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The Kingston Cycle #3
Soulstar
With Soulstar, C. L. Polk concludes her riveting Kingston Cycle, a whirlwind of magic, politics, romance, and intrigue that began with the World Fantasy Award-winning Witchmark. Assassinations, deadly storms, and long-lost love haunt the pages of this thrilling final volume.
For years, Robin Thorpe has kept her head down, staying among her people in the Riverside neighborhood and hiding the magic that would have her imprisoned by the state. But when Grace Hensley comes knocking on Clan Thorpe’s door, Robin’s days of hiding are at an end. As freed witches flood the streets of Kingston, scrambling to reintegrate with a kingdom that destroyed their lives, Robin begins to plot a course that will ensure a freer, juster Aeland. At the same time, she has to face her long-bottled feelings for the childhood love that vanished into an asylum twenty years ago.
Can Robin find happiness among the rising tides of revolution? Can Kingston survive the blizzards that threaten, the desperate monarchy, and the birth throes of democracy? Find out as the Kingston Cycle comes to an end.
For years, Robin Thorpe has kept her head down, staying among her people in the Riverside neighborhood and hiding the magic that would have her imprisoned by the state. But when Grace Hensley comes knocking on Clan Thorpe’s door, Robin’s days of hiding are at an end. As freed witches flood the streets of Kingston, scrambling to reintegrate with a kingdom that destroyed their lives, Robin begins to plot a course that will ensure a freer, juster Aeland. At the same time, she has to face her long-bottled feelings for the childhood love that vanished into an asylum twenty years ago.
Can Robin find happiness among the rising tides of revolution? Can Kingston survive the blizzards that threaten, the desperate monarchy, and the birth throes of democracy? Find out as the Kingston Cycle comes to an end.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 16, 2021
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November 16, 2023
Robin Thorpe has spent her life in hiding. But when Grace Hensley gives her the opportunity to help her people, those who she has spent her life seeing locked into asylums, she knows that she has to take it.
Something Laurel said in their review really stuck out to me, so I’d like to quote that:
As every book in this series—but especially the last two—have been, this is a story about the aftermath of an oppressive state, and the real consequences faced by those who come home. The witches cannot simply leave their asylum perfectly fine. Those hurts will linger.
I love a lot that this book is all about political machinations—and the ways in which compromise is often not enough. In particular, Grace’s arc is an absolute joy. C.J. Polk’s writing has a clear-eyed understanding of the politics of oppression that constantly stuck in my mind.
Robin’s skill at planning and organizing is such a fun trait for a main character; she feels incredibly distinct. She is independent to the point of self-distress, trying at all times to hold
And then there’s the romance between Robin and Zelind. OH, this romance. Robin and Zelind were married twenty years prior before Zelind’s removal to an asylum. When the two reunite, it cannot be a simple fall back into love — even when neither has ever loved another. Where Robin has made herself into someone who need rely on no one, Zelind has relied on people—but in the context of a deeply traumatic experience. To rely on Robin, khe needs to feel trusted. To rely on Zelind, Robin needs to trust.
There's a lot more to love about this book - side character Jacob Clarke, and his , are wonderful. I enjoyed the nuance given to both Zelind's brother Jarom and Zelind's complex feelings towards him. Crook Jamille is a treat. And of course, there are Robin's ghosts, Aunt Joy and Mahalia.
This series was incredible and I will never get over it ever. She has made her way to a prime spot on my favorite-ever-fantasy shelf. Also, absolutely adoring the fact that the covers of this series are literally the bi pride flag. Shoutout.
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Something Laurel said in their review really stuck out to me, so I’d like to quote that:
"Of a Black woman always needing to be strong, of repatriation for injustice and state-sanctioned slavery, of moving on and moving ahead to dismantle the system and rebuild something new, free and function."
As every book in this series—but especially the last two—have been, this is a story about the aftermath of an oppressive state, and the real consequences faced by those who come home. The witches cannot simply leave their asylum perfectly fine. Those hurts will linger.
I love a lot that this book is all about political machinations—and the ways in which compromise is often not enough. In particular, Grace’s arc is an absolute joy. C.J. Polk’s writing has a clear-eyed understanding of the politics of oppression that constantly stuck in my mind.
Robin’s skill at planning and organizing is such a fun trait for a main character; she feels incredibly distinct. She is independent to the point of self-distress, trying at all times to hold
And then there’s the romance between Robin and Zelind. OH, this romance. Robin and Zelind were married twenty years prior before Zelind’s removal to an asylum. When the two reunite, it cannot be a simple fall back into love — even when neither has ever loved another. Where Robin has made herself into someone who need rely on no one, Zelind has relied on people—but in the context of a deeply traumatic experience. To rely on Robin, khe needs to feel trusted. To rely on Zelind, Robin needs to trust.
There's a lot more to love about this book - side character Jacob Clarke, and his , are wonderful. I enjoyed the nuance given to both Zelind's brother Jarom and Zelind's complex feelings towards him. Crook Jamille is a treat. And of course, there are Robin's ghosts, Aunt Joy and Mahalia.
This series was incredible and I will never get over it ever. She has made her way to a prime spot on my favorite-ever-fantasy shelf. Also, absolutely adoring the fact that the covers of this series are literally the bi pride flag. Shoutout.
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May 12, 2021
Robin Thorpe's days of hiding are at an end when Grace Hensley knocks on her door, and asks for advice. Together, they free the witches trapped inside asylums, and Robin begins to work on creating a freer, just Aeland for all instead of just the elite and favored. But when her friend and colleague is murdered, Robin finds herself the figurehead—and she must step up to lead, at last.
*insert crying emoji* Tears of happiness are streaming down my face. I probably cried once almost every ten pages, that's how fucking powerful this book is. The perfect ending to the Kingston Cycle (although hopefully there may be a spinoff?).
I don't even know how to review this. There is so, so much that builds upon the previous two books, and so much else that is hard to sum up.
While I feel that the editing at times (particularly the beginning) was really haphazard, with far more errors than there should have been (know that I say this with all the love in my heart because you're awesome and CL Polk is amazing, but Tor, you did them dirty with this last one), I ended up putting aside my annoyance because Robin is amazing and there was just so much spoken from the heart in this one. Of a Black woman always needing to be strong, of repatriation for injustice and state-sanctioned slavery, of moving on and moving ahead to dismantle the system and rebuild something new, free and function. Of different cultures working together and truly seeing each other, instead of the oppressed culture having to hide and assimilate into the oppressing culture.
I loved, loved, loved the way family and clan bound together, and I wanted a little more of those dynamics, but there was already so much going on in this book that a lot of that was pushed to the wayside a little bit.
And I also really liked how the witches' recovery was portrayed. These were people who were stolen from their homes, shoved into a basement, experimented upon and forced into hard labor (and breeding programs!!!!), and then are suddenly freed with an "oops, my bad, enjoy life now!" I liked that Robin explored their reintegration into society in a very realistic way—and how some of the enslaved witches rejected returning to their families (particularly those who had been born into slavery and did not know their families or felt awkward in them) and returned instead to the family they had created while enslaved.
There is a lot of politicking in this one, with lots of grassroots movements that reminded me so much of Stacey Abrams' bringing the vote to the people of Georgia, and it was all really, really exciting?? I dunno, the parallels were there and I just felt all of the themes were handled really well, while also giving the characters space to breath and heal and make mistakes and grow/become established.
Finally, the themes of repatriation and reintegration hits on the macro and micro scale. As Robin is working with Grace to bring about a new world (often at odds with what the king and the Established Government wants—because, quite frankly, they are the ones who profited off the status quo), she is also recovering her relationship with her spouse, who was stolen from her the day after they married and locked away in an asylum for twenty years.
Zelind is a fascinating character, and I loved kher representation as a nonbinary person of color in this book. I also loved how Robin and Zelind's relationship was portrayed—they love each other, but they have been apart for twenty years. Robin has carved out her place and has learned to lean on literally no one—she is the wall upon which everyone else rests, and she stands firm and upright and tireless (or does she)—and Zelind has created community and family and connections within the asylum. Their conversations and integration from two individuals torn apart into a cohesive partnership was very real, very hard and yet, so hopeful.
Welp, I just wrote far more than I was expecting.
This was definitely a fantastic ending to the series—and this trilogy really, truly is something that touches onto what is happening now in America. Each book has tapped into a different vein of injustice and has really hit deep, and this one continues and wraps up everything so, so well. And, of course, I love how Polk always takes their themes and extends them at every level—socially, interpersonally, and personally, from the macro to the micro to everything in between.
*insert crying emoji* Tears of happiness are streaming down my face. I probably cried once almost every ten pages, that's how fucking powerful this book is. The perfect ending to the Kingston Cycle (although hopefully there may be a spinoff?).
I don't even know how to review this. There is so, so much that builds upon the previous two books, and so much else that is hard to sum up.
While I feel that the editing at times (particularly the beginning) was really haphazard, with far more errors than there should have been (know that I say this with all the love in my heart because you're awesome and CL Polk is amazing, but Tor, you did them dirty with this last one), I ended up putting aside my annoyance because Robin is amazing and there was just so much spoken from the heart in this one. Of a Black woman always needing to be strong, of repatriation for injustice and state-sanctioned slavery, of moving on and moving ahead to dismantle the system and rebuild something new, free and function. Of different cultures working together and truly seeing each other, instead of the oppressed culture having to hide and assimilate into the oppressing culture.
I loved, loved, loved the way family and clan bound together, and I wanted a little more of those dynamics, but there was already so much going on in this book that a lot of that was pushed to the wayside a little bit.
