The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers has long been tasked with maintaining magic within His Majesty's lands. But lately, the once proper institute has fallen into disgrace. Zacharias Wythe ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England's magical stocks are drying up.

When his adventure brings him in contact with a woman with immense power, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery.

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Sorcerer to the Crown

Zen Cho (Author), Jenny Sterlin (Narrator), Avid Audio (Publisher)

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Listening Length	13 hours and 10 minutes
Author	Zen Cho
Narrator	Jenny Sterlin
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	04 February 2016
Publisher	Avid Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B01AAWAZ48
Best Sellers Rank	37,341 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 332 in Regency Romance (Audible Books & Originals) 347 in Historical Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) 1,424 in Historical Fantasy (Books)

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Federhirn

If you enjoy Doctor Who and like the setting of Strange & Norrell, you'll probably love Sorcerer to the Crown

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2015

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Zacharias Whyte has just inherited the position of Sorcerer Royal from his mentor and adoptive father. Already, there are many who would like to see him fail, some who conspire against him. Mysteries surround the death of his mentor: how did he die, and where did his familiar, a small dragon, disappear to? What secrets is Zacharias keeping?

Prunella Gentleman is a young woman living in a school of magically gifted girls from high society. There, they are being taught means to keep their magic in check and repress their unnatural natures. But what if conventional wisdom is wrong - what if women are not too frail to be competent at sorcery?

Inevitably, the first comparison that springs to mind once you start reading is Susanna Clarke's classic Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Readers could be forgiven for thinking Sorcerer to the Crown is a sort of Strange & Norrell LIGHT. The setting is all-too similar: during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, English magic has been floundering and is in need of revival. Magic is governed by a society of stuffy noble men, as a sort of alternative to politics and priesthood for surplus younger sons. In comes a burst of magical talent from an unexpected direction, and the society of magicians gets flustered and alienated by the changes foisted upon it. Meanwhile, politicians want magic to solve foreign policy problems and assist in war and empire building efforts, while sorcerers need magic to remain aloof and respected, distanced from the grime of politics.

There are some key differences between Sorcerer and Strange & Norrell. Sorcerer to the Crown is a lot more light hearted in its narrative, and most of its characters are actually pleasant individuals. The writing voice isn't quite as infused with dry wit, but the story moves along at a brisker pace and with a lighter touch.

The other key difference is the very conscious decision to make this not yet another book about white men. Sorcerer to the Crown puts a black sorcerer (Zacharias Whyte) and a half-Indian magicienne (Prunella Gentleman) in the protagonists' chairs, and of the side characters, it's a South Asian witch who steals the show. Zacharias and Prunella are both outstandingly gifted, both adopted and mentored by well-meaning but quite patronising white noble people, and both used to repressing themselves in order to please their adoptive parental figures. Until things change, through death or betrayal of trust.

Of the two, it is Prunella who is more strong willed, single minded and proud. Zacharias is a scholar, with a tendency to isolate himself and keep aloof. Prunella is a social butterfly, outgoing and a force of nature once she unshackles herself from her upbringing.

While it's light-hearted and fun, I did not love the novel entirely. Zacharias does not take the danger to his person seriously, so neither could I, which softens the drama. When the grand finale happens, the big confrontation is handled with a lightness that reminds me more of mid-season Doctor Who battles: it's a very tongue in cheek finale, and very very safe. It feels more like a story for children than young adults or adults at that point.

This lightness does not really work for me, in the context of a novel about disadvantaged people flourishing and succeeding against all odds. The novel does not have to get all po-faced and worthy, but when there are conspiracies to murder and do blood sacrifice, the intended victim should probably not shrug those things off. When there is a real risk of people being burnt alive, the people in question should probably not laugh at their persecutors.

Sorcerer to the Crown is a novel about girl power, a cheeky attitude and inherited superpowers overcoming persecution, oppression and conspiracies. It makes the book fun and light, but it sells short the challenges involved, and it feels lazy. It's very much like Doctor Who in that regard - The Doctor often beats his opponents with attitude and gobbledigook and a huge (sense of) superiority. This is why I dislike many episodes of Doctor Who. I like it no better when the character beating their opponents with attitude and surprises and a huge (sense of) superiority are ethnic minority sorcerers in Regency Britain. They never act like people who perceive themselves to be in genuine peril, and so their successes end up looking too easy, not earned.

Despite those criticisms, I enjoyed Sorcerer to the Crown. I will want to read the sequels when they come out: it's a promising start to a series, even if it errs a little on the sight of lightness.

