WINNER of the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and a finalist for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lammy Award! One of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, according to Time Magazine One of the best books of 2018, according to NPR, Publishers Weekly, BuzzFeed, the Chicago Review, BookPage, and the B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog. C. L. Polk arrives on the scene with … B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog.
C. L. Polk arrives on the scene with Witchmark, a stunning, addictive fantasy that combines intrigue, magic, betrayal, and romance. The New York Times calls it “thoroughly charming and deftly paced… an accomplished and enjoyable debut.”
In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.
Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.
When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.
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Enthralling, fast-paced, and romantic, Witchmark unveils a fascinating world. Polk writes with assured ease. I can’t wait for her next book!
An alternative world where we are introduced to a post WWI -like environment that is very British (tea, hospitals, bicycles etc…) gives enough of a firm basis to understand the world while enjoying that it is also different. Christopher Miles Singer has escaped the genetic destiny of his family by running off to war, returning, and serving as a psychiatrist in a ward where returned soldiers are haunted by something more.
While I did enjoy this book and world, it reads more like a YA Fantasy. I was expecting something a bit more meaty. Miles does a lot of running-around that borders on sloppy and stupid when it comes down to it and his angel friend seems to also lack in the cranial department.
I loved this book! Witchmark combines fantasy, mystery, and romance with rich language, compelling characters, and a stunning, original world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Historical mixed with paranormal can be hit or miss depending on the worldbuilding, and this is definitely a hit. The characters are interesting, and the main character doesn’t drag out the “infohiding” — the twists and reveals feel natural instead of forced. Really enjoyed the depiction of this particular time period when combined with magic and mystery!
I really enjoyed the story line and the characters in this book but it has one huge flaw, no background/world building. We are plunked down into another time and place and left trying to grasp what’s going on. The war is ending and “diseased” soldiers are coming home. Where and why is there a war? Who are the Aelanders and the Laneeri? What about the Amaranthines? Then there are the Invisibles who hold themselves far above the despised mages and witches, who are imprisoned if anyone finds out what they are, but we don’t know why. Three times, I checked to make sure I was reading the first book in the series because it was soooo disconcerting to not know why anyone in the story was doing or acting the way they were. You are left to piece it together as the story goes along and I found that distracted me from the story itself.
This book caught my attention as I was selecting reading material for a patron. The simple design of the blue cover is lovely, and has a certain 1920’s charm, with the bicycle rider in a bowler hat and the reflected image of a man in a top hat and woman in a skirt.
The tag line on the back definitely caught my attention as I turned it over – “A stunning, addictive fantasy that combines intrigue, magic, betrayal, and romance.” Who doesn’t love a book with all those things?
But did it live up to the promise of that cover and tag line? Mostly. It was certainly a page turner; I didn’t want to put it down.
The story is set in a world that’s very similar to England just after World War I, where men are returning home, shell-shocked. Miles is a psychiatrist at a veteran’s hospital.
Miles has been treating returning veterans who feel like they have a killer living inside of them, someone separate from themselves. He manages to heal one man using his magical talent but he isn’t completely sure how or if it will come back. He needs to figure this out and heal the other men, because these men sometimes kill their families.
One night, just as Miles is leaving, a well-to-do man pulls up in a carriage with a dying man. The dying man manages to gasp out that he was poisoned, then transfers his power to a shocked Miles.
Miles is afraid someone will realize he is a witch, a dangerous thing to be in these days, where witches are sent to asylums because they all eventually go crazy. Or do they?
Miles himself is from a rich family, and they consider themselves mages. They don’t go insane. So why do the witches? Are they just weak?
The posh man who brought the poisoned man to the hospital is not who he seems, and he has seen everything – including the dying witch giving his magic to Miles. Is he a friend or a foe? Of course, Miles isn’t quite who he seems either.
The setting is deceptively simple. It’s Edwardian England with just enough Steampunk style touches to make it foreign. They have “aether” instead of electricity. The dialogue and stage direction are well crafted. You can fade right into the story.
The only criticism I have is a couple of important scenes that are rushed, just a shade too fast, lacking mental and emotional reaction from the characters. I suspect the original manuscript was a bit longer than the publisher liked.
The story builds logically with solid detective work and revelations building on revelations. I did not see where this was going, which is always one of my highest notes of praise. I like to be surprised.
And yet, the journey is the best part.
“I understand what it’s like.”
“You don’t. You imagine. You sympathize. But you can’t understand.”
Isn’t that true of us all in a number of circumstances? Definitely a very strong debut novel.
Soylent Green…
Good until the end… But so was the Matrix…until the reveal.
Please read my review of “Witchmark” here: https://mistyaquavenatus.com/2019/05/16/why-you-need-to-read-witchmark
I thought this was really pretty good until it all hit the wall with a splat: the ending was too rushed, left so much to be intuited instead of explained, and a bit black-and-white, at that. Just to see, I tried out the Sample for the next in the series but dropped it because it didn’t address the faults of the first book.
This was a great read combining an Edwardian secondary world, magic, a murder investigation, and a nicely done M/M romance. I was recommended this book a while ago, and was looking forward to it just based on the cover. It doesn’t disappoint, raising the stakes throughout while developing the characters so you really feel for them, sympathetic or not. Looking forward to the next one!
The book really throws you in to the world as if you already know it all, so it took longer than normal for me to get into the world (and yes it is a fantasy, the aesthetic is that of magic and WWI/1920s era stuff. The countries and all are complete fantasy). This is why people are comparing it to fanfic.
The m/m romance is phenomenally trope-y, however, and that’s one of it’s better points. The tropes had me flailing.
A highly enjoyable read, and fully deserving of its Nebula finalist status. Witchmark creates a fresh secondary world with an Edwardian flavor, wherein a nobleman abandoned the high life to serve as a soldier and practice his healing magic in a way forbidden by society. When a mysterious man drags a poisoned fellow into the beleaguered hospital where he works, his carefully-constructed yet lonely life begins to fall apart. There’s a conspiracy afoot that stretches from the tormented veterans in his care to the most powerful people in the land–his family.
The world-building is deep and perfectly paced. This is a world both familiar and strange, and that freshness made it a source of constant fascination. Plus, the characters are fantastic. As someone who loves healer characters, and has included them in numerous of my own books, that angle particularly appealed to me. This book incorporates inclusiveness in a gentle, natural way, and the slowly-building romance between the two male leads feels genuine. No insta-love here. The issue of consent and power in the relationship is especially well-handled.
I’m glad this is the first book in the series. This a world with people I would love to spend more time with.
Witchmark is a fantasy novel built around a murder mystery. If you like stories about witches, you have got to check it out! Evocative writing, reveals that made me gasp, thorough world-building. Best of all: I deeply cared about the characters. Miles and Tristan are drawn together because of the mystery and a lovely love story emerged as a result. I adored them. Witchmark raises good questions about privilege and class differences through the ways mages are valued over witches, Storm-Singers over Secondaries. And I really liked the emphasis on the freedom of choice, how we must be able to choose our way through this world instead of being forced or limited to one avenue. I thoroughly enjoyed the world Polk created and I can’t wait to see what happens in book two.