The Old Power Returns

Morven Westfield

Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)

With Spring, the tides of the universe grow stronger.

The sap from the trees runs again, and life stirs again - but it's all life: physical, mental, psychic... good, evil.

Yes, the old power returns, but the power, like the tides themselves, can also be for good or evil.

The Old Power Returns is the standalone sequel to Morven Westfield's Darksome Thirst. Alicia and Meg meet again and discover that the saga of Wesley and Frederick is not yet over. Something doesn't feel right, and as Meg's - or should we say, Matricaria's - coven prepares for the upcoming season of growth and light, they discover that something very dark is lurking. Can Alicia, logic-worshipping proto-geek, stave off the vampire? Will Evan's congee burn in the pan? And what of the 'Wizard of Westville'?

Review by Paul Lappen (100508) Rating (8/10)

Review by Paul Lappen
Rating 8/10
Set in eastern Massachusetts, this takes place in the 1980s computer industry. Alicia is a young woman who recently fought a vampire named Wesley at a high-tech company. She had help from a modern-day witch named Matricaria (by day, she is a fellow computer named Meg). Wesley died in a major explosion at the company. Or did he?

In this book, Alicia and Meg are at a new employer. Meg has become part of a coven, and both she and Alicia still feel that same ancient, evil hunger, like something, or someone, is coming for them. Perhaps Wesley is still alive, or it could be Frederick, a recently living person, now a vampire, now living in the same town. He patrols Route 9, the main thoroughfare through town, needing a constant supply of, preferably female, blood. His victims don't turn into vampires, but they have no memory of their encounter with him.

Because of their past dealings with Wesley, the coven doesn't hesitate to take steps to prepare for whatever is coming. They prepare a number of spells and protections. Alicia is at the centre of all this, and has become a sort of junior member of the coven, so she is taught some Wiccan methods of protection.

This is a rather 'quiet' novel, but a really good novel. The author certainly knows her way around Wicca; this is almost more of a Wiccan novel than a Vampire novel. For the squeamish, this is not a very bloody novel. It is very much worth reading.
Paul Lappen (10th May 2008)