C.L. Polk
Books: Fantasy | Romance | Queer
The Kingston Cycle: Witchmark (2018), Stormsong (2020), Soulstar (2021)
The Kingston Cycle
Witchmark (2018)
Set in a world somewhat like England after WW I, but not really.
Miles Singer escaped his family and ended up in the war between Aeland and Laneer, his medical schooling put to terrible use. Now he works as a psychiatrist in a veteran's hospital, and is trying to understand the darkness consuming so many of his patients.
He confessed the days and nights of helpless fear and the battles where he learned what a man would do in the midst of war. I knew what a man would do, if it meant living through it.
But now his secrets are escaping and he may once again be trapped by his family.
Stanley used his firstborn son as a slave, a battery to enhance his storm-singing power. I had no doubt the marriage he had arranged for his son was an attempt to breed the proper talents back into the Stanley line.
I am going to have to reread this, because I ended up tearing through parts of it, wanting to know what happened.
I swung back and forth between liking Grace, and wanting to smack her.
"And you vowed on your blood not to bind me?" I sat back in my chair, wondering. "Why?"
"None of that matters as much as you," Grace said. "You're alive. I can have my brother back."
The problem I really had was not understanding the Amaranthine, and the dynamics between the different people. It wasn't necessary to the story, but it bugged me, not really understanding.
I immediately looked up the next book, then realized this is the only book that has Miles as a main character, so although I want to know what happens, I can wait a bit.
Characters: Dr. Christopher Miles Hensley Singer, Mr. Tristan Hunter, Nicholas Alva Elliot, Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Sparrow, Dame Grace Hensley, Miss Robin Thorpe, Kate Small, Dr. Matheson, Dr. Crosby, Dr. James Fredman, Young Gerald, Gerald Grimes, Bill Pike, Cpl. James Badger, Pvt. Jack Bunting, Cpl. Terrence Pigeon, Sir Percy Stanley, Raymond Blake, Richard Poole, Celinda Poole, Clara Sibley, Julia Riggins, Douglas Fox, Constable Fisher, Avia Jessup, Caroline Miller, Alice Farmer, Janey Cooper, Cully Miller, Grand Duchess Aife, Cormac, Queen Constantina
Cover by Will Staehle
Publisher: Tordotcom
- October 2022 | Rating: 7/10
- January 2026 | Rating: 8/10
Stormsong (2020) #2
Grace
has escaped with her brother after the destruction of the aethernet,
but when she senses a terrible storm coming she knows she has to return
to Aeland to protect her people.
A storm spread out miles wide, spinning away from the Cauldron off the coast. It was wrong: too vast, too violent. The storm came east even as it swelled with fury. East to Kingston, where millions huddled in the dark and cold with no aether.
But Miles was seriously injured, and the Amaranthine are enraged over the treatment of the witches and of the dead, so Grace returns to the capitol in the presence of beings who many believed to be mythical.
“We follow Grand Duchess Aife of the Solace, heir to the Throne of Great Making, most blessed daughter of Queen Eilidh the Watcher. Make sure to tell them that in your song, herald. Tell them we come with our blades ready.”
But to right the wrongs of the past, Grace has to stand up not just to the queen, but to her own father.
But she allies beyond her brother and the Amaranthine, including a charming journalist.
This book takes the pace of the ending of Witchmark and keeps going, barely letting up.
Couple of notes: The romance between Grace and Avia didn’t seem as natural as the one between Miles and Tristan in the first book. Grace had mooned over Avia, but it felt like they didn’t have enough time to come to trust each other–especially with the stakes as high as they were.
I also felt like we were missing some of Grace’s internal changes–she’d been loyal to her father until the end, but I never quite felt her inner turmoil over her discovery of what he had done and just how awful he was.
I also figured out pretty quickly how her father was getting his information.
But there were bits I particularly liked, such as this:
“Do you want to borrow a book?”
“Do I want to— No, thank you. I have one.” She turned back to her plate and her swiftly cooling eggs. “What do you read during breakfast?”
I held up a copy of Salterton’s Hansard from 1541. “Work.”
Of course it should be normal to read during meals, and to offer unexpected dining companions reading material.
