This is one of the stories which give off the impression of historical fiction while being in fact a fantasy book!
It includes all the classical elements: adventure, revelations and discoveries, bold characters and intertwined destinies. The cover reminded me of Medieval texts and gave me a right head-start to the universe of the book.

A nice light read. Okay if you ifnore some of the plot holes in the character adjustment but overall not anything to stop enjoyment of the fantasy blending with the everyday world.

Received copy from Troubador and Netgalley for honest read and review.

The premise sounded really good and the story was actually not too bad. Centering around a Sorceress who has been trapped in a bottle and then brought back to life in current times,to help a young man in need.

The characters are well thought out and the story flowed well enough.

A good read

The blurb intrigued me. A sorceress suspended in time and then released in the 21st century. What a brilliant time slide premise. How would a 14th century gal thrown into the 21st century cope? The obvious conclusion is that she would be nonplussed initially. But, for how long and could she overcome her initial amazement and fit into the 21st century? One might even argue why she should not. Many of the modern inventions were figments in the imagination of our forebears. Electricity and other discoveries have simplified our life and modern conveniences are easy enough to grasp when one is not in awe of them. Nevertheless Tilley adroitly resolves this and other dilemmas in his novel with insight, ingenuity and a huge dollop of writers licence merging history, fantasy and sci fi to weave an irresistible yarn. For Tilley's sorceress Constance is no ordinary gal. This becomes more evident when one realises the era Constance lived in and Albrecht's friend Leo’s identity. Her antics will not fail to amuse one. Tilley's sorceress is clever, quick on the uptake but could do with a few scruples. Unsurprisingly, the protagonist Darcy is quite taken with her. One can see how Albrecht Durer was enamoured with Constance all those centuries ago. The gal has natural charm. No sorcery here. Oh, by the way, there is actually a difference between a sorceress and a witch. Really! One did not know that. Cool I'll buy that. A charming tale told in an equally charming manner with nail biting moments interspersed throughout the book. Tilley has certainly nailed it, down to his candid and simplistic style. Unfortunately it is too simplistic for an adult not least an Oxford postgrad hence the problem of genre. It would however suit a YA audience and a change of genre is well advised. Shame since the plot would delight an adult audience. Despite this obvious drawback, the book is a compelling read. For a debut effort, Tilley displays extraordinary imagination, acuity and craftsmanship. With natural flair, he elegantly sets his readers up painting a tale that leaves one gasping in astonishment at the depth of his effort. His characters are well developed and the plot well thought in every detail making it credible. Who thought that sci fi and witchcraft oops sorcery went hand in hand? In Tilley's world of course! Certainly an author to watch out for in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clive Heritage-Tilley for allowing me to read and review The Sorceress and the Postgraduate. I agree with previous reviewers that said that it took them a long time to pick up and get into this books. I found that I was never really in the mood for it. Once I did get into it I discovered a well-written book that was just average for me. Based on that, I give it a 3.

Well, this book did not live up to my expectations in any way. This novel could really have been a great read but it ended up really letting me down.

One thing that was really disappointing was that there was not much focus on the historical aspect. There were maybe just a handful or less references to historical figures or time points, and while this was definitely appreciated by me, it just wasn't enough. If you are going to brand a story by saying it is historical fiction, it needs to be a lot more historical than this! 

One of my biggest issues was with the lack of proper development with the story. Things are pretty much just told to the reader rather than shown. We are told what happened to lead to the 4 sorceresses saving Constance. We are told by Constance about her relationship with Albrecht Durer. We are told what led the Oxford student to steal the object. All of these things (and many more) could have been shown if the author had lengthened the story to include the relevant events. It was also disconcerting how quickly Constance adjusted to the modern day. For someone trapped in a bottle, she adapted way too quickly to her surroundings. There was no trace of an antiquated style of speaking, no shock from seeing all the new inventions around, just the enthusiasm that a tourist would show when traveling to a new country. Even the thoughts and feelings of the Oxford student who discovered her lacked strong development, and seemed to be very ... childish.

The writing style of this novel was really not up to my standards. It read like the musings of a teenager rather than work that has been shown to an editor. It was all very childish and if I had been a preteen, I would have enjoyed this. But there was no indication that this book was meant for a younger audience, and if I'm to judge it as an adult book, it falls way off the mark there.

