definitely for you. The blurb is accurate with this one (sometimes they don't describe the book very well). My only qualm with it is one spot with the language, with is definitely, at least in my opinion, discriminatory against people with disabilities (I keep an eye out for that): "that FV [first violin] looks like a spastic on parade." That was disappointing, and there was no real reason to use that language, because something else would have worked. That's the only thing I thought was objectionable. There's a scene later on that might bother some people, but in the context it makes perfect sense, and that's pointed out by one of the characters. It's really very different than what I was expecting (I wasn't sure what to expect) and I would read something else by the author, as well as recommending this.
    • 4/5
      I didn't have any problem getting into this book and especially liked how the point of view changed between Kaitlin and David during the first part. I wished it kept alternating that frequently during the latter parts of the book. The main character, Kaitlin, was difficult for me to relate to, but I was intrigued by the idea of a witch being part of a police department. As I read, I kept hoping for a more in-depth description of her stick, but I still don't have a clear picture of it in my mind. The mystery didn't excite me right away, but my curiosity increased as the investigation continued. I definitely didn't expect that ending!My favorite thing about this book is how well Steven Popkes portrayed Columbia, Missouri during the first part of this book. I spent part of my undergraduate education there, and it is replicated accurately, right down to Shakespeare's pizza. Unfortunately, even though they repeat the phrase "Welcome to Witchlandia" several times throughout the story, I still don't understand what it means.
    • 2/5
      The premise of the book sounded very promising, but I was disappointed by this book.it felt as though the author gad a very good idea, but there was a presumption that the reader understood the relationships and previous actions of tge characters as well as the author. I was also sensitive to the excruciating details of Biston's topography; I am from Boston and I could not help but worry that readers not from the area would find the references to Biston streets and neighborhoods confusing. It added nothing to the story itself. I felt that a good editor could do wonders for this book. Unnecessary details could be cut and better character development (Sam? Why do I need to card about San as much as kailin does?) would help. I was fine accepting a world of paranormal and witches. I was not ok with the unsympathetic and flat main character. David's multiple personalities were pretty amusing.
    • 4/5
      I received a copy of this book via LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for a fair and honest review.This was an interesting book in that it has the premise that paranormal abilities are scientific and can be explained, tested for and treated like other unusual gifts. This is a very well developed theme and is handled skilfully with an intriguing comparison between a character with a paranormal gift and another character with a more standard musical gift. The attempt to make paranormal normal is perhaps responsible for the rather odd prologue of a conversation between two scientists and some of the technical discussions within the book.I started out intrigued by this book's world (if puzzled by the prologue) but came away feeling dissatisfied. The central female character (Katelin) is flat and wooden and, although the murder mystery and police investigation are very well done, much of the action seems to happen away from the scenes. I am all for leaving things to the reader's imagination in the story landscape and supplying stepping stones instead of a fully paved road but at times I felt like the story landscape had changed and I had no idea how or why. This was frustrating.On the plus side, the central male character (David) is beautifully drawn and extremely likable and the side characters are detailed and well fleshed out. I actually would have preferred to focus on the character of Dooley, Katelin's partner, in preference to Katelin as he seemed a much more sympathetic personality and with a very intriguing back story which it would have been fun to develop further.The writing is good - very smooth and polished as well as detailed - and the world created is fascinating. My expectations of the book from its blurb, however, did not match the finished product and I suspect this is ultimately why I came away disappointed.
    • 4/5