And I also really liked how the witches' recovery was portrayed. These were people who were stolen from their homes, shoved into a basement, experimented upon and forced into hard labor (and breeding programs!!!!), and then are suddenly freed with an "oops, my bad, enjoy life now!" I liked that Robin explored their reintegration into society in a very realistic way—and how some of the enslaved witches rejected returning to their families (particularly those who had been born into slavery and did not know their families or felt awkward in them) and returned instead to the family they had created while enslaved.
There is a lot of politicking in this one, with lots of grassroots movements that reminded me so much of Stacey Abrams' bringing the vote to the people of Georgia, and it was all really, really exciting?? I dunno, the parallels were there and I just felt all of the themes were handled really well, while also giving the characters space to breath and heal and make mistakes and grow/become established.
Finally, the themes of repatriation and reintegration hits on the macro and micro scale. As Robin is working with Grace to bring about a new world (often at odds with what the king and the Established Government wants—because, quite frankly, they are the ones who profited off the status quo), she is also recovering her relationship with her spouse, who was stolen from her the day after they married and locked away in an asylum for twenty years.
Zelind is a fascinating character, and I loved kher representation as a nonbinary person of color in this book. I also loved how Robin and Zelind's relationship was portrayed—they love each other, but they have been apart for twenty years. Robin has carved out her place and has learned to lean on literally no one—she is the wall upon which everyone else rests, and she stands firm and upright and tireless (or does she)—and Zelind has created community and family and connections within the asylum. Their conversations and integration from two individuals torn apart into a cohesive partnership was very real, very hard and yet, so hopeful.
Welp, I just wrote far more than I was expecting.
This was definitely a fantastic ending to the series—and this trilogy really, truly is something that touches onto what is happening now in America. Each book has tapped into a different vein of injustice and has really hit deep, and this one continues and wraps up everything so, so well. And, of course, I love how Polk always takes their themes and extends them at every level—socially, interpersonally, and personally, from the macro to the micro to everything in between.
March 29, 2021
Well, well... Where do I begin...
This book is drastically different from the other two and that could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste.
Objectively I think this third and last book is the strongest one. It has the most to say and it delivers on the message front in spades.
However, for me personally, it wasn't my cup of tea. I quite honestly liked the 2nd book the most.
First one was a bit on the weak side for me. This one had one of my all-time not-favourites - politics - front and centre and that just isn't my thing. I have this automatic aversion to it and it doesn't matter how important the subject is - I never seem to find it very enjoyable.
Many things are different in this book compared to the previous two. The main character, Robin, is from another social class. She's older than Miles and Grace and is in many ways more shaped and scarred by her fate than the other two.
Robin is by far the most solidly built character out of the three. She's got substance and personality in a completely different way and on a much higher level. Her story is also the one that feels the most relatable to every day real life.
There are so many (important) issues crammed into this book - social injustice, race, culture, privilege, murder, and many more - that it almost feels like too much pressed onto too few pages. The story is so packed with these issues and Robin has so much to say and things she wants to do about them that it easily could have been the focus of all three books.
All the characters from the previous books are pushed out into the periphery and more or less left there. Blink and you miss what happened to most of them - that kind of feeling.
I got the over-all feeling that there wasn't really room for them in this book. It was already so busy that most people from the previous books had a very small role to play and then Robin was on her way again - on her own.
I had this constant feeling that both Mile's and Grace's stories seemed shallow and frivolous in comparison to Robin's. Soulstar is the odd one out. It doesn't quite match the previous two and there wasn't a completely natural transition between those two first and this last story.
At least not if you ask me.
However, while this third story packed more of a punch in terms of symbolism and moral message, it never really grew on me. Robin did grow on me as a character, but I wasn't all that positively minded towards her to begin with, to be honest. She felt like a somewhat random, slightly rude, side-character that suddenly got raised into the spotlight and I never quite clicked with her.
I really liked the ghosts and everything surrounding the forming of the new clan, but I missed the magic of the stormsingers. Somehow that seemed more exciting than the magic of deathsingers - and that kind of feels like a failure. Deathsinging clearly should have been the coolest, deadliest, strangest, and darkest magic - if you ask me - but it kind of wasn't.
The deadly storms of Stormsong seemed to have just magically disappeared too. The "nature hates us and is out to get us" threat that was present all the way through Grace's story just wasn't here in Robin's story. That felt odd.
In contrast to the magic there are clear echoes from the real world in this book. The murder of Martin Luther King, for example. Wind turbines also have a star role, but the issue I had with these sources of inspiration is that while using them within the frames of the story felt like simple solutions, it also felt too "copy + paste" from reality to really tickle my fancy.
I had to look up what kind of word the author was using as a pronoun for Robin's non binary spouse, Zelind. The sound made by the narrator did not make any obvious sense to me and I'm still not sure why or how "kher" becomes something like an almost German sounding "scher".
To be perfectly honest, this book didn't click with me in terms of narrator either. While Moira Quirk was a bull's eye for Stormsong, Robin Mile's narrator style didn't really connect with me.
Soooo... I'm leaving this series behind with a bit of a shrug. I'm somewhat unsure if I will return to this author as I'm not really convinced she's a good fit for my personal taste.
This book is drastically different from the other two and that could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste.
Objectively I think this third and last book is the strongest one. It has the most to say and it delivers on the message front in spades.
However, for me personally, it wasn't my cup of tea. I quite honestly liked the 2nd book the most.
First one was a bit on the weak side for me. This one had one of my all-time not-favourites - politics - front and centre and that just isn't my thing. I have this automatic aversion to it and it doesn't matter how important the subject is - I never seem to find it very enjoyable.
Many things are different in this book compared to the previous two. The main character, Robin, is from another social class. She's older than Miles and Grace and is in many ways more shaped and scarred by her fate than the other two.
Robin is by far the most solidly built character out of the three. She's got substance and personality in a completely different way and on a much higher level. Her story is also the one that feels the most relatable to every day real life.
There are so many (important) issues crammed into this book - social injustice, race, culture, privilege, murder, and many more - that it almost feels like too much pressed onto too few pages. The story is so packed with these issues and Robin has so much to say and things she wants to do about them that it easily could have been the focus of all three books.
All the characters from the previous books are pushed out into the periphery and more or less left there. Blink and you miss what happened to most of them - that kind of feeling.
I got the over-all feeling that there wasn't really room for them in this book. It was already so busy that most people from the previous books had a very small role to play and then Robin was on her way again - on her own.
I had this constant feeling that both Mile's and Grace's stories seemed shallow and frivolous in comparison to Robin's. Soulstar is the odd one out. It doesn't quite match the previous two and there wasn't a completely natural transition between those two first and this last story.
At least not if you ask me.
However, while this third story packed more of a punch in terms of symbolism and moral message, it never really grew on me. Robin did grow on me as a character, but I wasn't all that positively minded towards her to begin with, to be honest. She felt like a somewhat random, slightly rude, side-character that suddenly got raised into the spotlight and I never quite clicked with her.
I really liked the ghosts and everything surrounding the forming of the new clan, but I missed the magic of the stormsingers. Somehow that seemed more exciting than the magic of deathsingers - and that kind of feels like a failure. Deathsinging clearly should have been the coolest, deadliest, strangest, and darkest magic - if you ask me - but it kind of wasn't.
The deadly storms of Stormsong seemed to have just magically disappeared too. The "nature hates us and is out to get us" threat that was present all the way through Grace's story just wasn't here in Robin's story. That felt odd.
In contrast to the magic there are clear echoes from the real world in this book. The murder of Martin Luther King, for example. Wind turbines also have a star role, but the issue I had with these sources of inspiration is that while using them within the frames of the story felt like simple solutions, it also felt too "copy + paste" from reality to really tickle my fancy.
I had to look up what kind of word the author was using as a pronoun for Robin's non binary spouse, Zelind. The sound made by the narrator did not make any obvious sense to me and I'm still not sure why or how "kher" becomes something like an almost German sounding "scher".
To be perfectly honest, this book didn't click with me in terms of narrator either. While Moira Quirk was a bull's eye for Stormsong, Robin Mile's narrator style didn't really connect with me.
Soooo... I'm leaving this series behind with a bit of a shrug. I'm somewhat unsure if I will return to this author as I'm not really convinced she's a good fit for my personal taste.
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 27, 2022DNF at 20%
I just ran out of steam for this series. It really did need better world building from the start. But the first book had the advantage of being fun. Grace's book was a trial in patience, and so far, I just am not able to concentrate for any length of time on this book, despite Robin being one of my favorite characters from the first two books. There's just no real sense to her personality here. It's a shame, because the plot does seem promising.
And why do authors never provide physical descriptions of gender non-conforming characters? I get that gender isn't something such characters are attached to or care about, but they still have bodies. They still look like a person. Describe them, please. Otherwise, they're just a big blank blah in my mind, which feels dehumanizing to me. Give me something to go on. And I really wasn't jiving with "khe/kher" as pronouns. My brains stumbled over them every single time, and they were everywhere. 🙈 I guess I'm just used to "che/cher" having seen or heard those most often, if they/their isn't used instead. But to be clear, I did like what I saw of Zelind. They seem like a very interesting character and I'm bummed my interest in this series has flagged so quickly because it would have been interesting to see how they and Robin came back together after so many years apart and after whatever trauma Zelind had to endure in the asylum.
But I just couldn't deal with another "we can make positive change happen through the power of determination" message given all the crap that's going on currently in my country.
I just ran out of steam for this series. It really did need better world building from the start. But the first book had the advantage of being fun. Grace's book was a trial in patience, and so far, I just am not able to concentrate for any length of time on this book, despite Robin being one of my favorite characters from the first two books. There's just no real sense to her personality here. It's a shame, because the plot does seem promising.