It was a fast-paced story, and honestly a bit exhausting to read.
Characters: Dame Fiona Grace Hensley, Avia Jessup, Miss Robin Thorpe, Ramona Thorpe, Dr. Christopher Miles Hensley Singer, Mr. Tristan Hunter, Grand Duchess Aife, Cormac, Sir Aldis Hunter, Ysonde, Queen Constantina Isobel Mountrose, Crown Prince Severin Mountrose, Member Albert Jessup, Raymond Blake, Sir Richard Poole, Brandon Wellesley, Dame Elsine Pelfrey, Jacob Clarke, Muriel Baker, Janet, Jane, Edith, William and George, Corporal Sadler, Private Fuller, John Runson, Niikanis an Vaavut, Sevitii an Vaavut, Daniel Swan, John Runson, Dorothy Naismith, Mrs. Delora Gardner, Dame Irene Stanley, Dame Sarah Varley, Sir Christopher Hensley
Cover design by Will Staehle
Publisher: Tor
February 2026 | Rating: 8/10
Soulstar (2021) #3
This
is the conclusion to the Kingston Cycle, and there is a lot going on
here: Severin Mountrose is now king, witches are free, there is a search
to replace aether, and Solidarity has decided to hold an open
election–even if it doesn’t officially count.
“Why doesn’t it sting, though?” Halima asked. “It used to hurt my ears.”
“I don’t know, treasure,” Halima’s father, Boyd, said.
“Robin! Did Zelind tell you why it doesn’t sting?”
“I don’t know.” But I had a guess. The invention used wind, not souls. What we used to hear was their pain.
There are also a LOT of characters, including most of those from the previous book. Robin and Zelind are the primary characters in this book, but Miles and Tristan and Robin play a large part, as do the Amaranthine. This meant I sometimes got confused as to who was who among the secondary characters.
I liked Robin from the start of the first book. She’s smart and level-headed and sensible. She was also wisely doubtful of those in charge.
The character I continued to have issue with was Grace–primarily Grace’s romance with Avia, who played almost no part in this story. I didn’t every really feel her romance or that Avia was really behind the choices she made.
Honestly, I wish Grace would have stood on her own, without the need for Avia as an excuse/reason for her actions. Seeing what her father did, how her father manipulated her and treated her brother (and everyone who wasn’t him), should have been enough to set her on her journey of change.
That ended up weakening this story for me, especially since Avia was all but non-existent in this story, playing no part in the events except in comments made by Grace.
I was also a little iffy about Robin’s move into politics. It didn’t seem something she wanted but was instead forced into by circumstances, and that just seems–awful for Robin.
Characters: Miss Robin Thorpe, Zelind Bay Thorpe, Dame Fiona Grace Hensley, Avia Jessup, Dr. Christopher Miles Hensley Singer, Mr. Tristan Hunter, Grand Duchess Aife, Ysonde, King Severin Mountrose, Aunt Glory Thorpe, Amos Thorpe, Joy Thorpe, Eldest Thorpe, Aunt Bernice, Cousin Delia, Jacob Clarke, Winnie Clarke, Duke, Carlotta Brown, Marlon, Maurice, Octavius, Tressie Lawrence, Loretta Green, Jamille Wolf, Jonathan “Jack” Wolf, Murray, Jean-Marie, Emma, Cora, Jane Parker, Miss Agnes Gable, Jarom Bay, Jedrus, Mrs. Bellita Bay, Halima, Albert Jessup, Althea, Cortland Jubilation Brown, Basil Brown, Charles Brown, Gabrielle Meadows, Corporal Moore, Tupper Bell, James Hammett, Orlena, John Runson, Mr. Alfred West, Marjorie Potts, Christopher Hensley, Headmaster Bell, Miss Minerva Cage, Henry, Onora Wright, Millicent Roebuck, Caitrin Scholar, Amelia Summer, Evelyn Plemmons, Laura Debenham, Theresa, Judita Linton, Nurse Harriet Baker, Corporal Jeremy Blounds, Leden Wilson
Cover by Will Staehle
Publisher: Tor
February 2026 | Rating: 7.5/10