Review of Witchmark (Kingston Cycle #1) by C. L. Polk
Witchmark is the first book in the series The Kingtston Cycle.
Miles Singer was born for suffering. Magic fated him to be a slave for his family's interests or committed to a witches' asylum, so he ran away to war to become his own man. Having faked his death, he's living as a humble psychiatrist at a cash-strapped veterans' hospital.
The war between Aeland and Laneer is ending, and soldiers are returning changed, strangers to their own families. As Miles treats former soldiers with a strange ailment, he finds his vow to keep his magical powers hidden tested.
Then a fatally poisoned man arrives at the hospital, seeking Miles in particular to help him. To investigate the man's murder, Miles must risk being revealed as everything he's kept hidden. And he also must lean on an unlikely partner—who happens to be the most gorgeous man he's ever seen.
This was an excellent book, winner of the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and a finalist for the Nebula award, the Locus award, and the Lammy award. Time Magazine named it one of the 100 Best Fantasy Novels of All Time, and it was called one of the best books of 2018 by NPR, Publisher's Weekly, BuzzFeed, the Chicago Review, and Book Page.
All of this I agree with, and I had to wait almost three months in the waitlist to check out this book at the library. For good reason. So I was surprised to notice (before I checked the book out) that the second book was not checked out at all. Once I started reading, I realized why.
This book is a fantasy romance—and it's a gay romance.
For the most part, the general public is still prudish. There was no graphic sex, only them kissing and them in bed in the aftermath of sex. As far as gay romance goes, it was very mild. But most people are not prepared for reading LGBTQ+ relationships. The sequel is a lesbian romance, so the series continues as LGBTQ+ romance. I say good. There's not enough representation. If only more people would be open to reading about a wider variety of relationships. There's nothing wrong with relationships that aren't heterosexual.
Anyway, I could go on a rant about that, and that's not what this post is about. This is a book review.
The world building in this novel was incredible. This world and its comparability to Edwardian England but with more rights for women enthralled me. There were some modern concepts, and some that were consistent with a time in our world that would produce the technology seen in that world. It was and impressive layering of history, mystery, modernity, curiosity, magic, and their own world's mythology. I've read nothing like it, and the artful, skillful way the author executed it impressed me with the incredible abilities of the writer.
Miles was layered with deep fears, strengths, weaknesses, flaws, and dreams. At different points in the novel, he's barely keeping his fears at bay, having his deepest fears come to pass, experiencing the wonders he's always dreamed of, and living a life he never imagined. The way he adjusts his changing views on life depending on what's happening to him drove the novel forward, and through all of it was his deep friendship with Tristan Hunter and his close relationship with his sister, Grace Hensley.
Tristan and Grace were both layered as well even though they don't have a POV. Grace was a sound part of the plot, and she definitely had her strengths and weaknesses, but Tristan was central to the plot. He was a mysterious character with hidden qualities only hinted at through discussion of mythology, and while he was honest with Miles about most things, he didn't try to counter the myths that applied to his character, and that created tension with Miles, and it also created a tension with Grace who warned against Miles's friendship with Tristan.
The descriptions were incredible, and they painted a clear picture of the world, characters, situations, and action sequences. It was nearly flawless.
I loved the dialog, clear and concise while also flowing well and feeling natural. There were slight differences in the ways characters phrased things that separated their speech patterns, which I liked.
This was an incredible debut novel that I loved. I wish more people would be open to LGBTQ+ stories so they could enjoy this wonderful story.
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