Stormsong

Stormsong (2020) C.L. Polk (The Kingston Cycle)

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

Rating: 8/10

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