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A review by songwind
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
5.0
I enjoyed this book immensely.
It's a skillful weaving of coming of age story, mystery/adventure, romance, and social commentary. The characters are well fleshed out, both likable and non-.
It takes place in a Britain in the midst of colonialism and the Napoleonic wars, placing it comfortably in the Georgian period, though the monarch is never actually named. This place in history becomes quite important on a few different levels.
The first of our point of view characters, Zacharias, the Sorcerer Royal himself, is a manumitted slave and ward of the previous holder of the office, who has recently died. As a black man among polite English society he has an extra helping of suspicion and uncooperativeness to deal with. The fact of his birth and circumstances also colors his relationships with his guardians. Though there is genuine affection and respect between them, they never truly understand one another or see eye to eye.
The other POV character, Prunela, is a mixed-race orphan girl raised in a school for "gentlewitches" in which well bred young ladies afflicted with magic talents are trained not to use them. Her position in society is uncertain, but her magical talent is not.
This is set against a backdrop of an England afflicted with waning magic, and a Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophy that are hidebound and fractious. It's Zacharias' job as the head of the Society to figure out what's caused the issue, and to reverse it if he can. On his way to the border of Faerie, where magic comes into the world, he stops at Prunela's school to give a speech and help a friend.
The story uses these things as a jumping off point for a narrative that examines not only this mystery, but also the place of women (and magiciennes in particular) in society; Britain's dreams of Empire and heavy handed treatment of peoples they view as lesser; the way privilege and arrogance can blind one to one's true place in the order of things; and more.
Along the way it tells a slow burn love story that is both believable and light in drama.
It's a skillful weaving of coming of age story, mystery/adventure, romance, and social commentary. The characters are well fleshed out, both likable and non-.
It takes place in a Britain in the midst of colonialism and the Napoleonic wars, placing it comfortably in the Georgian period, though the monarch is never actually named. This place in history becomes quite important on a few different levels.
The first of our point of view characters, Zacharias, the Sorcerer Royal himself, is a manumitted slave and ward of the previous holder of the office, who has recently died. As a black man among polite English society he has an extra helping of suspicion and uncooperativeness to deal with. The fact of his birth and circumstances also colors his relationships with his guardians. Though there is genuine affection and respect between them, they never truly understand one another or see eye to eye.
The other POV character, Prunela, is a mixed-race orphan girl raised in a school for "gentlewitches" in which well bred young ladies afflicted with magic talents are trained not to use them. Her position in society is uncertain, but her magical talent is not.
This is set against a backdrop of an England afflicted with waning magic, and a Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophy that are hidebound and fractious. It's Zacharias' job as the head of the Society to figure out what's caused the issue, and to reverse it if he can. On his way to the border of Faerie, where magic comes into the world, he stops at Prunela's school to give a speech and help a friend.
The story uses these things as a jumping off point for a narrative that examines not only this mystery, but also the place of women (and magiciennes in particular) in society; Britain's dreams of Empire and heavy handed treatment of peoples they view as lesser; the way privilege and arrogance can blind one to one's true place in the order of things; and more.
Along the way it tells a slow burn love story that is both believable and light in drama.