Believe me when I say that I really wanted to enjoy this book. However, the childish writing and lack of proper development of the story was something I could not get past. I have to give this a 1/5 stars.

I really liked the book. an amzing strory, a lot of fun to read. for ages 12-99.

It took me a while to start reading this book as I wasn't wholly keen on the first chapter, however, once I got past that it was a really good book, very strange but magical nonetheless!

I was intrigued by the premise and the start but quickly lost interest mid-flight. Sorry - tried but not for me

Honestly this was DNF for me. I just could not get into the storyline and it seemed do hopeful. I put it down and came back several times and I just could not relate to the characters, the plot, or the concept. I apologize that I cannot honestly say that I was impressed with this book. It also did not give the feel of a Historical Fiction/Sci Fiction novel. It was more like a badly written freshman college story that was provided for a grade in beginners Fiction writing class.
The cover was what originally drew me in and then I saw the blurb and thought I would give it a go… Again, I apologize that this book was just not for me and I am honored that I was able to give honest feedback.

I loved the title of this book, quirky and intriguing. However, I wasn't fond at all of what followed. My main problem was I just did not buy any of it. The character of the sorceress was particularly unbelievable - she adapted to, and learnt everything about, the 21st century way too quickly. The jarring anachronistic inconsistancies really pulled me out of the story which was a kind of Da Vinci Code lite. I was also confused by other details that went unexplained, the main one being the motivations behind the sorceress's investigations into Rhodri the Great (which are the springboard for the adventure/investigation that is the main action of the novel). She just seems to pluck the idea out the air on a whim. There were some fun fantasy ideas and a vaguely gripping action scene, but I came close to DNFing this novel on every other page due to the Mary Sue qualities of the sorceress.

I loved the concept of this book - a 15th century sorceress, Constance, is hidden in a bottle to escape death. The idea is that she is freed in a short period of time. Things don't go to plan and she is entombed until the 21st century. Freed by a postgraduate student, Darcy, together they both head off on a series of adventures.
What an excellent idea for a book and it is that alone which allows this a two star rating. Unfortunately the plot (or lack of it), charactisation and writing fall very far short of its potential.
Constance is a conveniently well educated 15th century sorceress who seems able to speak German and speak, read and write modern english and latin. This is despite the changes in the language over the centuries. Constance devours the internet and is bang up to date in a matter of days. Not only does she learn about events but her language and mannerisms are so up to date that it is impossible to distinguish her from any modern day character. She is happy to discuss pirranha's teeth - obviously internet learned as I am sure an english 15th century sorceress wouldn't have heard of them. She quotes Indiana Jones films as well as American sit coms and is happy to use the phrase "Whatever" in the modern manner. The only way to distinguish her from a modern day young lady is that she wears sunglasses as the brightness after being in the bottle for a few hundred years is too much. It is so bad that she doesn't even take them off when in a pitch dark cave! The whole scene where she drives a powerful motorbike through a modern city after only being a passanger once is ridiculous to the extreme.
Unfortunately there are no strong characters surrounding Constance. Darcy seems to have few morals as he happily "borrows" artifacts as he desires and beds Constance fairly early on in the proceedings. The rest of the cast are minor and I can't even recall any further names which show how little an impression they made on me.
The plot is poor. Constance & Darcy seem to wander around at will exploring old sites and following psychic artifacts without any real purpose. The last straw for me was the shrinking scene where they travel in the mouth of a fish which is all magically arranged by an ancient artifact of King Arthur - really? I do like fantasy fiction but it does need to be structured and logical.
The language in this book is quite simple and it really doesn't have a rich vocabulary. I stopped and checked if this was a young adult book at one point due to the bland vocabulary but it seems not.
I reached three quarters of the way through this book and realised that I had no desire to complete it. I didn't care about the characters and wasn't sure where the plot was heading. The idea of this book was great but that is where it stopped. Such a shame.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

In 2017, a postgrad student at Oxford steals (“borrows”) an exhibit titled “Witch in a bottle” and opens the bottle. To his amazement, a full sized young woman appears. She speaks perfectly good modern English, and says she is a sorceress, bottled up in prison by her sister witches so that she might escape execution in 1497 Nuremberg. The mistress of Albrecht Durer, she was supposed to be released soon after the bottle was smuggled out of the prison. Things didn’t work out right, though, and she spent 600 years in suspended animation in the bottle.

