The talent for sorcery in women is a curse when it ought to be a blessing.
-The Midnight Bargain
As someone who really enjoyed C.L. Polk’s World Fantasy Award-winning novel Witchmark, I was eager to read their novel, The Midnight Bargain. Much like Witchmark, it has everything I enjoy most in this genre – A world inspired by historical England, a fascinating magic system, and a compelling romance.
There was so much to love in this book, but my favorite thing would have to be the magic system and how it affects the characters and the world. Beatrice Clayborn, the main heroine of The Midnight Bargain, desires above all things to become a magus. Unfortunately, Beatrice is destined to be married off and placed in a magic-suppressing collar out of fear for the safety of her unborn children.
Women in the world of the book are forced to do this as performing magic while pregnant can corrupt children in the womb. This fear is a believable one, as the magic system in this book involves making bargains with wily (and dangerous) spirits who grant the magus their power. There is an interesting dynamic at play that I enjoyed in The Midnight Bargain between the bargaining season (where marriageable women strive for the attention of eligible bachelors), and bargaining with spirits.
Aside from the magic system and the romance plot and the fact that most of the story takes place in one stunning seaside city, the dynamics between the countries that participate in the Bargaining Season give depth to Polk’s worldbuilding. Beatrice’s home country of Chasland contrasts starkly with that of Llanandras, the country of Beatrice’s rival, the fabulously wealthy Ysbeta Lavan. Chasland is a regressive place, while Llanandras is the more progressive of the two. This contrast provides a much-welcomed subversion to some of the tropes of the Regency romance genre and the fantasy genre as a whole – painting a more diverse and interesting picture.
Even though there have been some complaints that the romance in the book leans too much on insta-love, I found there to be a satisfying tension between Beatrice and her love interest, who just happens to be Ysbeta’s brother Ianthe. Throughout the book, it’s clear that Beatrice has an impossible choice to make – either she pursues her dream of becoming a magus, or follows her heart and marries Ianthe. She can’t have both love and magic. Because of this dynamic, Polk does a good job keeping the reader guessing at what choice Beatrice is going to make.
I had to try so hard not to read through this book in one sitting. Even before I was halfway done with it, I was Googling if Polk has a sequel in the works. Alas, The Midnight Bargain is a standalone novel.
I definitely felt this book could’ve been a duology. I found myself really wanting many of the plot points in the last quarter of the book (as well as the epilogue) expanded a little – A lot of the loose ends felt tied up a little too quickly in order to get the whole story in one book. Honestly, I’d love it if the epilogue was its own book entirely!
Regardless, The Midnight Bargain is a book I could see myself picking up again and again, and is one of my favorites of this year so far!
rachelannmyers.com 