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A review by seshat59
The True Queen by Zen Cho
5.0
The True Queen takes sequel to a whole new level. As delightful as Sorcerer to the Crown was, Cho has grown as an author, and her second novel is stronger in every way. Rather than being a true sequel, it’s almost a stand alone in following new characters with Prunella and Zacharias, the protagonists of the first book, acting as secondary characters in this go. And I loved this book. The first book was delightful, but the second possessed a subtlety of characters, plotting, and thematic quality that enhanced it to absolutely brilliant status.
Muna and her sister, Sakti, have been discovered after a violent storm with no memory and—in Muna’s case—no magic. Mak Genggang, an impressive Malayan witch introduced to us in the previous novel, discovers them and takes them in. Discovering themselves to be cursed, their journey takes them to England to locate a mysterious Midsomer who seems to be the cause of their problems and also to study at the Sorceress Royale’s school for magiciennes. Sakti is stolen away as the sisters journey through the Hidden World from Janda Baik to England, and what follows is Mina’s story: how a helpless, powerless, completely dependent foreign woman finds her sister, identity, friendship, and ultimately love. And did I mention it’s also a comedy of regency manners? The dragon part reminded me of Jo Walton’s hilarious dragon regency romance, but Cho’s world is amazing unto itself. I loved Henrietta: Prunella’s quiet schoolgirl friend who now secretly teaches at her Academy, is seemingly subservient to her family and demure in the face of Prunella’s indomitable will, and yet she exudes such quiet strength in all her actions. Cho is so, so, so amazing in using showing versus telling. Demure Henrietta acquiesces verbally to family pressure and then invents a magical dummy to take her place at home while she performs her magical duties; she demands to journey to Fairy to save the world, and she also stands up to powerful Spirits.
This is a brilliant fusion of comedy, historical/alternate fiction, fantasy, and subversion to the status quo. This is everything Gilded Wolves was not.
A million stars.
Muna and her sister, Sakti, have been discovered after a violent storm with no memory and—in Muna’s case—no magic. Mak Genggang, an impressive Malayan witch introduced to us in the previous novel, discovers them and takes them in. Discovering themselves to be cursed, their journey takes them to England to locate a mysterious Midsomer who seems to be the cause of their problems and also to study at the Sorceress Royale’s school for magiciennes. Sakti is stolen away as the sisters journey through the Hidden World from Janda Baik to England, and what follows is Mina’s story: how a helpless, powerless, completely dependent foreign woman finds her sister, identity, friendship, and ultimately love. And did I mention it’s also a comedy of regency manners? The dragon part reminded me of Jo Walton’s hilarious dragon regency romance, but Cho’s world is amazing unto itself. I loved Henrietta: Prunella’s quiet schoolgirl friend who now secretly teaches at her Academy, is seemingly subservient to her family and demure in the face of Prunella’s indomitable will, and yet she exudes such quiet strength in all her actions. Cho is so, so, so amazing in using showing versus telling. Demure Henrietta acquiesces verbally to family pressure and then invents a magical dummy to take her place at home while she performs her magical duties; she demands to journey to Fairy to save the world, and she also stands up to powerful Spirits.
This is a brilliant fusion of comedy, historical/alternate fiction, fantasy, and subversion to the status quo. This is everything Gilded Wolves was not.
A million stars.