Polk - Witchmark

[chocochipbiscuit]

 

So! I read Witchmark by CL Polk! The only things I knew about it going in were ‘historical fantasy LGBTQ romance, won a Lammy Award for scifi/fantasy/horror LGBTQ fiction’ and that was enough to pique my interest.

If you want more of a teaser, here goes: Gaslamp fantasy and mystery, as Dr Miles Singer investigates the mysterious murder of a man who came searching for him under his old identity.

This was a really nice way of washing out the taste of Hexbreaker by Jordan Hawk (which I read for the GYWO Book Club, and which. Uh. I didn’t particularly enjoy, though that’s not the fault of the genre) and was a nice change-up, because it hit so many of the things that I enjoyed about the genre (history! Romance! magic!) with much better execution.

I’m not a history buff, so the best I can say about the ‘feel’ of the book is vaguely late 1800s or early 1900s, but in a world that’s not our own. The ‘Aeland’ of the book is obviously an analogue to England, but there’s no direct translation for other countries. The worldbuilding is really lovely and I enjoy all the details incorporated, like how bicycling is a common mode of transportation and how our main character has to introduce a newcomer (and the reader) to the unspoken rules of bike traffic, or how when they’re in an automobile, he’s gritting his teeth at the inhumanly fast speed of 40 mph. :’) A lot of the time the ‘good dishes’ are referred to as, well, ‘the good dishes,’ porcelain or bone clay, rather than ‘china.’ Which makes sense for a world that doesn’t have an actual China!

I’d say the mystery plot takes precedence over the romance, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable pitching this strictly as a romance, but it’s well done. I loved seeing Miles’ initial wariness of Tristan slowly grow to respect, and their mutual understanding as they investigate the mystery—and god but Tristan’s a fun character—and it’s beautifully, delicately done as we get to explore the characters and see Miles confront his past. I’d give a caution for anyone expecting homophobia-free fantasy though; while there aren’t more overt forms of homophobia, the society is definitely heteronormative. The character explicitly states that same-sex dalliances are tolerated when young, but as men approach a ‘certain age’ they are expected to get married.

There weren’t any major surprises in this novel, since I was familiar with most of the tropes and structure, but it was very satisfyingly done. Per that one Tumblr post, it’s not ‘predictable’ (boring) if it's well executed. I want emotional continuity. I want hints and foreshadowing throughout the book. I want to be able to pick up on the themes and character arcs and see those promises fulfilled.

So in terms of literary Chekhov’s guns… if we have an abusive father who devalues his son's magical healing abilities, and then said father falls ill...well, yep, that healing will be used. Without expecting that to heal the rift between them or force the abusive father to actually respect his son. If we have mysterious murders committed by veterans displaying particular symptoms (maybe it's magic, maybe it's PTSD) and we have one such character with symptoms discharged home to his loving family…oh god. Even knowing where that scene was going, it still hit my heart with a whammy because it wasn’t just the shock of the doctor finding them, but giving me (as a reader) an opportunity to stress and worry and build up the dread and anticipation of that scene.

I realize this sounds very cavalier about ‘explaining’ PTSD as a type of magical affliction, but I think it was sensitively handled. There are other characters with PTSD (including our main character), but in this case it is a curse that happens to mimic certain symptoms of PTSD rather than trying to explain all types of mental trauma as something that can be ‘healed’ with sufficient magic.

The other reason I really enjoyed this book was that besides the lovely worldbuilding and fun characters, there are a lot of other themes explored without turning into a polemic. Miles has a great contrast against his sister, both struggling with independence and privilege and how that has shaped their desires to work within a system vs defying it, and the complicated relationships of family. There’s a lot about the idea that ‘the good of the many outweighs the good of the few’ (and the horrific abuses that get excused under that logic) and I know we’re going to explore a lot more of it in the sequel, but I am excited now for it!!!!

….because yeah! I didn’t realize that this wasn’t meant to be a stand-alone book! It’s actually the first of a series, though some limited googling tells me it’s supposed to be a 2-book series. (In that case...why a series? Why not call it a ‘duology’? Or maybe the other books in the series are meant to explore the world, while just these two deal with Miles and Tristan and their problems?) I realized at about the halfway point that the pacing was incredibly off if we were going to resolve all the plot threads in one book, but at least it ends on a satisfying rest point.

Anyways! I am absolutely certain I am going to reread this book and enjoy it even more on the next go-around.

Comments

[wolffyluna]

Ooh, this sounds interesting! I might check it out.

[chocochipbiscuit]

If you do, please feel free to yell about it! :D I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[runicmagitek]

I've never heard of this book, but that description has piqued my interest! Gonna add it to my "want to read" list :D

[chocochipbiscuit]

I hope you enjoy! Tor offered it for free a little while ago, but I have a feeling that when the second book is released next year (February 2020!) they're going to offer an electronic freebie again or massively discount it. ;)