And why do authors never provide physical descriptions of gender non-conforming characters? I get that gender isn't something such characters are attached to or care about, but they still have bodies. They still look like a person. Describe them, please. Otherwise, they're just a big blank blah in my mind, which feels dehumanizing to me. Give me something to go on. And I really wasn't jiving with "khe/kher" as pronouns. My brains stumbled over them every single time, and they were everywhere. 🙈 I guess I'm just used to "che/cher" having seen or heard those most often, if they/their isn't used instead. But to be clear, I did like what I saw of Zelind. They seem like a very interesting character and I'm bummed my interest in this series has flagged so quickly because it would have been interesting to see how they and Robin came back together after so many years apart and after whatever trauma Zelind had to endure in the asylum.
But I just couldn't deal with another "we can make positive change happen through the power of determination" message given all the crap that's going on currently in my country.
March 25, 2023
This book is the disappointment of the year and it's only March... I'm not really sure what am I supposed to say. The charm and the lovely lush writing full of details seem to disappear somewhere and instead we got a mess of storylines and events that in the end seemed to collapse into unintelligible heap. On top of that the messaging at the end felt highly questionable .
Overall, it just seemed like the story wanted to do too much and in the end did nothing - I really wish the romance was more developed and steered clear from the . Most of the plot-twists were completely predictable and just... ugh... I really loved the first two instalments so this is a major disappointment.
BRed at WBtM: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Overall, it just seemed like the story wanted to do too much and in the end did nothing - I really wish the romance was more developed and steered clear from the . Most of the plot-twists were completely predictable and just... ugh... I really loved the first two instalments so this is a major disappointment.
BRed at WBtM: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
April 5, 2021
Well damn. I'd enjoyed the first one a lot more than I thought I would, and the second less, and I still had high hopes for this one but yet... even though the central topic is one I should (do!) love, and the characters on the surface are great, there's just something off with the pacing and the tension and the dialogue and it all just feels awkward and stilted and weirdly rushed and slow all at once. It isn't bad, just... meh. And considering how promising the first book was, that just makes it all the more disappointing.
March 22, 2021
Geez this book was exhausting. My main complaint about the first two books in this series is the pacing, where each one seems to pack a month or more of plot into a week each. This one manages to make it even worse, with like, years' worth of political action and personal interactions crammed into...a month? Two months? I cannot tell how much time actually elapsed in this book, except that it was still winter by the end. Anyway the breakneck plot made my other complaint, that the non-essential characters were pretty flat, so much worse. Like, Robin is great, Zelind is great, the whole concept of these two people trying to rebuild a marriage that was barely started before they were forcibly separated twenty years ago, is so ridiculously up my alley. Wouldn't it have been even more great if they could have had more than three whole substantive conversations about that situation and their feelings for each other in the course of the entire book?
Wouldn't I have cared like, at all, about the spy plotline if any one of the potential suspects had a personality or a role that mattered? Preston is introduced, he's so essential to the movement, and then that doesn't matter to anything else that happens. Gabby is Robin's "close friend," her staunchest supporter, she speaks like 4 sentences total. I've forgotten the names of everyone else involved in that plotline, including several other prime suspects who maybe have even more speaking lines than either of those two, because they are just plot placeholders who don't have any existence beyond potentially being spies.
Maybe, just maybe, the whole political story would have been meaningful and exciting and convincing to me, instead of just feeling like the most superficial wish-fulfillment, if it had like, any time at all to unfold with something approaching the kind of complexity and ambiguity that actual revolutions usually involve? But no, what if the events of the French Revolution from the formation of the National Assembly to the establishment of the First French Republic (that was 4 years, in the real world) happened in the space of a couple of weeks, and also involved basically no violence and ALSO the best possible person who actually cared about peace and didn't really want power were in charge every step of the way? Man, revolutions sure sound easy when you put it that way. I guess it helps when you have a shitton of magic on your side.
My number one thought is that it is, actually, possible to write a series of books somewhere in between a tightly structured trilogy and like, Game of Thrones or the Wheel of Time. And this one book probably should have been like, three books at least. Please, publishers, chill on the damn trilogies and just let stories take up the space they need!
Wouldn't I have cared like, at all, about the spy plotline if any one of the potential suspects had a personality or a role that mattered? Preston is introduced, he's so essential to the movement, and then that doesn't matter to anything else that happens. Gabby is Robin's "close friend," her staunchest supporter, she speaks like 4 sentences total. I've forgotten the names of everyone else involved in that plotline, including several other prime suspects who maybe have even more speaking lines than either of those two, because they are just plot placeholders who don't have any existence beyond potentially being spies.
Maybe, just maybe, the whole political story would have been meaningful and exciting and convincing to me, instead of just feeling like the most superficial wish-fulfillment, if it had like, any time at all to unfold with something approaching the kind of complexity and ambiguity that actual revolutions usually involve? But no, what if the events of the French Revolution from the formation of the National Assembly to the establishment of the First French Republic (that was 4 years, in the real world) happened in the space of a couple of weeks, and also involved basically no violence and ALSO the best possible person who actually cared about peace and didn't really want power were in charge every step of the way? Man, revolutions sure sound easy when you put it that way. I guess it helps when you have a shitton of magic on your side.
My number one thought is that it is, actually, possible to write a series of books somewhere in between a tightly structured trilogy and like, Game of Thrones or the Wheel of Time. And this one book probably should have been like, three books at least. Please, publishers, chill on the damn trilogies and just let stories take up the space they need!
May 3, 2021
4.5 stars. A terrific end to a terrific series. In this third book of the Kingston Cycle trilogy, we get to spend the book with Robin, whom we've met in previous stories. Robin is a witch, but has never been part of the bunch that manages the weather. Robin has been busy for years working towards getting various witches like herself, i.e., those not in the nobility, respect and rights. As well as bring home all the witches imprisoned over the years.
Robin is a terrific character, with a good understanding of her limitations and strengths, and a willingness to strive for better, and I liked her and Zelind together, and how they began working out their twenty-year absence from one another.
This story deals the outcomes from changes Grace began making in book two, and how much further things need to change in Aeland (e.g., how much the nobility dig their heels in against it all). On the other hand, I really liked how some of the other witches who had been imprisoned for years found their own way to live in society again.
There is a LOT going on in this book, and a few details felt a little less fleshed out than others, but ultimately, this was a very satisfying book and wrap up to the series.
Robin is a terrific character, with a good understanding of her limitations and strengths, and a willingness to strive for better, and I liked her and Zelind together, and how they began working out their twenty-year absence from one another.
This story deals the outcomes from changes Grace began making in book two, and how much further things need to change in Aeland (e.g., how much the nobility dig their heels in against it all). On the other hand, I really liked how some of the other witches who had been imprisoned for years found their own way to live in society again.
There is a LOT going on in this book, and a few details felt a little less fleshed out than others, but ultimately, this was a very satisfying book and wrap up to the series.
June 1, 2021
Strangely enough, I was kinda worried that I wouldn't get into this again after the big politics and the explosive magics that capped the otherwise heartfelt and very British down-to-earth feel series.
But Polk surprised me very pleasantly. Again.
I LOVE Robin. The small sequences of magic might be important to the overall plot, but what makes this series really shine is the character's commitment, their drive, their inherent optimism.
And perhaps I happen to be in the mood for optimism.
Either way, this WORKED for me. When we deal with such hardcore topics as state reparations for massive wrongdoings against populations, I was automatically on board for the push, the political necessities, and the sheer value of JUSTICE, ACCOUNTABILITY, and REALISM. Sure, the witches are stand-ins for systemic racism and exploitation, but the fact that so many people are ON BOARD to do something about it is rather reminiscent (and gloriously so) of the 2020 protests.
So yes, I'm automatically disposed to love this book. And it satisfies, too. The trilogy ends on a very strong note and I even had myself whooping for joy.
Sometimes, it just requires a bit of patience, luck, and hard work.
Bravo.
But Polk surprised me very pleasantly. Again.
I LOVE Robin. The small sequences of magic might be important to the overall plot, but what makes this series really shine is the character's commitment, their drive, their inherent optimism.
And perhaps I happen to be in the mood for optimism.
Either way, this WORKED for me. When we deal with such hardcore topics as state reparations for massive wrongdoings against populations, I was automatically on board for the push, the political necessities, and the sheer value of JUSTICE, ACCOUNTABILITY, and REALISM. Sure, the witches are stand-ins for systemic racism and exploitation, but the fact that so many people are ON BOARD to do something about it is rather reminiscent (and gloriously so) of the 2020 protests.
So yes, I'm automatically disposed to love this book. And it satisfies, too. The trilogy ends on a very strong note and I even had myself whooping for joy.
Sometimes, it just requires a bit of patience, luck, and hard work.
Bravo.
March 11, 2024
Holy hell how did this get published? It completely skipped the editor's desk and it pisses me off. It seems the author has given up on her story/world and was just in a rush to get something out. What a mess. What a terrible end to such a good beginning. Just stick to the first book and pretend the second two don't exist.
I have a first edition printing and it's full of errors! How did this get past the presses? Page after page of errors. It also needs some heavy editing besides the spelling errors. It feels self-published.
This book suffers from trying to put too much stuff into it without going in-depth as well as stuffing current real world events in that have nothing to do with the original story outline from book 1 or even book 2, dropping previous characters that were important and leaving out plots from previous books that should have carried over, and dropping the ones from the first chapters here to go after something else. Plot holes are rampant and nothing is at all cohesive. The added trope of secret marriage that doesn't work well here. Low on magic, heavy on the politics that contribute to plot holes. Again trying to put way too much into such a short book. The pacing was terrible going between rushed, time skipped, and nothing happening leading to stilted and awkward dialogue that seems out of place most of the time.
