Zen Cho

"In this sparkling debut, magic and mayhem clash with the British elite... The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, one of the most respected organizations throughout all of England, has long been tasked with maintaining magic within His Majesty's lands. But lately, the once proper institute has fallen into disgrace, naming an altogether unsuitable gentleman--a freed slave who doesn't even have a familiar--as their Sorcerer Royal, and allowing England's once profuse stores of magic to slowly bleed dry. At least they haven't stooped so low as to allow women to practice what is obviously a man's profession... At his wit's end, Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers and eminently proficient magician, ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England's magical stocks are drying up. But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain--and the world at large.."--

Sorcerer to the crown

altlovesbooks

This one took a while to grow on me. For, probably, the first third to half of the novel, I wasn't really enjoying myself. Some other people in the reviews say that it's a bit of a slow burn, and I agree. Stick with it though, and you'll find yourself a really charming Victorian England novel -- with magic.

The world is a bit of an alternate history/alternate universe Victorian era, where magic is commonplace (if restricted), and upbringing and reputation is everything. Zacharias is the Sorcerer Royal for England by merit of being chosen by the previous Sorcerer Royal, though not without protest from other magicians and aristocracy in London. With an ever-deepening problem involving the flow of magic into England, he by chance meets Prunella, an orphaned girl at a school for witches. She has the unfortunate fate of being extremely talented in magic in a society that frowns upon and shuns sorceresses. Prunella, fearing her fate of being locked away in an inconsequential life and wanting more for herself in London society, schemes her way to London with Zacharias. From there, friendship amidst hardship develops, and Prunella and Zacharias both have to confront the past that brought them to where they are now.

It's an interesting premise, and I'm not doing it justice through summary, I'm afraid. There's a lot more to it, involving the fairy kingdom, some assassination attempts, some political machinations, and dragons. Despite the plot seemingly tackling a lot of things at once, I feel like it does so fairly well. It was a fun romp in magical Victorian England that I'm glad I stuck with. The writing style is a bit wordy, and I noted one reviewer comparing the style to a Jane Austen novel, which I can totally see. I thought it lent the story some charm and fun. There's a bit of a feeling of Anne of Green Gables in some places as well, if Anne did magic (can you imagine?). I really did feel like the language lent the book some humor and charm, and was appropriate for the tone the author was going for.

My only real quibble was Prunella's character. Her motives felt all over the place, and in some places her character really annoyed me. By the end, though, I felt like the author had more or less decided where to go with Prunella, and I really did like the ending between her and Zacharias.

I really recommend this book for anyone who's willing to stick through the (appropriate) stuffy language and a bit of a slow start and experience a really fun magical adventure.

Colleen

3.5 Stars
 
*An intriguing but slightly stiff Fantasy story*


Sorcerer to the Crown was another book that had been on by To Read list for a couple of years now that I finally got around to reading.

I went in with some incorrect impressions of what this book would be like. Part of that was due to how it was marketed, and part was due to my own erroneous assumptions. Based on the cover, I thought this was an Asian-inspired Fantasy, but it absolutely is not. While neither of the two main characters was Caucasian, the whole story is set in England, and the only Asian character was a minor side character who only appears in two or three scenes. Disappointingly, this was far from the exciting adventure I was expecting based on the synopsis. For example, the whole bit about Fairyland was a couple of uneventful pages that you could sneeze and miss. Rather, Sorcerer to the Crown was a story about political machinations and power struggles and small bits of magic. 

The setting is basically an alternate history set in Napoleanic era London. There are magicians, but their power is severely waning. At the center of this conflict is Zacharias Wythe, a freed slave who has risen to the rant of Sorcerer to the Crown against the wishes of many of his fellow magicians. He causes even more controversy when he takes an apprentice who is biracial and even worse (in their eyes) – a woman. 

The writing style felt much older (like 80s or 90s era) considering this was published in 2015. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was about the style that made me think that, but it did pop into my head quite a few times while reading this book. Maybe it had to do with it being such a slow, dialogue-driven story.

Sorcerer to the Crown was extremely heavy on the racism and sexism which is certainly accurate to the time period. This is done in a way meant to challenge those biases not promote them. While I appreciate using Fantasy to explore these themes, it was overt and heavy-handed. And at times quite suffocating. It certainly dominated the story. This didn’t even feel like a Fantasy story sometimes. Rather, the story overall focused on the discriminations and political machinations. The Fantasy elements often took a backseat to the drama. There was also a lot of slow dialogue discussing all the political strategies and very little action to balance it out. 

While I did grow attached to the characters by the end (though I didn’t exactly like Prunella), I did not find Sorcerer to the Crown to be at all dynamic. It lacked the sense of adventure and escapism for which I was looking. The romance was cuter than expected, but talk about a slow burn. And I do mean sloooooow. But it was an intriguing world, and I will probably check out the sequel at some point.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

Cindy McKee

I was given this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
 This was an interesting read. There was some humor, politics, magic, and intrigue. I had a hard time getting into the story, mainly because the digital ARC wouldn't allow me to change the font, so it was super tiny crowded lettering that gave me a headache if I tried to read too long. Which was a shame when the story picked up the pace. 
 I will probably have to reread this again in regular format so that I can enjoy it more. For now, I will say that this is a great book for those who like a little magic mixed in with palace intrigue. Great characters and wonderful settings. Enjoy!

Amanda

Really a 3.5
This book starts so slow and boring. If it weren't a book club book I would have dropped it after the first couple chapters.

Thankfully it gets more enjoyable once Prunella shows up and starts really rolling about halfway in. By the time I got to the end, I was fully invested and enjoying the story.

Content Warning for racism and misogyny. They are portrayed as bad things, and it definitely felt appropriate to the time and place the story is set in. However it is constant and frustrating. It's important to the story, but if that's not something you want to deal with, be forewarned.

Didi Chanoch

As someone who isn't a huge fan of regency novels, and who had a hard time with Jonathan Strange and Mister Norell, I was trepidatious when I started reading this novel. I shouldn't have worried. Sorcerer to The Crown is a delight. It's an adventure that manages to be a fascinating historical novel with searing social and political commentary, a fully imagined fantasy, and a comedy of manners where some characters (especially one) seem to come straight from a Pratchett novel. Readers who like diversity will find this novel especially rewarding, as the two leads are POCs. I am very much looking forward to the next two volumes in this trilogy.

Winner of the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best Newcomer Shortlisted for the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best Novel Shortlisted for the 2016 Locus First Novel Award Sorcerer to the Crown is the first in Zen Cho's thrilling magical adventure series, the Sorcerer Royal Trilogy. In Regency London, Zacharias Wythe is England's first African Sorcerer Royal. He leads the eminent Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, but a malicious faction seeks to remove him by fair means or foul. Meanwhile, the Society is failing its vital duty - to keep stable the levels of magic within His Majesty's lands. The Fairy Court is blocking its supply, straining England's dangerously declining magical stores. And now the government is demanding to use this scarce resource in its war with France. Ambitious orphan Prunella Gentleman is desperate to escape the school where she's drudged all her life, and a visit by the beleaguered Sorcerer Royal seems the perfect opportunity. For Prunella has just stumbled upon English magic's greatest discovery in centuries - and she intends to make the most of it. At his wits' end, the last thing Zachariah needs is a female magical prodigy! But together, they might just change the nature of sorcery, in Britain and beyond.

Sorcerer to the Crown

Sarah Escorsa

Jane Austen meets P.G. Wodehouse meets Temeraire meets hahahahaha meets magical mayhem and thaumaturgic shenanigans meets refreshingly refreshing take on your average comedy of manners meets slightly scrumptious and delightfully diverse cast of characters. And where does that leave us, you ask? Why in dire need of a celebratory dance, obviously.



P.S. I want a simurgh for Christmas.

· Book 2: The True Queen · to be read



[Pre-review nonsense]

Review to come and stuff. Spoiler alert:

The fate of English magic lies in their hands. . . In Regency London, Zacharias Wythe is England's first African Sorcerer Royal. He leads the eminent Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, but a malicious faction seeks to remove him by fair means or foul. Meanwhile, the Society is failing its vital duty - to keep stable the levels of magic within His Majesty's lands. The Fairy Court is blocking its supply, straining England's dangerously declining magical stores. And now the government is demanding to use this scarce resource in its war with France. Ambitious orphan Prunella Gentleman is desperate to escape the school where she's drudged all her life, and a visit by the beleaguered Sorcerer Royal seems the perfect opportunity. For Prunella has just stumbled upon English magic's greatest discovery in centuries - and she intends to make the most of it.At his wits' end, the last thing Zachariah needs is a female magical prodigy! But together, they might just change the nature of sorcery, in Britain and beyond.

Sheila

THE ENDINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZACHARIAS IS MOST CINNAMON OF ALL PURE CINNAMON ROLLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRUNELLA <3

Becky

This book was very reminiscent of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell for me, I think it was the fact it was about English Magic and spoke of fairyland. That isn't to say I didn't like it. The similarities were just rather striking for me, but that is all that is similar. The story and book itself was so much easier to understand and follow, although the language used put me off a bit at first. I felt a bit tempted to pull out a dictionary every few sentences just to make sure words meant what I thought they meant. I didn't, but it was a close thing.

