Review: The Midnight Bargain
The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
C. L. Polk, author of the World Fantasy Award-winning Witchmark, and the Kingston Cycle, has written a standalone feminist romance fantasy novel in The Midnight Bargain. Set in the fictional Chasland, which is a lot like a magical Regency-era England, we meet Beatrice Clayborn, one of two daughters from a somewhat socially disadvantaged family. Beatrice, a young woman with ideas far above her given station as a woman, is a sorceress. Young women of Chasland are basically auctioned off by their families in bargaining season, a period of grand balls and outings in which young women are displayed to eligible young men. One of the problems with marriage in Chasland is that any magic that a young woman possesses is dampened by a c collar they must wear from the moment of their marriage. These collared women lose all their magical ability and their sense of connectedness to the world around them. Beatrice, who is in possession of several grimoires, wants instead to make a bargain with a greater spirit and become an advisor to her father. Her father, who has invested poorly and bet everything on Beatrice making an excellent marriage in her first bargaining season, angrily opposes any suggestion of women using their magic. Magic is for men. This is in part because of the concern that feral spirits could damage a woman's unborn children (hence the need to ward wives with the collars). Clayborn is still hoping his wife is fertile enough to give him a son, even though his daughters are in their late teens. Beatrice's prospects for independence are improved when she finds a disguised grimoire that is a guide to calling on greater spirits and bargaining with them. Unfortunately, Ysbeta Lavan, a young sorceress of much higher social status from the nearby country of Llanandaras, is drawn to the same bookshop and book. She is in the shop with her handsome brother Iante. Conceding to social pressures, Beatrice reluctantly lets Ysbeta purchase the book but the Lavans offer to share access to it. In fact, Ysbeta needs Beatrice's help to reveal its magical keys to calling on spirits. But why does Ysbeta want this book? Could the two women be balking at the same future plight? Could they join forces to mount resistance to the too-common fate of women of a certain social station in this magical world? With touches of Jane Austen (especially about the importance of a young woman making the "right" marriage) and Mary Robinette Kowal's The Complete Glamourist Histories this can be a diverting read for those looking for fantasy-themed romance.
There was a lot to love in the idea of this book but I found the almost instalove aspect of the relationship be between Beatrice and Iante rather annoying, in part because Iante just read as such a flat character. I enjoyed Beatrice, Ysbeta, and Bea's sad but still defiant mother. Miss Tarden's character provides some interesting insights into the freedoms of the unmarried women of the working class in Chasland. One of my favorite characters of the novel is the spirit Nadi, who was just a delight. I really enjoyed the development of the relationship between Beatrice and Nadi and their fortunate Midnight Bargain. But Iante? I wanted to know more about how Iante became open-minded enough in the first place to appreciate Beatrice and I wanted him to become more insightful about his sister's plight far earlier in the book. His failure to make the connections between what Beatrice's fears are and his sister Ysbeta's situation until the last fifth of the novel was frustrating for the reader. I also felt the way the magic system worked in this world, for instance how some men did or did not use magic, rather puzzling. The exploration of the fact that women seemed to have so much more natural facility than their men, and had it dampened, felt somewhat glossed over. Men like their upper hand over the women. Did they deliberately suppress any information about how women could safely become pregnant without harming their children in order to snatch that upper hand? Why was this knowledge "lost" when it seems to be in everyone's interest to have it? For those looking for a somewhat witchy romance for Samhain, you might want to give this a whirl.
The audiobook is narrated by the delightful Moira Quirk.
I received a digital review of this book in exchange for an honest review.
~ ~ ~
Want the digital audiobook of The Midnight Bargain to benefit your local independent bookstore? Click HERE.
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
C. L. Polk, author of the World Fantasy Award-winning Witchmark, and the Kingston Cycle, has written a standalone feminist romance fantasy novel in The Midnight Bargain. Set in the fictional Chasland, which is a lot like a magical Regency-era England, we meet Beatrice Clayborn, one of two daughters from a somewhat socially disadvantaged family. Beatrice, a young woman with ideas far above her given station as a woman, is a sorceress. Young women of Chasland are basically auctioned off by their families in bargaining season, a period of grand balls and outings in which young women are displayed to eligible young men. One of the problems with marriage in Chasland is that any magic that a young woman possesses is dampened by a c collar they must wear from the moment of their marriage. These collared women lose all their magical ability and their sense of connectedness to the world around them. Beatrice, who is in possession of several grimoires, wants instead to make a bargain with a greater spirit and become an advisor to her father. Her father, who has invested poorly and bet everything on Beatrice making an excellent marriage in her first bargaining season, angrily opposes any suggestion of women using their magic. Magic is for men. This is in part because of the concern that feral spirits could damage a woman's unborn children (hence the need to ward wives with the collars). Clayborn is still hoping his wife is fertile enough to give him a son, even though his daughters are in their late teens. Beatrice's prospects for independence are improved when she finds a disguised grimoire that is a guide to calling on greater spirits and bargaining with them. Unfortunately, Ysbeta Lavan, a young sorceress of much higher social status from the nearby country of Llanandaras, is drawn to the same bookshop and book. She is in the shop with her handsome brother Iante. Conceding to social pressures, Beatrice reluctantly lets Ysbeta purchase the book but the Lavans offer to share access to it. In fact, Ysbeta needs Beatrice's help to reveal its magical keys to calling on spirits. But why does Ysbeta want this book? Could the two women be balking at the same future plight? Could they join forces to mount resistance to the too-common fate of women of a certain social station in this magical world? With touches of Jane Austen (especially about the importance of a young woman making the "right" marriage) and Mary Robinette Kowal's The Complete Glamourist Histories this can be a diverting read for those looking for fantasy-themed romance.
There was a lot to love in the idea of this book but I found the almost instalove aspect of the relationship be between Beatrice and Iante rather annoying, in part because Iante just read as such a flat character. I enjoyed Beatrice, Ysbeta, and Bea's sad but still defiant mother. Miss Tarden's character provides some interesting insights into the freedoms of the unmarried women of the working class in Chasland. One of my favorite characters of the novel is the spirit Nadi, who was just a delight. I really enjoyed the development of the relationship between Beatrice and Nadi and their fortunate Midnight Bargain. But Iante? I wanted to know more about how Iante became open-minded enough in the first place to appreciate Beatrice and I wanted him to become more insightful about his sister's plight far earlier in the book. His failure to make the connections between what Beatrice's fears are and his sister Ysbeta's situation until the last fifth of the novel was frustrating for the reader. I also felt the way the magic system worked in this world, for instance how some men did or did not use magic, rather puzzling. The exploration of the fact that women seemed to have so much more natural facility than their men, and had it dampened, felt somewhat glossed over. Men like their upper hand over the women. Did they deliberately suppress any information about how women could safely become pregnant without harming their children in order to snatch that upper hand? Why was this knowledge "lost" when it seems to be in everyone's interest to have it? For those looking for a somewhat witchy romance for Samhain, you might want to give this a whirl.
The audiobook is narrated by the delightful Moira Quirk.
I received a digital review of this book in exchange for an honest review.
~ ~ ~
Want to buy a copy of The Midnight Bargain from your local independent bookstore? Click HERE.
Want the digital audiobook of The Midnight Bargain to benefit your local independent bookstore? Click HERE.
Want your ebook purchase of The Midnight Bargain to benefit independent bookstores in general? Click HERE.
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This book looks great. Thanks for the chance
ReplyDeleteI am unsure of who is commenting for this entry on the giveaway of the ARC for this book?
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