Also not sure why, maybe the editor suggested it, but a lot, and I mean a lot of emphasis was put on pointing out that most of the people in this world are black (when it was never really mentioned in the first two books at all) without actually giving a description of the characters except for the length or style of their hair which was either shorn short or in braids (hello stereotyping and fashion tropes) and pointing out a few white people by saying they are white and therefore don't fit in and stand out. I don't care what race the character is, I like the characters regardless if they are well written but a description/features of what they look like would be nice. Boo for heavy stereotyping.
This book is from Robin (Miles's friend from book 1) POV. She is nothing like in the first book and it's disappointing since we don't see any character growth to explain the change, it's just there that she is a different character. Also, the lack of key characters from book to book is annoying, especially considering that each book has a sort of soft cliffhanger and all the character's lives are interwoven and crucial to a plot that should have been an arch across all three books but is dropped in favor of another in each book and not really resolved well if at all. Grace is here but only to say yes mam to Robin and Miles and Tristain and his people are almost nonexistent and Avia is completely mia. Robin is freeing the witches from asylums, planning an election to overthrow the monarchy, being prime minister of a government that doesn't exist so she must make it so, trying to repair her relationship with her 20-year absent wife, trying to help witches build a new clan, and save their place to live, she is trying to get a business off the ground and she trying to solve her friend's murder. It's too much for this short book that again doesn't really connect well to the first 2 books. So little time is spent on each conflict/problem/dilemma that a lot gets left out or is mentioned that the solution should be implied by the reader and leads to plot holes.
I have a first edition printing and it's full of errors! How did this get past the presses? Page after page of errors. It also needs some heavy editing besides the spelling errors. It feels self-published.
This book suffers from trying to put too much stuff into it without going in-depth as well as stuffing current real world events in that have nothing to do with the original story outline from book 1 or even book 2, dropping previous characters that were important and leaving out plots from previous books that should have carried over, and dropping the ones from the first chapters here to go after something else. Plot holes are rampant and nothing is at all cohesive. The added trope of secret marriage that doesn't work well here. Low on magic, heavy on the politics that contribute to plot holes. Again trying to put way too much into such a short book. The pacing was terrible going between rushed, time skipped, and nothing happening leading to stilted and awkward dialogue that seems out of place most of the time.
Also not sure why, maybe the editor suggested it, but a lot, and I mean a lot of emphasis was put on pointing out that most of the people in this world are black (when it was never really mentioned in the first two books at all) without actually giving a description of the characters except for the length or style of their hair which was either shorn short or in braids (hello stereotyping and fashion tropes) and pointing out a few white people by saying they are white and therefore don't fit in and stand out. I don't care what race the character is, I like the characters regardless if they are well written but a description/features of what they look like would be nice. Boo for heavy stereotyping.
This book is from Robin (Miles's friend from book 1) POV. She is nothing like in the first book and it's disappointing since we don't see any character growth to explain the change, it's just there that she is a different character. Also, the lack of key characters from book to book is annoying, especially considering that each book has a sort of soft cliffhanger and all the character's lives are interwoven and crucial to a plot that should have been an arch across all three books but is dropped in favor of another in each book and not really resolved well if at all. Grace is here but only to say yes mam to Robin and Miles and Tristain and his people are almost nonexistent and Avia is completely mia. Robin is freeing the witches from asylums, planning an election to overthrow the monarchy, being prime minister of a government that doesn't exist so she must make it so, trying to repair her relationship with her 20-year absent wife, trying to help witches build a new clan, and save their place to live, she is trying to get a business off the ground and she trying to solve her friend's murder. It's too much for this short book that again doesn't really connect well to the first 2 books. So little time is spent on each conflict/problem/dilemma that a lot gets left out or is mentioned that the solution should be implied by the reader and leads to plot holes.
March 29, 2021
The good:
- The exploration of the fierce character of Robin. I wanted to learn more about her from the very first installment.
- Ghost magic of the Deathsingers.
- Politics. Through both the previous and this book we get to see two approaches to the fight for justice at work and learn that to make a real change, both may be needed.
- A good and honest portrayal of an institutionalised oppression and how a state will often only pretend to have the good of the citizens at heart.
The meh:
- Family drama with way too many participants - I found it really boring and confusing, especially in the first 30% of the book. I never managed to completely remember who's who.
- The main couple. I'm just not a fan of the second chance romance trope. It's a personal preference.
- My two favourite characters, Miles and Tristan, were barely there.
- The writing felt a bit meandering and I kept getting distracted, though this might be the fault of the narration. I don't recommend the audiobook.
- The inconsistent characterisation of King Severin.
- The ending was a mixed bag.
- The exploration of the fierce character of Robin. I wanted to learn more about her from the very first installment.
- Ghost magic of the Deathsingers.
- Politics. Through both the previous and this book we get to see two approaches to the fight for justice at work and learn that to make a real change, both may be needed.
- A good and honest portrayal of an institutionalised oppression and how a state will often only pretend to have the good of the citizens at heart.
The meh:
- Family drama with way too many participants - I found it really boring and confusing, especially in the first 30% of the book. I never managed to completely remember who's who.
- The main couple. I'm just not a fan of the second chance romance trope. It's a personal preference.
- My two favourite characters, Miles and Tristan, were barely there.
- The writing felt a bit meandering and I kept getting distracted, though this might be the fault of the narration. I don't recommend the audiobook.
- The inconsistent characterisation of King Severin.
- The ending was a mixed bag.
March 8, 2024
I haven’t done a review for a while, but I feel I should for this book, as I’ve given it a low rating, which is kind of unusual for me, and I want to explain why. The book’s about a necromantic witch called Robin, who is fighting to make the country of Aeland a better place. At first she tries to do this by working with the new king, who appears to be quite progressive, but as time goes on, it becomes clear he’s not the person she thought he was and she needs to take a different route. She takes over as the head of the Free Democracy party when the previous leader Jacob is assassinated and ends up bringing about a revolution. The blurb for the book describes it as A WHIRLWIND OF MAGIC, POLITICS, ROMANCE, AND INTRIGUE, which sounded right up my street, and there was certainly stuff I liked about it. Sadly, there was a lot more I didn’t like. Here are some of the problems I had…
1) One of the villains (a terminally ill old man) is tried near the end and sentenced to hang. I find the idea of capital punishment deeply troubling, so this was never going to sit well with me. I think it’s inhumane, and when mistakes happen (which they totally do), there’s nothing you can do about it. The trial also left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s what I believe is commonly referred to as a kangaroo court, when the accused isn’t given a chance to defend himself and the verdict’s pretty much decided before anyone says a word. To make matters worse, Robin traps the man’s soul in a tree for a thousand years after he’s been hanged. This isn’t part of the court’s decision and there’s no consultation. She just does it. For me this little display suggests that power has totally gone to her head and Aeland has simply traded one arrogant despot for another, which I’m sure wasn’t what the author had in mind.
2) The pacing feels off. I don’t know if other readers would agree, but for me, parts of the book seemed rushed (e.g. the revolution and a lot of the magic stuff), while other parts felt bloated and unnecessarily drawn out. The author seemed unable to tell what to focus on to best serve the story, and if there was any editorial guidance, it must have been pretty damn poor judging by how it turned out.
3) Complex issues are dealt with in what for me seems like a totally simplistic way. The revolutionaries are holier than thou and the people they’re fighting against are like pantomime villains, when in the real world, almost everyone is somewhere in the middle. You only really hear one viewpoint about stuff and the whole mess gets cleared up in a ridiculously short amount of time.
4) The character of Zelind. Zelind is non-binary, which on the face of it sounds great, but the sense I got was that khe was a token character. I had no clue about kher appearance or what kher life as non-binary was like (e.g. the specific challenges khe faced). I noticed that the author used the wrong pronouns for kher a few times (usually SHE/HER, but also at least one THEY), which made me wonder if KHE was once a SHE and the non-binary element was added quite late in the writing process to be on trend or something. It certainly doesn’t add to the plot in any way. If it wasn't a late change, then it's another example of sloppy editing. You expect that kind of slip in self-published books, but not when they're from a big company like Tor and not when its something people might be sensitive about. I also wondered how everyone the character meets seems to immediately know which pronouns to use for kher. I don’t have any direct experience of this myself, but I’m guessing it doesn’t always work that way for real non-binary people, so it doesn’t ring true. Another thing that didn’t seem realistic was the way the character could rustle up a way of generating electricity at the drop of a hat, when others have been trying for years and utterly failing. It’s not properly explained how khe is able to do it and it all happens off camera so to speak, so you don’t get to see what it actually involves. This character could have been so much more and for me was a big disappointment.
5) The plot feels contrived. I knew all along where the book was headed, so getting through it felt like a chore. There were also quite a few times when seemingly hopeless situations were quickly resolved by unlikely events, e.g. Robin happening to know there would be a hidden door which would allow her and Grace to escape from a burning room, or footsteps lying undisturbed on a snowy rooftop for days, so Robin can solve the mystery of Jacob’s assassination (luckily there hasn’t been any snow in the meantime and it hasn't melted either). Magic also felt a bit convenient at times and the rules around it seemed to shift to fit the plot.
So those are my biggest gripes. I won’t tell anyone they shouldn’t read the book, because I’ve seen a lot of glowing reviews and I’m sure a lot of people will love it, but for me it just didn’t work. I haven’t read the other books in the Kingston cycle and I won’t be doing now. This one was more than enough.
#lgbtq #queer-authors #tor-need-new-editors #revolution-is-super-easy #good-idea-badly-written #2023-reading-challenge
1) One of the villains (a terminally ill old man) is tried near the end and sentenced to hang. I find the idea of capital punishment deeply troubling, so this was never going to sit well with me. I think it’s inhumane, and when mistakes happen (which they totally do), there’s nothing you can do about it. The trial also left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s what I believe is commonly referred to as a kangaroo court, when the accused isn’t given a chance to defend himself and the verdict’s pretty much decided before anyone says a word. To make matters worse, Robin traps the man’s soul in a tree for a thousand years after he’s been hanged. This isn’t part of the court’s decision and there’s no consultation. She just does it. For me this little display suggests that power has totally gone to her head and Aeland has simply traded one arrogant despot for another, which I’m sure wasn’t what the author had in mind.