27 people found this helpful

Andrew Wallace

Genuinely delightful, totally gripping, very funny and totally relevant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 December 2016

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I heard Zen Cho read from this novel at Super Relaxed Fantasy Club in London and she happily admitted to the influence of Susanna Clarke’s ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell’, as well as the enticing prospect of having Regency England as a playground. Those two sentiments serve as indicators, but don’t really do this novel justice. It is, for a start, a lot more fun and gripping than ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell’, important though that novel is. ‘Sorcerer to the Crown’ also inhabits its world with such joy and gusto that the stuffiness I often struggle with when reading books from the period is, to quote “Sorcerer to the Crown’ ‘quite exploded’.
This is a truly delightful book, probably one of the most delightful I have ever read. It both mocks but also respects its milieu in a fashion that is so inspired that it’s often laugh-out-loud funny.
However, for all the lightness and warmth, it also manages to look at racial politics in a way that is still depressingly relevant.
The titular sorcerer is a black man called Zacharias who has been adopted, raised and trained by the previous incumbent of the Sorcerer Royal position, Sir Stephen. For all his generosity, Sir Stephen is still a product of his society, and the author gently exposes a number of uncomfortable truths about their relationship and its relative positions of power. That these truths can exist along with the unquestioned love between the main character and mentor makes the novel a hopeful one, even though the forces ranged against the protagonists are mean, small-minded and vicious enough to abuse their considerable power to stamp out any progressiveness in the world of English magic.
For it is not enough that Zacharias is black, no; under the influence of the brilliant, wayward and gorgeous Prunella Gentleman (the names in this book ring around your head even when you’re not reading it), the Sorcerer Royal has begun to entertain notions of educating women in the ways of magic. Outrageous!
Prunella is a creation of brilliance. Headstrong and relentlessly creative, the half-Indian orphan girl is discovered by Zacharias assisting at a school whose prime directive is suppressing magic in young women, regardless of the damage to their physical and mental health. Realising that she will have to take charge of her own fate if she is to have any sort of reasonable life, she tricks, seduces (chastely) and outwits everyone who gets in her way, starting with the preoccupied and often stuffy Zacharias. Discovering seven crystals that house ‘familiars’ or supernatural beings who can bestow great power on their benefactor, Prunella uses menstrual blood to bring three of them to life. This sequence is executed so tastefully and with such polite understanding that it almost feels that Zen Cho is creating her own genre here. Such is the conservatism that dominates the society of the novel, every time Prunella shatters some taboo or breaks some rule that I actually fear for her on more that one level.
The only character who dominates the text even more is the witch Mak Genggang, who tends to own every chapter she is in. Rude, old and earthily practical, the sequence in which she gate crashes a ball is priceless. Hopefully, she will return in future stories in this sequence.
There is a lot of love in the book, both in how it was written and also between the characters. As well as a wry but nonetheless deeply affecting study of racial tensions, it also looks at gender in a manner that the Regency setting makes both romantic and deeply touching. Zacharias is not a straightforward good guy; that wouldn’t be fair. Rather, he is a decent man trying to do the right thing, occasionally by accident. Prunella, meanwhile, is infuriating even as we and Zacharias love her. We worry for both of them.
If this was a love story alone it would be notable, but’s also a book you don’t want to put down. We quickly get to a level of magic and mayhem lesser fantasy works tease us with for yonks. Here, though, they are dealt with in that very English way that we have recently been disabused of in real life but that this book shows can be achieved again.
Zen Cho lives in England but was not born here. I mention her heritage because when I first read ‘A Game of Thrones’ it pinpointed an English tone so accurately I was astonished to find that the author was American. Like George RR Martin, Zen Cho has captured a wholly English vision from a unique and fascinating viewpoint. This is definitely one of my books of the year and I would recommend it to… well, actually everyone.

7 people found this helpful

Nichola F

Warm, witty, wonderfully inventive and diverse AF. An absolute gem.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 August 2017

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Urgh, the one star reviews FORCED me to take a moment and counterbalance them.

This is one of the very best fantasy books I've read in years. The worldbuilding is rich and evocative, the characters realistically and lovingly wrought; it's wonderful. But Zen Cho is an intelligent woman with a polished prose style, and - as those wretched one-star reviews make clear - this book is not for everyone. If you find Jane Austen novels a hard slog, you probably want to go for something easier - Gail Carriger's books are fun, and her prose is a lot more accessible. Zen Cho is assuming you have read some novels that are at least a couple of centuries old, and that you can handle the language and the leisurely storytelling.

The obvious comparison is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel - which, I must confess, I did find a trifle dry. (Although it's a very good book.) I'd say Cho's book has more heart - more of a contemporary sensibility, I suppose, whereas Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrel (like the excellent Everfair) echoes the style of actual period writers by having more emotional distance. It's easier to care about Cho's characters, I think.

