Even Though I Knew the End

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Even Though I Knew the End

Even Though I Knew the End

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Helen sold her soul to a demon to save Ted's life ten years ago, knowing that she would be damned to Hell for it but she decided it was worth it. At the end of the day, I'm a simple reader. Give me a story that feels like Passing Strange had a baby with Supernatural, make it just the right amount of noir and write it well - and I am one happy little clam. Two men had come around the corner—one tall and broad across the shoulder, the other shorter, standing like a boxer. But were they cops or robbers? Honestly, where do I begin. This was WAYYY too short. Too short, too good. I need more. More of these characters, of this world, of this writing, please.

In an era of pandemic and uncertainty, that sense of infused hope hits home. Because even as readers think they know what’s coming next, there are surprises and twists in the narrative. Even looking out into a scary world, where certain endings seem all but inevitable, there is room for hope. More, there is a necessity to hope, to live like there are greater possibilities, like every day is worth what it took to bring you there. Many thanks to Tor Publishing and Raincoast Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review! C.L. Polk is a fantasy writer from Calgary. Their other books include Witchmark , Stormsong and The Midnight Bargain . Witchmark, their debut novel, won the 2019 World Fantasy Award for best novel. It was also nominated for a Nebula Award, Locus Award, Aurora Award and a Lambda Literary Award. The Midnight Bargain will be defended by Olympian and broadcaster Rosey Edeh on Canada Reads 2021.The flare of pride at my successful spell design dampened as I saw what the enchantment revealed. The crime scene was straight out of a nightmare. Blood painted the walls—not in obscene, frenzied splashes but in the cruel and deliberate lines of magical sigils. They covered the north and south walls, sprawling onto the asphalt to the east and west, and I comprehended some. But the rest? And for a wonder, she did. The silver light dimmed as Luna drifted behind that cloud she’d been flirting with for the last eighteen minutes. Time to step on the juice and get out of here. C.L. Polk twists the hardboiled detective subgenre into something new and fresh and enticingly queer. …[ Even Though I Knew the End is] a thrilling, charming novella.” — Tor.com C. L. Polk 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... Read more Angels are also capable of possessing people as well, though they usually use Willing Channelers instead, living with their host and only taking control when their hosts allows it. The angel Zashiel however deliberately possesses women that are too weak to handle channeling an angel to commit the murders necessary for their ritual.

The shorter man took the lead, gun in hand. But then I got a look at the bigger one, and even with his figure shrouded in shadow, my heart gave a little leap, because I knew him. The light shifted to shine on half his face and I forgot how to breathe. His chin, his mouth … even ten years older and a full foot taller, I knew. Even Though I Knew the End is a 2022 fantasy novella by C. L. Polk. It was first published by Tor Books. That wasn’t right. Kelly McIntyre’s spirit should still be linked to her deathplace. A mediocre spiritualist can talk to the dead for three days, no matter where they end up, and I was a little better than that. She ought to be batting that silver weight around like a kitten, falling over herself to tell me what happened to her. But the pendulum hung straight down, unnaturally still, as if no one had died in this alley.Marlowe had been right after all. This was one hell of a job, and I didn’t have time to take it past this consultation. I wished I could have, even though the whole thing screamed peril! Danger! Mortal threat! Awful as it was, it woke my sense of curiosity right up. In a moment that gives away nothing about the story itself, Polk takes a beat to heighten the sense of hope that infuses the whole novella. There’s only one end to this story you’re reading, Polk seems to say to readers. But hope anyway. Hope, even though you know the end.

The writing was excellent as was the characterization! I mean, you can pretty much guess in the first minute what it will likely all come down to and yet I was utterly invested and hoped fervently that there was a way out. Whether there was or not, I shall not spoiler. C. L. Polk turns their considerable powers to a fantastical noir. A magical detective dives into the affairs of Chicago’s divine monsters to secure a future with the love of her life. This sapphic period piece will dazzle anyone looking for mystery, intrigue, romance, magic, or all of the above. Pixieltd on Reading The Wheel of Time: Taim Tells Lies and Rand Shares His Plan in Winter’s Heart (Part 3) 3 hours ago I hadn’t had a chance to test this spell, but it’s not bad work for a gal who wasn’t supposed to know anything more dangerous than the computation of Chaldean hours and a smattering of astrology. I listened to an audiobook for this story. The names of the angels were difficult to follow. I couldn't tell who's who. I listened to the part with the killer twice to figure out who. Still unsure.

‘Even Though I Knew the End’ published on November 8, 2022

This is a must-read for those who like their queer fantasy with a little grit and a lot of soul (pun intended).” — Booklist, starred review

I am so happy to be working with Tordotcom for this novella! Even Though I Knew the End was inspired by the pulp detective stories of the mid 20th century with a supernatural twist, but it was the protagonist who really made the story sing to me. Helen Brandt is a character who has to move carefully on the edges of a society where being visible would put her in horrible danger, stubbornly using the gifts she was born with even after exile. She has the office, the fedora, and the wry voice of the hard-boiled detectives who came before her, but Helen loves with a fierce loyalty that’s miles away from the weary cynicism of the noir protagonists of the pulps. In 1941, Elena "Helen" Brandt is a private detective and augur in Chicago, who agrees to hunt a serial killer even though she knows that she will die in three days when her decade-old deal with the Devil comes due. This Even Though I Knew the End book review jumps into the dark and wonderful world of Helen Brandt, a magical private investigator who sold her soul to a demon in exchange for her brother’s life.Even Though I Knew the End is Polk at the height of their considerable powers: romance, enchantment, tragedy, and courage to the bitter end.” —Elizabeth Bear Helen would love to keep the two people she loves most—her estranged younger brother, Ted, and her lover, Edith—out of harm’s way, especially when her case is so very dangerous. But Ted is a member of a magical brotherhood, the same one that expelled Helen when she made her demonic deal, and he’s working the very same case. Edith, despite her dislike of violence, has reasons she can’t stay away from the work, as well. Those connections are another departure from the traditional noir narrative, where the lonely PI ends the story alone and unchanged; here, Helen’s relationships set the stakes of the story, showing us what’s at risk if she fails. And Polk sets up those relationships to hook readers with both the fear that we know how things will turn out, and the hope that we don’t, and that maybe, maybe there’s a happy ending out there for the characters. And that is Polk’s gift to readers here, even more than their evocative prose and their mysterious tale of bargains and risks. Hope, the narrative seems to say. Despite everything, hope. Off came my gloves. I cut the little finger of my left hand, hissing as blood welled up. I held out my hand and spoke: “Blood, join with blood and reveal it.”



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