2) The pacing feels off. I don’t know if other readers would agree, but for me, parts of the book seemed rushed (e.g. the revolution and a lot of the magic stuff), while other parts felt bloated and unnecessarily drawn out. The author seemed unable to tell what to focus on to best serve the story, and if there was any editorial guidance, it must have been pretty damn poor judging by how it turned out.
3) Complex issues are dealt with in what for me seems like a totally simplistic way. The revolutionaries are holier than thou and the people they’re fighting against are like pantomime villains, when in the real world, almost everyone is somewhere in the middle. You only really hear one viewpoint about stuff and the whole mess gets cleared up in a ridiculously short amount of time.
4) The character of Zelind. Zelind is non-binary, which on the face of it sounds great, but the sense I got was that khe was a token character. I had no clue about kher appearance or what kher life as non-binary was like (e.g. the specific challenges khe faced). I noticed that the author used the wrong pronouns for kher a few times (usually SHE/HER, but also at least one THEY), which made me wonder if KHE was once a SHE and the non-binary element was added quite late in the writing process to be on trend or something. It certainly doesn’t add to the plot in any way. If it wasn't a late change, then it's another example of sloppy editing. You expect that kind of slip in self-published books, but not when they're from a big company like Tor and not when its something people might be sensitive about. I also wondered how everyone the character meets seems to immediately know which pronouns to use for kher. I don’t have any direct experience of this myself, but I’m guessing it doesn’t always work that way for real non-binary people, so it doesn’t ring true. Another thing that didn’t seem realistic was the way the character could rustle up a way of generating electricity at the drop of a hat, when others have been trying for years and utterly failing. It’s not properly explained how khe is able to do it and it all happens off camera so to speak, so you don’t get to see what it actually involves. This character could have been so much more and for me was a big disappointment.
5) The plot feels contrived. I knew all along where the book was headed, so getting through it felt like a chore. There were also quite a few times when seemingly hopeless situations were quickly resolved by unlikely events, e.g. Robin happening to know there would be a hidden door which would allow her and Grace to escape from a burning room, or footsteps lying undisturbed on a snowy rooftop for days, so Robin can solve the mystery of Jacob’s assassination (luckily there hasn’t been any snow in the meantime and it hasn't melted either). Magic also felt a bit convenient at times and the rules around it seemed to shift to fit the plot.
So those are my biggest gripes. I won’t tell anyone they shouldn’t read the book, because I’ve seen a lot of glowing reviews and I’m sure a lot of people will love it, but for me it just didn’t work. I haven’t read the other books in the Kingston cycle and I won’t be doing now. This one was more than enough.
#lgbtq #queer-authors #tor-need-new-editors #revolution-is-super-easy #good-idea-badly-written #2023-reading-challenge
March 25, 2023
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I think my favorite parts were all of the descriptions of food and eating - very delicious! Elsewhere, I felt that the writing sometimes devolved into juvenile dialogue, and some of the plot devices seemed to be used almost as filler. In addition, I was not a fan of the main romance between Robin and Zelind - I just didn't care for them as a couple the way I did with Miles and Tristan from the first book.
My thanks to the lovely people beyond the margins who BRed this with me: chat thread is here.
My thanks to the lovely people beyond the margins who BRed this with me: chat thread is here.
March 24, 2023
Up until chapter 25 I would've given the book a 3 star rating. There are already a lot of problems in my opinion, but they're tiny in comparison to the elephant in the room.
I just can't give a book that promotes capital punishment a better rating than 1 star. That's just not something I can tolerate.
Ok, now I'm a bit more level-headed. I just want to quickly point out that I think the representation, including the use of neopronouns, is stellar in this book, even better than in the first two parts of the series.
I'm sorry that that's not enough to change my rating. But I will continue looking out for the author, as I think their work is very interesting.
I just can't give a book that promotes capital punishment a better rating than 1 star. That's just not something I can tolerate.
Ok, now I'm a bit more level-headed. I just want to quickly point out that I think the representation, including the use of neopronouns, is stellar in this book, even better than in the first two parts of the series.
I'm sorry that that's not enough to change my rating. But I will continue looking out for the author, as I think their work is very interesting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2021
This book made me cry so much, broke my heart and put it back together.
This was so good. So so good. In every way the perfect ending to the trilogy. Robin is by far my favorite main character in the series. She’s amazing, driven, competent, smart, compassionate, she struggles, she’s kind, everything, I love her with all my heart. I’ve been looking forward to her PoV for ages and it was everything I’d hoped for. Especially in contrast with Grace who’s blindspots could be so frustrating. And I liked how the story went for her because she starts off as the one in background that gets everything done, but then a lot of people acknowledge her skills and she gets the credit she’s due. She’s a force to be reckoned with.
Soulstar was so emotional and tense. It made me cry so much, I’m a very emotionally repressed individual, so I don’t get that a lot. It was so tense, with so many things going wrong that I kept having to put it down. I actually ended up listening to an entire other book because I couldn’t take the tension and then had someone spoil the ending for me just to be able to keep reading. Did really everything have to go from bad worse? So tense. Also Polk’s ending, masterful, just the way everything came together, chef’s kiss.
This book had so much going on. I really felt for Robin having to juggle so much. The world is going through so much politically, and she’s increasingly at the center of that. Her personal life is in turmoil, on the one hand something good happens but it comes with so much sorrow and so different to adjust to. There was a bit where she thinks about how her chance at a certain kind of life was stolen, broken. Politically there’s dealing with Grace, who kinda gets a clue in the sense that acknowledges she’s clueless and wants to hire Robin to clue her in. There are elections coming up and there’s a whole lot of trouble. There’s also a murder mystery to solve and some arson cases, and just so much. And I love how thorough it all Robin doesn’t play, she’s not a moderate, she’s done compromising. I love her with all my heart.
I know this review is a mess, cause this book destroyed me. I don’t want to give away much of the plot because I think that aspect is so well crafted, so many things that build on each other that I wouldn’t want to spoil. It was by far my favorite of the series, even though it took me forever to read. I was initially planning to read it for comfort square, cause I still think of the first book as romance, but it really wasn’t that. I think it’s more like epic fantasy without the sword fighting. It’s a more modern setting, I imagine it kinda 1910s equivalent, but it’s got the monarchy and the traitors and the evil sorcerers. And it’s got so much to say about power and was so happy that this book focussed on the people most hurt by the systems in place. Especially since previously I was frustrated with the glacial pace of change and how powerful rich people got away without proper consequences.
The audiobook is narrated by Robin Miles who is amazing, so strongly recommend that format if you’re into it.
This was so good. So so good. In every way the perfect ending to the trilogy. Robin is by far my favorite main character in the series. She’s amazing, driven, competent, smart, compassionate, she struggles, she’s kind, everything, I love her with all my heart. I’ve been looking forward to her PoV for ages and it was everything I’d hoped for. Especially in contrast with Grace who’s blindspots could be so frustrating. And I liked how the story went for her because she starts off as the one in background that gets everything done, but then a lot of people acknowledge her skills and she gets the credit she’s due. She’s a force to be reckoned with.
Soulstar was so emotional and tense. It made me cry so much, I’m a very emotionally repressed individual, so I don’t get that a lot. It was so tense, with so many things going wrong that I kept having to put it down. I actually ended up listening to an entire other book because I couldn’t take the tension and then had someone spoil the ending for me just to be able to keep reading. Did really everything have to go from bad worse? So tense. Also Polk’s ending, masterful, just the way everything came together, chef’s kiss.
This book had so much going on. I really felt for Robin having to juggle so much. The world is going through so much politically, and she’s increasingly at the center of that. Her personal life is in turmoil, on the one hand something good happens but it comes with so much sorrow and so different to adjust to. There was a bit where she thinks about how her chance at a certain kind of life was stolen, broken. Politically there’s dealing with Grace, who kinda gets a clue in the sense that acknowledges she’s clueless and wants to hire Robin to clue her in. There are elections coming up and there’s a whole lot of trouble. There’s also a murder mystery to solve and some arson cases, and just so much. And I love how thorough it all Robin doesn’t play, she’s not a moderate, she’s done compromising. I love her with all my heart.
I know this review is a mess, cause this book destroyed me. I don’t want to give away much of the plot because I think that aspect is so well crafted, so many things that build on each other that I wouldn’t want to spoil. It was by far my favorite of the series, even though it took me forever to read. I was initially planning to read it for comfort square, cause I still think of the first book as romance, but it really wasn’t that. I think it’s more like epic fantasy without the sword fighting. It’s a more modern setting, I imagine it kinda 1910s equivalent, but it’s got the monarchy and the traitors and the evil sorcerers. And it’s got so much to say about power and was so happy that this book focussed on the people most hurt by the systems in place. Especially since previously I was frustrated with the glacial pace of change and how powerful rich people got away without proper consequences.
The audiobook is narrated by Robin Miles who is amazing, so strongly recommend that format if you’re into it.
March 28, 2021
I liked the first two books much more. To be honest, I really couldn’t get into this one. DNFing at 61%. I’m so close to the end but I’m just not interested in this book.
I liked Robin a lot in the previous books, but I just don’t find her interesting in this one, which is a shame because she’s trying to do really cool things but I just don’t care enough. :(
I also think the “long lost spouse” aspect is handled weirdly. I wanted a whole lot more introspection/angst/FEELING from Robin about how she’s reunited with this person she married 20 years ago and hasn’t seen since, but it was so anticlimactic? They barely talk about anything at all and then they’re just immediately living in the same room, at Robin’s family’s house, being awkward. For people who were presumably in love once, they don’t even seem happy to be with each other again. And then they have this really dumb moment where they get mad at each other over something so inconsequential. That whole storyline with them just does not work for me. I don’t get it. It feels very awkwardly shoehorned in.