      (I received this ebook as an Early Reviewer version from LibraryThing)I had a hard time writing a review. Not because the book is bad, but I couldn't come up with something. This book stuck in my head days after I finished it."Welcome to Witchlandia" is about Katelin, a witch, who flies for Boston Police Department. But also about David, a great pianist, who is her lover.The book is written form different points of view, both Katelin's and David's. That gives it a really nice touch, cause you can see through the eyes of both main characters. I loved that idea, it worked really well.The story starts with the first meeting of Katelin and David and how their relationship starts. But after that, it makes a jump of 5 years, when the lovers have already broken up. That's also the part of the book, where we get mainly Katelin's point of view.Katelin is "forced" to do normal detective work, working on a murder case, which seems connected to herself. The tension builds up over some chapters, making the book really gripping. I myself couldn't put it down. Later, David also shows up again, bringing a nice touch into the story (I like this character), and bringing the book to a surprising ending.I will not go into details of the story, to avoid spoilers. But here are some things I liked and didn't like:Like:- Katelin. I know she isn't the nicest person, but I still cared for her. I took for her and wished she would feel better one day, finally cheering up. I also think it's a great idea to have a rather unlikeable main character, it's not often used in books.- David. Well, David is just likeable, no matter what.- The idea of witches flyers. That witches work with the police isn't a new idea, but I liked the setting here, that they mainly do the flying part, keeping track of people and so on. - The story. The crime story is really well done, there are twists and turns, which surprise you and make you rethink a lot. Don't like:- The end. Sorry, but the end didn't work for me. Maybe it's just me, but in the very last chapter Katelin seems to fall out of character. Okay, she is finally better (which I wished for), but somehow it felt wrong. At least the way it was written.- World Building. Although I totally loved the whole World this story took place in, I wish we would have got a bit more info on it. What is it about the Conclave? How exactly does Katelin's stick look like? I mean, if I hear "stick" I think of a thin branch, but how can she have compartments on it, to put things into? The whole world would have worked even better if things like that would have been described more.Still, all in all, a really great book, which I can recommend to everyone, who likes fantasy and a good crime story. Here, you get both. I only give 4 stars, because, as I said, the ending wasn't for me.
    • 3/5
      Welcome to Witchlandia by Steven Popkes has an interesting premise. It takes place in an alternate history, where the science has been figured out about paranormal abilities. The beginning prologue didn't make a lot of sense, other that getting the gist that science would eventually figure out how paranormal abilities worked. Other than that it seemed like a lot of wasted time. The story itself, once it got going was interesting. The female protagonist wasn't really likable for the second half of the book. Nor were there any real reasons why she was like that. It was almost like she was a different person. The male protagonist had a much more interesting story arc. He was actually made to be more likable. I wonder if this is meant to be a series. It would be interesting to see this premise from a different perspective than that of the principle characters here.
    • 4/5
      What an unusual and captivating novel! Many cool things in regards to the paranormal, but my favourite is the idea that flyers work with the police department to gather intel, often stealthily. The crime investigation was intriguing and the more Katelin worked on the case, the harder it was to set the book down. There were also many plot twists that kept me eager to read the next chapter.*I was given a free copy of this novel and voluntarily chose to review it.*
    • 4/5
      This book has an unusual structure. The prologue is a very brief conversation between two scientists. Then the first 20% introduces us to Katelin and David, the protagonists, in chapters that alternately focus on one or the other. The novel then jumps ahead five years to a time after the couple has been separated for a while. We get 45% from Katelin's point of view, 32% from David's point of view, and an epilogue that returns to Katelin.Things I liked:—The world building was fascinating, especially the discussion of the rights of people with paranormal abilities and how children are tested for those abilities.—The police investigation and murder mystery were well done. I didn't suspect the identity of the killer at all, but the reveal made perfect sense.—The writing was strong.Things I disliked:—I found Katelin somewhat cold and hard to relate to—the character even admits that she knows she's an unpleasant person. That makes it hard to root for her, especially since we skip over the period where she is with the very likable David.—There was too much geographical detail. It made sense partially because Katelin navigates by sight (as opposed to instrumentation on her flying stick) and therefore pays a lot of attention to her surroundings, but it interrupts the narrative flow.—Typos. There were several instances where words were dropped. The sentence was still completely comprehensible, but the book needs a little more editing.—There's a jarring moment for a native North Dakotan like me where one character thinks Bismarck is in Minnesota and another character, who is supposedly from Bismarck, corrects the person by saying Bismarck is in South Dakota. I'll admit this is just a personal nitpick because I have had to tell many people in my lifetime that Bismarck is in North Dakota, not South Dakota. Why include a detail like that if you're going to get it wrong? It just makes me wonder what other kind of errors appeared in the other geographical descriptions.

    Book preview

    Welcome to Witchlandia - Steven Popkes

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