As Constance- the sorceress- learns more about current times, they go in search of other magical items, which leads to another “borrowing”, that of the Alfred Jewel. From there we have Alice-in-Wonderland shrinking, magical fish, giant talking birds, and giant spiders. It’s a wild ride.

While the Witch in the bottle and the Alfred Jewel are both very real, the story is really only on the marginal edges of “historical fiction”. It’s fantasy, pure and simple. While it was a rather amusing read – and a very fast one- it’s not the best I’ve ever read. Constance adapts to the 21st century way to fast to be believable (she also gets over her 15th century lover promptly). She, and the other historical characters, all speak modern English. The story doesn’t really have a plot; it’s more of a series of adventures that aren’t really guided by anything but their curiosity – which is a splendid reason to do things in real life but it doesn’t make for a good story. And I really disliked the main male character. It reads like a first novel (and may very well be); the author has some good ideas so I hope he gets better. Three stars.

Conceptually interesting, the art history bits were excellent, but dialogue feels stilted. As well, historical speech and speakers have a contemporary feel, which made it difficult at times to discern when events were happening outside of the sections with a specific date on the chapter title - stylistically everything just flows the same. Has a roughness to the text, almost as if it hasn't been through copyediting revisions. It isn't the worst thing I’ve read, but it isn't fantastic. I slogged to 60% of the way through the book and just could not finish it right now. Some of the language around Ogham seemed a bit academic rather than how i have seen it referenced by pagans. The pagan and witchcraft concepts were interesting but didn't ring true for me.

I really wanted to love this book but I didn't. The book flows well and the writing is good, although in places I found it a little childish. I enjoyed the historical references but not the fantasy, it all got a bit Alice in Wonderland at times. I didn't engage with the characters. Why an academic is stealing things from a museum is beyond me (although there would be no story otherwise!) and Constance is far too savvy seeing as she has been locked up for 600 years! I am not sure who this would appeal to. Historical fiction fans will like the history but not the fantasy and the opposite would apply to fantasy fans. But if you are a fan of either and in the mood for something a little different it might work for you, sadly it didn't for me.

A quite good historical fiction with strong fantasy aspects. It is sometimes a bit confusing but on a general level it is enjoyable and entertaining.
Many thanks to Troubador Publishing Ltdr and Netgalley

This book for me held all the promise of a thrill, a race against time to uncover hidden secrets from a past but failed to deliver it somewhere in the middle of the book.
It's great to be able to relate to at least one character in the book and at some point I took to Constance, and then Leo, but it's Darcy I couldn't stand and with such an attitude it made reading this book not as pleasant as I hoped it'd be. There are lots of historical references that did not bode well with me too. If you are a fan of historical fiction, don't let my views debar you from reading this book, you might just pinpoint something or a whole lot of things I missed. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

This book is categorized as Historical Fiction, Sci Fi & Fantasy. In my opinion is more Fantasy than anything else. I’ve read several Historical Fiction books that have supernatural occurrences, but this one goes too far to my taste. I like the historical references of Albrecht Durer, the Anglo Saxon kings and mythical birds, but I still don't understand how they are related in the main story, It might be because the book is intended to be a series, but I feel it lacks some sort of closing and connection between them. The book will have more appealing for young adult readers than adults. If you are hard core historical fiction reader, this might not be the book for you. Nevertheless, it was a fun and fast read, and keep me entertained.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The idea behind this story is excellent however for me, this book does not deliver. I found the writing to be a little simplistic I think more appropriate to young adult than adult. There is no complexity in the story, the reader is left wondering why things happen but not in a good way. There are two characters in the book, they are not developed there is little back story. The events leap about and there is no developed justification for what happens.

I just couldn't get through this book and gave up after only 15% or so. The writing confused me at times because I felt like there were sentences missing and the characters seemed rather bland and unrealistic. The dialogue and the reactions, especially, felt really odd and manufactured.