I liked Robin a lot in the previous books, but I just don’t find her interesting in this one, which is a shame because she’s trying to do really cool things but I just don’t care enough. :(
I also think the “long lost spouse” aspect is handled weirdly. I wanted a whole lot more introspection/angst/FEELING from Robin about how she’s reunited with this person she married 20 years ago and hasn’t seen since, but it was so anticlimactic? They barely talk about anything at all and then they’re just immediately living in the same room, at Robin’s family’s house, being awkward. For people who were presumably in love once, they don’t even seem happy to be with each other again. And then they have this really dumb moment where they get mad at each other over something so inconsequential. That whole storyline with them just does not work for me. I don’t get it. It feels very awkwardly shoehorned in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2021
A brilliant, incredibly ambitious conclusion to the trilogy. Polk did so much with this final volume, and it all fit together. It all works. The politics and the magic and the friendships and the romance. The ghosts and the living, the humans and the fey. It all works. It's an extremely relevant novel, one that mocks the very notion of fantasy as escapism. It confronts our reality, while still being magical and lovely.
December 1, 2021
Have I ever remarked how much I appreciate books that have simple titles? Book titles can sometimes be so lengthy or convoluted. I appreciate the simplicity of each of the titles of C.L. Polk’s Kingston Cycle. Also, how did I not know Polk is Canadian until now?? Get a grip, Kara! I am pleased I procured Soulstar from my library not too long since I read
Stormsong
because I actually remember the ongoing story!
Spoilers for the first two books but not this one.
Our viewpoint protagonist this time is Robin Thorpe, who was a character in the first two books. We recently discovered that she is a Deathsinger, which is a necromantic type of witch in this world. The book picks up where Stormsong ended: King Severin has acceded to his mother’s throne, and he seems like he will be more progressive. Grace is still his Chancellor and is determined to make that true. His first act is to make witches legal again. Robin wants more though: she demands that all witches imprisoned in asylums be freed. This reunites her with Zelind (who uses khe/kher pronouns), whom Robin had secretly married long ago. Soon, Robin finds herself at the centre of a pronounced political push for more progress than Severin (and maybe even Grace) might be comfortable with.
Polk continues the theme they established in Stormsong of the battle of incrementalism versus revolution. Grace, our protagonist from the previous book, represented the well-meaning but privileged white woman feminist who just didn’t have a clue about what really needed to change. At the start of this book, Robin has to push her to go further, and much of this book is Robin’s journey of navigating the practicality of inciting revolutionary change. Somehow, Polk manages to make the details interesting. Robin attends meetings, plans elections, deals with police … aside from the setting and existence of magic, so much of this book feels relevant right now. As I look at the world around me and the need for change in our society, I see the Graces as well as the Robins. And I hope I’m more of a Robin than a Grace, but I am also a white woman and sooooooo….
The revolutionary push for democracy in Soulstar is also very interesting from a fantasy genre perspective. There was a time when I was writing a fantasy novel that also wanted to subvert the unquestioned monarchy that suffuses so many of our fantasy societies—my main character was going to be involved in a plot to overthrow the monarchy and install a democracy, but of course there were some additional complications (darn that magic). I might go back to it one day. But for now it’s just nice to see Polk taking that up—I always love fantasy settings that belie the stereotypical use of monarchies and semi-feudal societies modelled after a Europe that never was. Polk’s interpretation, with its echoes of Edwardian England, is a kind of extreme alternative history. It’s not at all subtle yet incredibly deft in its depiction of shifting political paradigms.
Polk approaches their characters with similar skill. As I remarked in my review of Stormsong, I totally ship Grace/Avia despite not generally appreciating romance in my books. The same goes for Robin/Zelind in this book. Polk depicts their devotion to each other while simultaneously showing the trauma of Zelind’s imprisonment and how it affects kher ability to have close relationships. While I can’t speak from personal experience regarding the verisimilitude of Zelind and Robin’s conflicts, it’s just nice to see conflict that doesn’t feel contrived for the sake of plot. I enjoyed watching them work through their issues even as they each work on projects that are of great social import.
I think the one part of the story that disappointed me was the disposition of the Amaranthines. After figuring so much in the previous book, they seemed more like shadows here. I had thought we would learn more about the Solace and what the Amaranthines wanted—maybe my reading was wrong, and their only concern was the souls that the Aelanders hadn’t allowed to enter the Solace. Even so, I would have liked to see more of these characters.
Overall, though, I have to say: this was a very satisfying experience, this book and the trilogy as a whole. This is some premium grade original fantasy, full of political themes, romance, and an excellent use of magic. I was just so satisfied devouring this book over the course of two days. Moreover, Soulstar is a satisfying end to this trilogy, leaving the story in a place where there is clearly more that needs to happen (there always is) but our main characters from the trilogy are on a new trajectory, and that’s wonderful. This is some of the best fantasy I have read in years.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
Spoilers for the first two books but not this one.
Our viewpoint protagonist this time is Robin Thorpe, who was a character in the first two books. We recently discovered that she is a Deathsinger, which is a necromantic type of witch in this world. The book picks up where Stormsong ended: King Severin has acceded to his mother’s throne, and he seems like he will be more progressive. Grace is still his Chancellor and is determined to make that true. His first act is to make witches legal again. Robin wants more though: she demands that all witches imprisoned in asylums be freed. This reunites her with Zelind (who uses khe/kher pronouns), whom Robin had secretly married long ago. Soon, Robin finds herself at the centre of a pronounced political push for more progress than Severin (and maybe even Grace) might be comfortable with.
Polk continues the theme they established in Stormsong of the battle of incrementalism versus revolution. Grace, our protagonist from the previous book, represented the well-meaning but privileged white woman feminist who just didn’t have a clue about what really needed to change. At the start of this book, Robin has to push her to go further, and much of this book is Robin’s journey of navigating the practicality of inciting revolutionary change. Somehow, Polk manages to make the details interesting. Robin attends meetings, plans elections, deals with police … aside from the setting and existence of magic, so much of this book feels relevant right now. As I look at the world around me and the need for change in our society, I see the Graces as well as the Robins. And I hope I’m more of a Robin than a Grace, but I am also a white woman and sooooooo….
The revolutionary push for democracy in Soulstar is also very interesting from a fantasy genre perspective. There was a time when I was writing a fantasy novel that also wanted to subvert the unquestioned monarchy that suffuses so many of our fantasy societies—my main character was going to be involved in a plot to overthrow the monarchy and install a democracy, but of course there were some additional complications (darn that magic). I might go back to it one day. But for now it’s just nice to see Polk taking that up—I always love fantasy settings that belie the stereotypical use of monarchies and semi-feudal societies modelled after a Europe that never was. Polk’s interpretation, with its echoes of Edwardian England, is a kind of extreme alternative history. It’s not at all subtle yet incredibly deft in its depiction of shifting political paradigms.
Polk approaches their characters with similar skill. As I remarked in my review of Stormsong, I totally ship Grace/Avia despite not generally appreciating romance in my books. The same goes for Robin/Zelind in this book. Polk depicts their devotion to each other while simultaneously showing the trauma of Zelind’s imprisonment and how it affects kher ability to have close relationships. While I can’t speak from personal experience regarding the verisimilitude of Zelind and Robin’s conflicts, it’s just nice to see conflict that doesn’t feel contrived for the sake of plot. I enjoyed watching them work through their issues even as they each work on projects that are of great social import.
I think the one part of the story that disappointed me was the disposition of the Amaranthines. After figuring so much in the previous book, they seemed more like shadows here. I had thought we would learn more about the Solace and what the Amaranthines wanted—maybe my reading was wrong, and their only concern was the souls that the Aelanders hadn’t allowed to enter the Solace. Even so, I would have liked to see more of these characters.
Overall, though, I have to say: this was a very satisfying experience, this book and the trilogy as a whole. This is some premium grade original fantasy, full of political themes, romance, and an excellent use of magic. I was just so satisfied devouring this book over the course of two days. Moreover, Soulstar is a satisfying end to this trilogy, leaving the story in a place where there is clearly more that needs to happen (there always is) but our main characters from the trilogy are on a new trajectory, and that’s wonderful. This is some of the best fantasy I have read in years.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
February 21, 2022
Extremely political.
This world is elaborate and wonderful, but at times this third installment of the story became too dense for me.
Either way is enjoyable.
I expected much more entertaining and exciting for being the end of the trilogy.
This world is elaborate and wonderful, but at times this third installment of the story became too dense for me.
Either way is enjoyable.
I expected much more entertaining and exciting for being the end of the trilogy.
July 19, 2023
Concludes the trilogy tidily, tying everything together, but was the weakest of the three I think. Lots of story threads but things were not well developed. It could have been a little bit longer to fill things in and let ideas and events marinate for the reader and the characters.
January 29, 2023
I'm not gonna lie, I was not as into the plot of this one as the other two. I was VERY interested in the romance, though, and I still love all the characters. I love Robin and her POV, I just wasn't as interested in the shadow election stuff. The ending was awesome, though.
This is a very rare instance for me in that the second book of the trilogy was my favourite.
This is a very rare instance for me in that the second book of the trilogy was my favourite.
January 22, 2022
Bottom line: I was underwhelmed by the trilogy as a whole and this final book on its own. I had high hopes, which makes my overall reaction especially disappointing.
