CAIRNS BOOK REVIEW: Witches Incorporated by K E Mills is published by Harper Voyager

AS I recently admitted in this very forum, I have a soft spot for speculative fiction. Magic, swords and sorcery, spaceships and genetically modified humans, vampires, ghosts and witches are all fun to read about.

Which makes K E Mills' latest novel is right up my alley. Basically, Witches Incorporated is Harry Potter for grown-ups – it says so right on the cover.

We've got battling wands at 20 paces, magical explosions, nefarious wizards, a talking bird who used to be a queen, a former princess whose brother turned himself into a dragon, a mysterious secret government agency and a bumbling wizard who is more powerful than he as any right to be.

All this is wrapped up in an alternate Britain called Ottosland, set sometime in the early 19th century when there are rudimentary cars, airships and 'Victorian' traditions that see all women as 'gels' who should be seen and not heard.

Witches Incorporated is actually the second book in a series that began with The Accidental Sorcerer, where readers met Gerald Dunwoody, an inept third grade wizard who had an unfortunate tendency to blow things up.

With the help of a friend he found himself in New Ottosland working for the king – yes, the one who turned himself into a dragon after much terrorising of the local populace and generally going mad. Along the way Gerald develops into a 'rogue' wizard – so powerful that no one knows what to do with him; or what he'll do with himself.

Gerald and his friends – Monk Markham, a magical genius and his sister Bibbie, a witch who's tired of being treated like a 'gel'; Princess Melissande who just wants to be ordinary and Reg, the bird who is actually a 400-year-old queen and Gerald' 'girlfriend' – are all back in Ottosland trying to make a living.

The girls have set up a witching locum agency – a one-stop shop for magical problem solving – and Gerald has become a 'janitor'; basically a spy for the government.

The plot rips along at an alarming pace – the girls get a case involving baking, Gerald comes up against an old nemesis and Monk gets into trouble with his magical inventions.

Mills spends quite a lot of time on the internecine squabbling of the group – which can sometimes become a little tedious – though if you've ever had brothers and/or sisters you'll identify with it instantly and enjoy the inventive name-calling.

Eventually the badies are rounded up, the crimes solved, the squabbling diminished and an awkward international incident avoided before they all go off for a nice take-out Chinese meal.

Witches Incorporated isn't meant to be taken seriously; it's a joyful story of friendship, romance and adventure. It's beautifully written with action from start to finish and endearing characters.

I can't wait for the next in the series; who knows, they might make these into films too.

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