Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal 01) by Zen Cho |
Description: Magic and mayhem clash with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut. The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers maintains the magic within His Majesty’s lands. But lately, the once proper institute has fallen into disgrace, naming an altogether unsuitable gentleman as their Sorcerer Royal and allowing England’s stores of magic to 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, ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up, an adventure that brings him in contact with Prunella Gentlewoman, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, and sets him on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large… Buy From: |
Rating: (4/5)
Review:
This was an interesting book to read, England is running low on magic and the magician’s blame the first black person who is the Sorcerer Royal. The book is well written for the most part but there were times it was infuriating how casually the white men (gentlemen) in the story disregarded even the possibility that a woman could have magic and that a black man could be better qualified for a job than they are. This is classic white male supremacy and the arrogance displayed was annoying (but hardly unrealistic). However, the book doesn’t harp too much about this and most of the stuff I spoke about earlier is done in a matter of fact manner.
The character of Prunella was well written and even though initially it wasn’t clear why she had this power over the course of the book things are made clearer. There is an aspect of romance in the book but it felt kind of shoehorned in and didn’t gel with the rest of the story as well as it could have. Not to say it was bad but that it could have been better.
There was one aspect that was really jarring and didn’t gel with Prunella’s personality up to that point. It was completely unexpected and felt out of character for her. On top of that the book just glossed over the incident like it was no big deal even though it should have had major consequences for her.
The world created in the book has a lot of potential and so does the author. I am trying to get the next book in the series and am hoping I like it as much or more than this one.