'Charmed' - The Book Series - Part 1 - A Witchy Primer

By Fay Clark

Part 1 - The Overview

If you are anything like me, you will be aware of the hit 90's TV show Charmed. Three sisters discover that they are descendants of a line of female witches and that they are destined to fight against the forces of evil, using their combined powers of witchcraft.

Season 1 Episode 1 - The Power of Three

I was obsessed with this show and I still am. It ran for 8 seasons and has 178 episodes. It was filled with love, laughter and good life lessons. Charmed showed you the true meaning of sisterhood in every iteration you could think of, and even a few that you were unlikely to dream of. Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell were in their early-mid 20s when they discovered their true destiny, and powers. Anyone who followed the show would know that there was a cast change after the 3rd season finale in 2001. This meant that the eldest sister Prue was no longer in the show, and a new half-sister was introduced in the character Paige Matthews (we will get into that later.)

Until recently, I had no clue that there were books that tied into the show. These were published from 1999 when the show first started. These books clearly were not pushed/marketed as much as the show was as I know that a lot of fans didn't know they existed. When I found out, I may have fallen down a bit of a rabbit hole on where to buy/read them and out of the 41 books that were published I own 39 and have read all of them... whoops! The last two books seem to be a little harder to get a hold of, as by that time the interest was waning and the show run was coming to an end, so it looks like they didn't make as many copies. I am here to talk about the 39 I have read and boy... I am glad I fell down that rabbit hole. 

The books in general don't really deviate from the TV show, they just add in a few fun stories that have not been seen on screen. Having a little extra witchcraft between the episodes and seasons, we get to see what the Halliwell's were up to when the episodes jumped a few weeks. I think this is sort of a love letter to the fans, giving us more of the fun stories we clearly loved to watch.

There are 2 books in the series that are not original stories and are just episodes in book format, this is the 1st episode, and the 1st episode of Season 4 when the cast changed. All other books are completely new stories, never before seen.

Basic rundown of characters and powers;

Prue Halliwell - The Oldest Sister, has daddy issues, control issues and anger issues. A great mix for a witch who has Telekinesis and eventually also astral projection. She is a bit of a stick in the mud, until she comes to terms with her powers and embraces the witchy lifestyle. 

Piper Halliwell - The Middle Sister, who has to become the oldest. She started out as a peace bringer and conflict resolver between her sisters. Then morphing into a completely different person over the seasons that is still compassionate, but has seen and been through too much and it's made her a little rougher round the edges. Her power starts as freezing time/slowing the molecules down enough to freeze them, and evolves into being able to speed up the molecules in something and blow it up! (She's my fave).

Season 4 Episode 1 - Charmed Again

Phoebe Halliwell - The Youngest Sister, who becomes the middle sister. She is a bit of a wayward spirit and finds herself getting into a lot of trouble and not being able to settle or slow down. This changes when she becomes the middle sister and Phoebe finds her way a little more. She has the power of Premonition, and can see into the past and the future, helping the Charmed Ones figure out which innocents need protecting and which demons of the week need vanquishing. Phoebe is a martial arts fighter as her power is not an "active power" but a "passive power". She later on becomes able to levitate and also becomes an empath.

Paige Matthews - SPOLIERS (if you know nothing about Charmed). Paige is the 4th sister, that gets "found" after Prue leaves the show. Starting from season 4 onwards she is a Charmed one. She is half witch, half Whitelighter and is a very lost soul in the earlier seasons. As she grows as a character she learns more about the craft and finds a more stable routine with her sisters. She has the same powers as Prue, to round out the power of three. Telekinesis and "orbing" from her Whitelighter side - which is just teleporting but with fancy sparkly lights.

Leo Wyatt - The Charmed One's Whitelighter/Angel/Guide. Technically a dead man who was tasked with looking after young witches when they come into their powers and guiding them to the right side. His powers include orbing (teleporting), healing, and being able to locate his charges on the earthly plane. He also has access to the "Elders" a group of holier-than-thou angels that are in charge of everything and have knowledge about almost anything.

Cole Turner - A half demon, half mortal. Cole ends up becoming the source of all evil at one point and has several different demonic powers over the series. There is also a time he is only mortal and struggles to come to terms with his new life. He has an on again off again romance with Phoebe, and is not well liked by the Halliwell sisters as a whole.

Darryl Morris - Mortal, Cop, Big Brother figure. Darryl has all the inside information on the missing persons/murders in the city and frequently helps out the Charmed ones on cases to keep people safe. We love Darryl.

I could go on and on. And I will, but perhaps on another article. Thanks for bearing with my excited chatter about getting you started on everything you need to know about Charmed. Catch the rest of my reviews on the novels coming very soon!

Book Queen Out!