©2025 Fable Group Inc.
3.5 

Witchmark

By C. L. Polk
Witchmark by C. L. Polk digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

WINNER of the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and a finalist for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lammy Award!

One of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, according to Time Magazine

One of the best books of 2018, according to NPR, Publishers Weekly, BuzzFeed, the Chicago Review, BookPage, and the B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog.

The Kingston Cycle is One of Reader's Digest Top 25 Best Fantasy Series Ever Written

C. L. Polk arrives on the scene with Witchmark, a stunning, addictive fantasy that combines intrigue, magic, betrayal, and romance. The New York Times calls it “thoroughly charming and deftly paced... an accomplished and enjoyable debut.”

In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family's interest or to be committed to a witches' asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans' hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

769 Reviews

3.5
Red Angry Face“This was the worst story I’ve read outside of ao3. First off: the author reeks of mid 2010s ao3/tumblr. It’s one of those ao3 to published books for sure—if that’s something you like then go ahead and get this book but be warned!! There is no character development, the romance is forced, there’s no nuance to characters, the plot is painfully predictable, and it has so many things all shoved into one tiny 300 page novel that nothing is fully realized. I know this is all very harsh, but this book is flat and cliche and so, so disappointing! I rage read the end of it for the sheer fact that I wasted 5$ on the thing! Where to start: 1. No romance. This is fanfictioncore, where person A and person B fall madly in love without ever having any true intimate moments except for staring into each other’s eyes one time and a shaving scene. They know nothing about each other. They bang once and then the ending is “well I bonded you while you were in your deathbed and it’s marriage to my people so <3” like good lord? Haha. Don’t read this for the romance cus it’s not there. 2. The characters are flat. No one went on a meaningful journey. No one developed. The closest was the queen but what, the queen saw that MC can heal people so she suddenly had an eternal change of heart that undid centuries of secondary slavery? Okay in what world do people in power who are benefiting off your subjugation and dehumanization and disenfranchisement suddenly see you as a person and change their whole perspective? It takes a lot to make someone change their fundamental worldview and being a rich boy turned war hero who secretly becomes a doctor ain’t it. 3. The supporting characters are only as meaningful as a description and their purpose to the plot. We don’t see them as people because the author never considered the side characters to be important enough to BE people. What are their wants? Their desires? Their purposes are painfully obvious. 4. What was going on with the plot? The theme? The tropes? Like, you go from war story to steampunk mystery to BBC Sherlock fanfic to like some Harry Potter mixed with LOTR shenanigans? And it’s like—what? What?? Either pick a genre and stick with it or double the size of the book and work to flesh things out. So many things could have been good-cheesy instead of cringe worthy if they had had the time dedicated to them that they needed. Like the amarinthine reveal! Everyone is just like “gasp :O ….okay cool.” Like what??? What??? Do some callbacks, add some flare, this was dead fish material. I’m sorry I know this is harsh I’m just like okay. That was a WASTE of time. But lastly: do not write a book about PTSD and trauma and not even bother doing research on PTSD or trauma. Wouldn’t it be nice for your PTSD analogy to be cured by a Mary sue rich boy? Good lord. You’re telling me this psychiatrist who works with veterans has 0 ptsd from his time being actively tortured and forced to torture and can get frisky right after admitting what happened to him? You’re telling me “The Voices uwu” are controlling the veterans who have violent outbursts due to their trauma? But otherwise they’re totally fine? Like that out of everything is really disappointing. Don’t write a novel about something you obviously don’t know or care about. 0 stars if possible.”

About C. L. Polk

C. L. Polk (they/them) is the author of the World Fantasy Award winning novel Witchmark, the first novel of the Kingston Cycle. After leaving high school early, they have worked as a film extra, sold vegetables on the street, and identified exotic insect species for a vast collection of lepidoptera before settling down to write silver fork fantasy novels. Polk lives near the Bow River in Calgary, Alberta, in a tiny apartment with too many books and a yarn stash that could last a decade. They ride a green bicycle with a basket on the front. They spend too much time on twitter (@clpolk).

Start a Book Club

Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!

FAQ

Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?

Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?

How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?

Do you sell physical books too?

Are book clubs free to join on Fable?

How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?

Error Icon
Save to a list
0
/
30
0
/
100
Private List
Private lists are not visible to other Fable users on your public profile.
Notification Icon
Fable uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB