Sweep

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A 15-book (soon to be five-bindup volume) series by Cate Tiernan (known as Wicca in the UK and elsewhere) about 16-year-old Morgan Rowlands who, after discovering that the dreamy and mysterious new guy at school is a witch, finds out that she herself is a very powerful "blood witch", descended from one of the Seven Clans of Wicca. All sorts of magical and romantic drama ensue.


Tropes used in Sweep include:
  • A-Cup Angst: Morgan complains about this at least three times per book.
  • Bi the Way: Sky and Raven.
  • British Accents: Sky and Hunter.
  • Broken Pedestal: Selene Belltower.
  • Brother-Sister Team: Sort of—Sky and Hunter are cousins, though they were raised together like siblings.
  • But I Would Really Enjoy It: A rare male example between Morgan and Hunter.
  • Butt Monkey: Angus, Robbie and almost every male that appears in the series and isn't evil, a background character or Hunter.
  • Canon Sue: Alisa Soto is often accused of being one, due to her unique origin and powers, and the fact that she gets her own book to narrate (most of the books are from Morgan's POV, and occasionally Hunter's). Morgan Rowlands is another example, being able to do things that normally takes years to learn.
  • The Clan: Seven of them, actually, though centuries of fighting, persecution and intermarriage have (at least theoretically) made clan identity meaningless. Unless you're an evil Woodbane, of course.
  • Can't Hold Her Liquor: Morgan, the first time she drinks.
  • Claustrophobia: Morgan experiences this in Cal's secret witch room. This is tip off that he isn't as nice as he seems.
  • Eyes of Gold: Cal Blaire
  • Government Agency of Fiction: The International Council of Witches is more extra-governmental, answerable to no one. It's main job seems to be to track down witches using dark magick and stripping them of their powers--without a trial or any sort of chance to put forth a defense; Morgan derides them as the "hall monitors of Wicca."
  • Halfbreed: It's supposedly impossible for a female blood witch to reproduce with a male human, and male blood witches can reproduce with human females only if they will it. Alisa Soto is one.
  • I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Morgan isn't used to being noticed by guys.
  • I Know Your True Name: Key to Morgan's defeat of one of her major enemies.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Ciaran is Morgan's real birth father.
  • Letter Motif: The initials M.R.: Maeve Riordan, Morgan Rowlands, Moira Rowlands-- though oddly, that inital set seems to be recent, going by the initials carved on Morgan's athame.
  • In the Blood: Morgan's fear about her Woodbane lineage.
  • Magick: Yeah, that's how they spell it.
  • The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: An unfortunate side-effect of Voluntary Shapeshifting.
  • Mind Over Matter: Alisa Soto has an involuntary case of this.
  • Muggle Foster Parents: Morgan has a pair, not realizing she was adopted.
  • Pettanko: Morgan Rowlands.
  • Necromancer: Witches can speak with the dead by performing a very dangerous and forbidden spell. Hunter's father is revealed to be doing this to speak to his late wife.
  • Raised Catholic: Morgan's sister and parents are against Morgan being a witch due to it conflicting with Catholic teachings. However they blissfully ignore the teachings on homosexuality when it comes to Mary Grace Rowland's sister Margaret. Semi-subverted in that the Rowland's family (Minus Morgan) are otherwise devout.
  • Red String of Fate: Muirn beatha dans are a blood witch's soulmate, who is also a blood witch. While love is usually implied, a good relationship is not—there are a number of characters who are the offspring of a one-night stand between muirn beatha dans.
  • Telepathy: Blood witches can send "witch messages" telepathically. They can also mind-meld.
  • Unwanted Spouse: Hunter's father felt this way towards his first wife, Selene Belltower, Cal's mother.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Seen later in the series as something only very powerful witches can achieve. Guess who manages it first try.