November 11, 2022
The short review? Read this book if you want to understand the life of a queer, Black organizer, but in a fantasy setting, and read this trilogy if you want to understand not just how to start a revolution (book one: Witchmark), and carry it out successfully (book two: Stormsong) but also how to build a new world (this one). Oh, and with a delightful side order of romance along the way.
In SOULSTAR, our perspective is that of Robin Thorpe, erstwhile nurse, Deathsinger (can see and speak to ghosts) and one of the founding members of Solidarity, the organizing group trying to bring representative democracy to the monarchy of Aeland. After the reveal of the terrible force behind Aeland's power grid in the first book, and the machination of events in the second book to remove some of the worst political players, there's a need to reckon with the harms caused and also to argue over what new, progressive ideas to put into place. And oh yeah: the country needs a whole new way to generate power, or they're going to freeze (it always seems to be winter in Aeland).
So Robin steps into this space, and the bigger part of this book's plot deals with her figuring out where she can have the power to do most good: working with the Establishment? In support of other members of Solidarity? As the public face of Solidarity?? Meanwhile, in the smaller part of this book's plot, Robin's partner Zelind (nonbinary: khe/kher pronouns) has returned after twenty years of forced separation, and together they must figure out how to make a home together - especially since Zelind vehemently doesn't want to return to kher birth home - and if they still love each other and can be together.
Ya'll, this book is only like 300 pages and that's A LOT of story to pack in there! And yet it never felt crowded. It was just honestly what this woman day-to-day would be like, when she's trying to organize a movement and keep her personal life together. Okay, okay...there were definitely some scenes of violence and drama that suit the storytelling (hat tip to the burning house scene, harrowing!) but at times I had to put this book aside because it was landing a little too close to home for me, having spent more than a decade in social justice and reform circles. It was a bit like work, so therefore the reading experience was tougher than usual, but I can also attest to how accurately Polk got the emotional and political beats.
As for the love story, this one's a quiet, soft, slow thing. It's interesting because as the trilogy has gone along, the focus has shifted: the first one was definitely more tilted toward the romance, while this one just had the most delicate dusting. So take that under advisement - personally, Polk swayed me to stay engaged because so few authors actually realistically explore the particulars of how you would upend and replace a corrupt power system. You can't just kill all the bad guys and call it a day. This book did a wonderful job painting a picture of how the specifics might work - of course with the best possible outcomes. (Don't worry, you'll get your HEA!)
For some I suppose that will not be as entertaining as a story, and I had moments of feeling that too. But overall, I think this book is tremendous, and the trilogy as well.
PS I hope someone out there writes redemption fanfic for Severin.
In SOULSTAR, our perspective is that of Robin Thorpe, erstwhile nurse, Deathsinger (can see and speak to ghosts) and one of the founding members of Solidarity, the organizing group trying to bring representative democracy to the monarchy of Aeland. After the reveal of the terrible force behind Aeland's power grid in the first book, and the machination of events in the second book to remove some of the worst political players, there's a need to reckon with the harms caused and also to argue over what new, progressive ideas to put into place. And oh yeah: the country needs a whole new way to generate power, or they're going to freeze (it always seems to be winter in Aeland).
So Robin steps into this space, and the bigger part of this book's plot deals with her figuring out where she can have the power to do most good: working with the Establishment? In support of other members of Solidarity? As the public face of Solidarity?? Meanwhile, in the smaller part of this book's plot, Robin's partner Zelind (nonbinary: khe/kher pronouns) has returned after twenty years of forced separation, and together they must figure out how to make a home together - especially since Zelind vehemently doesn't want to return to kher birth home - and if they still love each other and can be together.
Ya'll, this book is only like 300 pages and that's A LOT of story to pack in there! And yet it never felt crowded. It was just honestly what this woman day-to-day would be like, when she's trying to organize a movement and keep her personal life together. Okay, okay...there were definitely some scenes of violence and drama that suit the storytelling (hat tip to the burning house scene, harrowing!) but at times I had to put this book aside because it was landing a little too close to home for me, having spent more than a decade in social justice and reform circles. It was a bit like work, so therefore the reading experience was tougher than usual, but I can also attest to how accurately Polk got the emotional and political beats.
As for the love story, this one's a quiet, soft, slow thing. It's interesting because as the trilogy has gone along, the focus has shifted: the first one was definitely more tilted toward the romance, while this one just had the most delicate dusting. So take that under advisement - personally, Polk swayed me to stay engaged because so few authors actually realistically explore the particulars of how you would upend and replace a corrupt power system. You can't just kill all the bad guys and call it a day. This book did a wonderful job painting a picture of how the specifics might work - of course with the best possible outcomes. (Don't worry, you'll get your HEA!)
For some I suppose that will not be as entertaining as a story, and I had moments of feeling that too. But overall, I think this book is tremendous, and the trilogy as well.
PS I hope someone out there writes redemption fanfic for Severin.
August 15, 2021
It took me ages to finish this book, but I am totally at fault here: I'm so bad at names that I had a really hard time remembering what is going on.
This book is mainly about change and revolution and we've got a middle aged queer protagonist which is absolutely brilliant. We're also meeting our favourite people from the first two Kingston Cycle books and we get to see how Aeland is transformed.
But as I said, a lot of it was a bit over my head and while this was a political thriller and I had forgotten a lot, it was super confusing at times.
The ending is very satisfying though and I'm glad that I've managed to finish it!
I'm still kinda mad that the entire business with the supernatural other people from that other dimension or whatnot wasn't explored fully. The world building is a bit wonky in this series, but I do love the gayness of it all. Bold and queer, I like it!
3.5-4 Stars
This book is mainly about change and revolution and we've got a middle aged queer protagonist which is absolutely brilliant. We're also meeting our favourite people from the first two Kingston Cycle books and we get to see how Aeland is transformed.
But as I said, a lot of it was a bit over my head and while this was a political thriller and I had forgotten a lot, it was super confusing at times.
The ending is very satisfying though and I'm glad that I've managed to finish it!
I'm still kinda mad that the entire business with the supernatural other people from that other dimension or whatnot wasn't explored fully. The world building is a bit wonky in this series, but I do love the gayness of it all. Bold and queer, I like it!
3.5-4 Stars
February 18, 2021
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
4.5 hearts
I love the Witchmark series. The covers are gorgeous! The world and story arc so engaging with magic and the politics of the ruling class and regular people. The LGBTQ stories are not my typical reading but I've enjoyed them. The main characters of the three books are related and are witches of different types. I found I had to go back and skim my reviews of the previous books to understand where things were and refresh the history.
Witchmark was the story of Miles. I really loved him and his compassion. He's a doctor who fought in the war and then treated soldiers. He and his sister, Grace, fought together to stop the enslavement of others.
Next in Stormstong, we begin with Grace in prison for that fight. She is quickly released as she is talented with weather magic and she is needed. She serves the Queen and tries so hard to do what is right for Aeland, but it is so difficult. Everyone wants to control her. She is very knowledgeable about the players but still has some tricky moments with traps laid for her. There is a lot more history revealed.
The series is styled as an urban fantasy although each story has a new romance. So because of the politics, I would read these in order. Soulstar brings us Robin's story. Robin is a nurse who worked with Miles during the war, and a key player in the people's movement. Grace is the chancellor to the new King and asks Robin to be her consultant about the people's demands. One of the first things, was to free the witches who had been imprisoned. Robin had a great plan and they were quickly released, including Robin's spouse who had been gone about 20 years.
The new King started with good intentions but he is very used to being in charge and getting what he wants. There is a lot happening with released witches to be resettled in societies, efforts to provide more rights to the people, and work to find ways to replace the aether without using imprisoned witches and the souls of the dead. I recommend this heartfelt, inspiring series with magic and love.
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
4.5 hearts
I love the Witchmark series. The covers are gorgeous! The world and story arc so engaging with magic and the politics of the ruling class and regular people. The LGBTQ stories are not my typical reading but I've enjoyed them. The main characters of the three books are related and are witches of different types. I found I had to go back and skim my reviews of the previous books to understand where things were and refresh the history.
Witchmark was the story of Miles. I really loved him and his compassion. He's a doctor who fought in the war and then treated soldiers. He and his sister, Grace, fought together to stop the enslavement of others.
Next in Stormstong, we begin with Grace in prison for that fight. She is quickly released as she is talented with weather magic and she is needed. She serves the Queen and tries so hard to do what is right for Aeland, but it is so difficult. Everyone wants to control her. She is very knowledgeable about the players but still has some tricky moments with traps laid for her. There is a lot more history revealed.
The series is styled as an urban fantasy although each story has a new romance. So because of the politics, I would read these in order. Soulstar brings us Robin's story. Robin is a nurse who worked with Miles during the war, and a key player in the people's movement. Grace is the chancellor to the new King and asks Robin to be her consultant about the people's demands. One of the first things, was to free the witches who had been imprisoned. Robin had a great plan and they were quickly released, including Robin's spouse who had been gone about 20 years.
The new King started with good intentions but he is very used to being in charge and getting what he wants. There is a lot happening with released witches to be resettled in societies, efforts to provide more rights to the people, and work to find ways to replace the aether without using imprisoned witches and the souls of the dead. I recommend this heartfelt, inspiring series with magic and love.
February 21, 2021
Trigger Warnings for:
Death (by burning and hanging), violence against black bodies, forced pregnancies/breeding, police brutality, abusive parents/family
I don't know how to include this as a trigger warning, but a lot of events in this book mirror events of 2020. There is a lot of talk of systematic injustice, voter suppression, and fighting corrupted governments, as well as police brutality when protestors gathered. Tear gas is used and it does go into detail about the affects of tear gas. The main character is also a black woman who faces prejudice for being a witch. There is a lot here that is very topical, heavy, and at times difficult to read.
That being said, this was a very good conclusion to this series.
