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Series Review: The Kingston Cycle by C.L. Polk

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout. This episode discusses The Kingston Cycle by C. L. Polk.  Full Audio Here    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...

Clear Your Shit: Helping the Witch (Final Boss Battle)

We have the Wizard cornered now! Literally. He's backed himself all the way into the far corner of the tower between two colossal shelves. Heather flanks him on the right, waving the feather in his direction. The wizard rolls his eyes and turns cautiously to me. I hate to admit I'm starting to agree with him. I don't think feather Heather has been toting around with her has any sort of power. She is at least keeping him from escaping in that direction, so I focus on him. As I'm trying to decide the best plan of attack without hurting that poor, innocent witch another book falls. I notice it moments before the Wizard, who's forced to separate from the witch to not have it crash down on his silly pointed hat. Heather quickly jumps in and pulls the witch to safety. Perfect! I come at him, swinging my club... and miss him completely. Instead, I clip the corner of the shelf, and an avalanche of books pile on the Wizard. He's knocked out cold. The witch inches back in his direction and nudges him with a booth before giving a satisfied nod.

"Thank you! The Kingdom's guards can take it from here. He has a lot to answer for." She smiles sweetly but begins pushing us in the direction of the door. "Now. I still have a lot of books I need to organize and send." Just before she slams the door on us she grabs the book that helped her escape, looks it over briefly, and thrusts it at me. "This is yours." The door slams shut and I'm pretty sure I heard a lock slide into place. I look down at the book in my hands. Valiant by Holly Black. This is mine? There's a small scrap of paper sticking between the pages with my name on it. It must be another of my orders. When did I get this again? Heather shrugs at me, also at a loss as I slip it into my bag. We stand outside of the tower for a moment, unsure where to go next when Heather points up smiling happily. It takes me a moment to realize what has her so excited. The books. Or the lack of books really. It seems the witch is getting the rain of books under control. I listen for a moment and notice the sporadic thumbs and books from inside the tower has almost disappeared as well. Whaddya know? That was a lot of work for a very simple solution.

We set off in what is hopefully the direction back home.


Narrated by Alu. Follow her on Twitter and check out her website: Tome Reader Reviews.

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