TTT: Fictional Sorceresses

So I started reading The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski because I’d finished The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a couple weeks back. I’m still contemplating whether to start an entire new game all over again, but Wild Hunt easily took up over 100 hours of game-time (three times as much as it’s taken me to finish Kingdom Hearts 3…). Anyway, this has got me thinking about the sorceresses in-game and in the book, and I thought, hey, why not spend a TTT Freebie on sorceresses in fiction? I can’t believe I don’t actually have a list done of this already!

I’m not going to discern between witches and sorceresses, though one can argue they are separate entities altogether. For simplicity’s sake, I’m referring to the lovely and fierce women who use magic as a general means in their arsenal.

So yes. In no particular order…

Top Ten Sorceresses in Fiction

Devi (The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss) – I still haven’t read the second book, but it looks like Devi’s got a bigger role to play from what I’ve read. She doesn’t show much in the way of magic in The Name of the Wind, but there’ve been enough hearsay to note that she was a promising student at the University before being expelled (for reasons I’m guessing has to do with the power she was holding).

Polgara (Belgariad series by David Eddings) – I enjoyed David Eddings’ first several books before his recurring tropes got stale, but one of my gripes in his novels is that there were very few females who stepped up and showed any form of badassery. Pol was quite honestly the best of them, and one of the only workers of the Will and the Word in the story.

Elizaveta Arkadyevna (Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs) – I am putting her in here despite having read Storm Cursed and still trying to wrap my head around the novel. Throughout the Mercy Thompson books, Elizaveta had been a staple practicing gray witch with questionable morals, but enough of a loyalty to Adam that her witchery was accepted. I will say, regardless of what happens in the latest book, I still consider her a badass witch, and she’s still quite honestly my favorite of them in the Mercyverse.

Alanna of Trebond (Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce) – BAMF knight, equally BAMF sorceress. Next!

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling) – Who doesn’t include the brightest witch of her generation in this list? Seriously.

Yelena (Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder) – I love Yelena! I loved the original trilogy, and I was so absolutely glad that Snyder continues to work with Yelena to progress her magical studies.

Agnieszka (Uprooted by Naomi Novik) – She definitely has an interesting set of magical skills, and I love that she develops it during her stay with the Dragon.

Vasya (Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden) – I love Vasya! In all respects, all my current winters are winters of this particular witch.

Cecelia (Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer) – The epistolary series is one of the more unique personal favorites I have on my list. Cecelia and Kate eventually find that they have magical aptitude, and as much as I love Kate, it’s Cecelia who has the motivation to practice and learn from the magic in her.

Achren (The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander) – My girl Achren has one of the best redemption stories in the series! Eilonwy gets a lot of tutelage from Achren, even though much of that was unasked for and–dare I say–unwanted. She is formidable, and she’s definitely memorable. She’s also pictured as an ashen-haired/white-haired beauty (due to her magic), which is pretty much the epitome of use of sorcery.