In honor of cauldron season, might I interest you in a range of poisons, potions, and brews in fantasy novels?
Riding the line between cooking and chemistry, a classic magic brew is a respected form of world-building in the fantasy genre. However, the art of creating poisons, potions, and brews in fantasy is not entirely mythic; instead, it takes inspiration from real-life processes and dials them up to 11 to explore the ways we think about bodily health.
It is unsurprising that in literature, witches’ brews, magical potions, and deadly poisons have often served as the jumping-off point for epic poems, plays, and novels alike. There is something fundamental that stretches across time and continents about mixing ingredients to create a new thing that can radically improve your well-being—or have deadly consequences.
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In the wake of a global pandemic that continues to impact the world, it is only reasonable that a steady wave of books featuring poisons, potions, and brews in fantasy has come out. After all, haven’t we all relied on modern medicine to drastically change our lives? I believe there is a real connection between our literary obsessions and our lived reality, and in this case, we are working through our collective desire to find cures for the things that ail us and understand the poisons that threaten our lives.
So, without further ado, here are ten fantasy books featuring poisons, potions, and brews.
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