The story and the characters were great, although I liked Zacharias far more than I liked Prunella, but I think that was just due to her tendency not to think before she acted although she showed she was really intelligent with the amount of scheming she did.

María Belén

3.5 stars

I really liked this one , especially the MC and the world building. Everything is very well crafted. But it was a bit slow for me, it truly read like a 1800's novel or something of the sort. That aside, it's very entertaining and I enjoyed it a lot.

Anastaciya

A tiny bit disappointed. Beautifully written, but I wish there was more about the magic, it seems like an interesting system, but somewhat unclear.

Paige Morgan

For the first 10-15% of this book, I wasn't grabbed -- it felt less like the Zen Cho stories I've read before, and more like someone trying very hard to summon the atmosphere of Susannah Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I was worried that I was going to be disappointed, and disappointed after really looking forward to reading.

I shouldn't have worried. One of the best things about Cho's writing is her ability to create characters so real that I can almost forget they're part of a story, and not real. (She's as good at characters as Max Gladstone is at worldbuilding.) Watching the characters' motivations and backgrounds unfold and jostle against each other is a delight. 

There are inevitably going to be comparisons to JS&MN, so, yes -- this novel is building on what Clarke did; however, it's also working with very different territory. Clarke's storytelling was very much engaged with the intellectual traditions of the 18th & 19th centuries, and the circumstances surrounding the production of knowledge. JS&MN pokes, parodies, and interrogates those traditions and circumstances at various points in the novel.

In Sorcerer to the Crown, I would characterize Cho as engaging with gender, race, colonialism, and postcolonialism the way that Clarke worked with intellectual and knowledge production traditions. (Clarke worked with gender & race, too, but there are reasons that her novel wasn't titled "Stephen Black & Arabella Strange/Lady Pole.") In Cho's book, gender and race are much more central to the main plot, and the result is wonderfully satisfying. I don't feel any need to make comparisons about which novel is better; I wish more novels built on others the way that Cho builds on Clarke's, and I wish more novels were like Clarke's in inspiring such creations.

A few final notes: Sorcerer to the Crown is an adventure, and a not unserious one -- but at times it's tremendously funny, too, as it ought to be, since Zen Cho wrote it. If you haven't read her previous work, seek out her short stories post-haste. 

Also, though this is the first book in a trilogy, it ends well, and doesn't feel like someone chopped a larger novel into separate parts for the sake of more publications.

Javiera

Melissa Railey

Nora 

Joycelyn Ghansah

Laura

Natalie

Connor 

"An enchanting cross between Georgette Heyer and Susanna Clarke, full of delights and surprises" Naomi Novik"Zen Cho is spectacular, a confident and exciting new voice" Paul CornellIn Regency London, Zacharias Wythe is England's first African Sorcerer Royal. And that's only the first of his problems. He must juggle the conflicting demands of a wayward Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, where a faction schemes to remove him from his position by fair means or foul. He must cope with the Fairy Court refusing to grant Britain the magical resources it needs. And now the British Government is avid to deploy this increasingly scare magic in its war with France. He must also contend with rumors that he murdered his predecessor and guardian, Sir Stephen Wythe. But this task would be easier if Sir Stephen's ghost would just stop following him around. And now he has to deal with something even more outrageous than any of these things: a female magical prodigy.Ambitious orphan Prunella Gentleman is desperate to escape the school where she has drudged all her life, and a visit by the Sorcerer Royal seems the perfect opportunity. For Prunella has just stumbled upon English magic's greatest discovery in centuries - and she intends to make the most of it.

Magnus Dahl

Kate Sigrist

Stephanie Ridiculous

Winner of the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best NewcomerShortlisted for the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best Novel Shortlisted for the 2016 Locus First Novel Award THE FATE OF ENGLISH MAGIC LIES IN THEIR HANDS...In Regency London, Zacharias Wythe is England's first African Sorcerer Royal. He leads the eminent Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, but a malicious faction seeks to remove him by fair means or foul. Meanwhile, the Society is failing its vital duty - to keep stable the levels of magic within His Majesty's lands. The Fairy Court is blocking its supply, straining England's dangerously declining magical stores. And now the government is demanding to use this scarce resource in its war with France. Ambitious orphan Prunella Gentleman is desperate to escape the school where she's drudged all her life, and a visit by the beleaguered Sorcerer Royal seems the perfect opportunity. For Prunella has just stumbled upon English magic's greatest discovery in centuries - and she intends to make the most of it.At his wits' end, the last thing Zachariah needs is a female magical prodigy! But together, they might just change the nature of sorcery, in Britain and beyond.

Sorcerer to the crown

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