It did take me a bit to get into it because it felt so different from the other two books at first. Miles and Grace were privileged, even if Miles did give up that life of privilege for the most part. We saw a different part of the world through their eyes. Through Robin's we got to see what the world was like for those who weren't privileged. We got to see more of the common-folk.
One thing I really loved was the important of family, but also found family. I was initially skeptical because families all live together and are clans. Robin is a Thorpe so she lives with the rest of her extended family. That initially put me off, but then this book really slams home found family and that you don't owe your birth family. Two characters turn away from their birth families to be with their found families and the importance of that was so crucial to both of their stories and it was such a relief.
I also really enjoyed Robin's partner was a non-binary person who used Kher/khe as pronouns. While I will admit, I wasn't super crazy about Zelind at first, khe did end up growing on me. I also found their relationship really intriguing and it was nice to watch it slowly build again.
I do wish Miles, Tristan, and Avia had been in this a little more, but I really loved seen Robin and Grace become friends.
Just overall, a very good story. Very cathartic after everything that happened with 2020 and is still happening. I love this series and I can't wait to read whatever Polk writes next.
I don't know how to include this as a trigger warning, but a lot of events in this book mirror events of 2020. There is a lot of talk of systematic injustice, voter suppression, and fighting corrupted governments, as well as police brutality when protestors gathered. Tear gas is used and it does go into detail about the affects of tear gas. The main character is also a black woman who faces prejudice for being a witch. There is a lot here that is very topical, heavy, and at times difficult to read.
That being said, this was a very good conclusion to this series.
It did take me a bit to get into it because it felt so different from the other two books at first. Miles and Grace were privileged, even if Miles did give up that life of privilege for the most part. We saw a different part of the world through their eyes. Through Robin's we got to see what the world was like for those who weren't privileged. We got to see more of the common-folk.
One thing I really loved was the important of family, but also found family. I was initially skeptical because families all live together and are clans. Robin is a Thorpe so she lives with the rest of her extended family. That initially put me off, but then this book really slams home found family and that you don't owe your birth family. Two characters turn away from their birth families to be with their found families and the importance of that was so crucial to both of their stories and it was such a relief.
I also really enjoyed Robin's partner was a non-binary person who used Kher/khe as pronouns. While I will admit, I wasn't super crazy about Zelind at first, khe did end up growing on me. I also found their relationship really intriguing and it was nice to watch it slowly build again.
I do wish Miles, Tristan, and Avia had been in this a little more, but I really loved seen Robin and Grace become friends.
Just overall, a very good story. Very cathartic after everything that happened with 2020 and is still happening. I love this series and I can't wait to read whatever Polk writes next.
October 8, 2021
I didn't enjoy the book as much as I hoped I would. Partially, it's because reading about elections while having elections IRL is no fun. At. All.
And partially, I just didn't care. I wanted to see what would happen to characters I came to love in previous books, not to focus on a completely new set of people. And I wanted to see it in person (so to speak), not to be told about it. Robin was too far from the king's court for me to fully believe Severin's part in the story, his change, his motivation, and his reasoning.
The romance part of the book felt a little unnecessary. It diluted the plot, so many things happening at the same time it felt confusing. It came together in the end but the middle part dragged a lot, I had to force myself to continue.
I'm glad that the author answered all my questions from previous books, no loose ends left; even though some of them were addressed at the very end, right when I was getting frustrated not knowing whether I was going to get my answers or not. And it made me realize how I missed some things that were important in the first two books and were neglected completely in this one.
And partially, I just didn't care. I wanted to see what would happen to characters I came to love in previous books, not to focus on a completely new set of people. And I wanted to see it in person (so to speak), not to be told about it. Robin was too far from the king's court for me to fully believe Severin's part in the story, his change, his motivation, and his reasoning.
The romance part of the book felt a little unnecessary. It diluted the plot, so many things happening at the same time it felt confusing. It came together in the end but the middle part dragged a lot, I had to force myself to continue.
I'm glad that the author answered all my questions from previous books, no loose ends left; even though some of them were addressed at the very end, right when I was getting frustrated not knowing whether I was going to get my answers or not. And it made me realize how I missed some things that were important in the first two books and were neglected completely in this one.
February 17, 2021
Brief spoilers and clarification regarding Robin's spouse.
Really lovely novel about romance and revolution. The politics were a delight, as was Robin's reunion with her spouse after two decades and their slow path to understanding each other again.
Quick note - Robin's spouse, Zelind, uses khe/kher pronouns and is referred to only as her spouse. Their shared culture recognises more than two genders as the norm, as well as poly and queer marriages. This is obviously all fantastic and beautifully portrayed.
Really lovely novel about romance and revolution. The politics were a delight, as was Robin's reunion with her spouse after two decades and their slow path to understanding each other again.
Quick note - Robin's spouse, Zelind, uses khe/kher pronouns and is referred to only as her spouse. Their shared culture recognises more than two genders as the norm, as well as poly and queer marriages. This is obviously all fantastic and beautifully portrayed.
May 16, 2021
Unsubtle author’s wish-fulfillment fantasy centered on social justice, democracy, and getting rid of all the bad things. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief (transformative revolutions are never this quick or easy or without compromise), the subplot with the long lost spouse was unconvincing, and the disconnect with the preceding volumes is so deep it’s jarring (major players become background props and plot devices, for example).
March 5, 2021
Last weekend I did so many things that I ran out of willpower by the end and decided it was time to treat myself, by which I meant not check my email, go to Porter Square Books, and buy a fantasy new release and read it in the bath, to give my poor brain a break in between books about Nazis. So I put on my two masks and dipped in real fast to pick up a copy of C. L. Polk’s Soulstar, the third and final book in her Kingston Cycle, a political steampunk fantasy about an Englandish country that is, quite literally, powered by the oppression of witches and the desecration of the souls of the dead. My absolutely deaded brain had sort of been like “Oh yeah, the gay steampunk murder mystery series, I need more of that right now for escapism reasons” and then I started reading it and it was like, whoops, not as escapist as I had intended, I had sort of forgot the uhhh whole point of the series, with its very well done but not precisely subtle subject matter about climate change and capitalist exploitation and imperialism and all the things? Also the main character in Soulstar is Robin Thorpe, a grassroots organizer with the revolutionary democracy group the Solidarity Collective, and let me tell you, we were in some Very Familiar Territory here, only with a suspicious lack of Signal chats. But it had all the rest of it, from gossipy steering committees and tedious strategy meetings in church basements to having to give ~stirring speeches~ on the fly while being like “what the fuck, I’m only here because I’m the only nerd willing to make all the lists” and having the police riot unprovoked all over your public assembly. I occasionally felt like Robin was a bit uptight about direct action but I have also definitely been at plenty of street actions where I was like “if people could stop being DUMB and ADVENTURIST and THINK about their STRATEGY for a second before they ESCALATE, please” and I haven’t even seen half the shit Robin has seen in this series. The bit where they storm the palace reads a little weird after the events of this winter where we had actual fascists doing the “storm the seat of government” thing but that is not really the book’s fault, it is clearly drawing on a long history of people storming palaces because the government was further right and more oppressive than the people doing the storming (that’s even the more common instance, I think).
There is a romantic plotline here but it is a little different from the previous ones in that it does not start at the beginning of the romance, but instead it already has a history. Robin, it turns out, has a spouse who was arrested and put into one of the power grid prisons twenty years earlier, and who, when khe gets out, promptly denounces kher shitty rich real-estate-mogul family and goes to live with Robin in the Thorpe clan house, which plays real nice for the press in a dramatic scene at the train station but which is then sort of awkward. It’s well done and Zelind is a pretty badass character in kher own right--an inventor of useful and creative gadgets--but I did find some of the obligatory marital strife boring (this is because I find marriage boring, not because of any weaknesses in the actual handling of the subject). But overall I just felt sort of at home in this series where everyone is queer and obsessed with politics in a way that is now normal to me and that makes all the books full of “normal” straight people whose lives don’t revolve around politics feel even more like they’re about aliens than they always did.
I was very surprised but I think kind of pleased that Polk did not have her characters magnanimously wuss out of one very important thing that happened at the end, which seems a bit of a departure from the usual rules of Good Revolutionaries in literature, and I really liked that choice.
Anyway. Murder! Police kettles! Old hotels! I enjoyed this book and this series very much. I hope once all the turbines are up and running Zelind invents Signal, it will make Robin’s life easier.
Originally posted at "Bottoms and tops, we all hate cops" but make it steampunk.
There is a romantic plotline here but it is a little different from the previous ones in that it does not start at the beginning of the romance, but instead it already has a history. Robin, it turns out, has a spouse who was arrested and put into one of the power grid prisons twenty years earlier, and who, when khe gets out, promptly denounces kher shitty rich real-estate-mogul family and goes to live with Robin in the Thorpe clan house, which plays real nice for the press in a dramatic scene at the train station but which is then sort of awkward. It’s well done and Zelind is a pretty badass character in kher own right--an inventor of useful and creative gadgets--but I did find some of the obligatory marital strife boring (this is because I find marriage boring, not because of any weaknesses in the actual handling of the subject). But overall I just felt sort of at home in this series where everyone is queer and obsessed with politics in a way that is now normal to me and that makes all the books full of “normal” straight people whose lives don’t revolve around politics feel even more like they’re about aliens than they always did.
I was very surprised but I think kind of pleased that Polk did not have her characters magnanimously wuss out of one very important thing that happened at the end, which seems a bit of a departure from the usual rules of Good Revolutionaries in literature, and I really liked that choice.
Anyway. Murder! Police kettles! Old hotels! I enjoyed this book and this series very much. I hope once all the turbines are up and running Zelind invents Signal, it will make Robin’s life easier.
Originally posted at "Bottoms and tops, we all hate cops" but make it steampunk.
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