I am still champing at the bit for the sequel. Cho's characters aren't necessarily nice or good - at times Prunella Gentlemen almost put me in mind of Becky Sharpe, with her brutal pragmatism, but she isn't wantonly cruel, I think - although neither is she particularly kind. Still, they're all fascinating, and I very much want to see how their stories will unfold.

5 people found this helpful

Lee Hulme

Great first book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 September 2019

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I picked up the first and second books after the author intrigued me on twitter, and I was not disappointed by my impulse.

The characters are drawn deeply, and the magical world combines with the historical world beautifully - everything falls naturally into place, which means rather than having to spend time explaining how things work, Cho can simply weave the story.

And this is something she does exceptionally well. I'm a big fan of books written in history, which both acknowledge the social isuses and create characters than ignore and/or rise above them, and that by itself was enough to keep me interested. But the characters were likeable (or appropriately dislikeable, as necessary), and thile the plot remained fairly localised, it worked as a great introduction to what is clearly a rich, wide world.

I found the diversity of the cast very appealing, in a book set in this period, it's too often ignored so I enjoyed Cho's clear focus on providing this.

Definitely worth your time and money!

One person found this helpful

Chris Lovegrove

Hexes, murder and politicking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 August 2020

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"Prunella had once thought life in London would be all flirting and balls and dresses, hitting attentive suitors on the shoulder with a fan, and breakfasting late upon bowls of chocolate. She sighed now for her naïveté. Little had she known life in London was in fact all hexes and murder and thaumaturgical politics, and she would always be rising early for some reason or other!"

This is a fantasy that has frequently been described as a mash-up of Susanna Clarke's 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell' (which I've read) and Jane Austen (ditto) as interpreted by Georgette Heyer (whom I've not as yet read) but of course it is more than that. The author brings up issues of race, gender and class in a way that, in 2020, is even more pertinent than when it was first published, what with Black Lives Matter assuming even more urgency and administrations in certain democracies becoming more inclined toward fascist policies.

Yet Zen Cho deals with this not in a heavy-handed preachy way but with wit, humour and satire, all the more effective for being couched in a historical fantasy rather than a sermon. While it's not perfect, as a debut novel 'Sorcerer to the Crown' has made few missteps; and what's cleverer is that its apparent obscurities and longueurs actually encourage a future rereading when one may hopefully spot and enjoy the clues one may have missed first time round.

We're slap bang in the middle of the Napoleonic wars, but Britain's sorcerers and France's 'sorciers' have agreed not to intervene in the conflict. Trouble is brewing in the Malay peninsula however between a Sultan and local witches, and the Sultan's intention to get English sorcerers to intervene risks retaliation from their French counterparts.

In London, meanwhile, Zacharias Wythe has become Sorcerer Royal, thereby eliciting the antagonism of many of his fellow magicians because he is a freed African slave. And in deepest Hampshire, in a school for gentlewitches located in Fobdown Purlieu, orphan Prunella Gentleman is feeling woefully undervalued. When the beleaguered Sorcerer Royal pays a visit to the school the young woman takes her chance to leave, taking with her a valise concealing seven gemstones and a metal orb with strange carvings, all left by her deceased father. But before leaving for London Zacharias has to pay a visit to the borders of Fairyland to discover why the flow of magic into England is drying up.

Trying to further summarise the intricacies of the plotting is futile without giving too much away so I shall allude to rather than expound on details. First, some quibbles: occasionally in playing up the verbosity of individuals involved in conversations the author appears to put the action on hold, while at other times the changed magical nature of characters results in some obscurity for the reader, if not for the protagonists. But in both cases I suspect it's part and parcel of the writer delighting in mischievous humour: what's funnier than speechifying while a supernatural battle plays out around you, and what more comically natural than sorcerers taking the sudden appearance of dragons, a tempest-monster or conveyance by cloud completely in their stride?

Zen Cho is Malaysian who, as well as being a fan of Heyer, Clarke and Austen, is a writer of fantasy and a British-trained lawyer: so the unusual combination of courtroom-style loquacity, Regency repartee, Malay folklore, and alertness to the consequences of colonialism (Malaya was under British control until the mid-twentieth century) doesn't come out of nowhere. She sets her story at a key moment in our own world's history, before the time that the buying and selling of slaves was made illegal throughout the British Empire (1807), and a few years after the Third Anglo-Mysore War ended in 1792, but still sometime during the period of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).

Into an England dominated by a white male ruling class Cho places some of her leading characters, who are neither white, nor male, nor from the Establishment. Not only do we have the son of West Indian slaves, Zacharias, manumitted by the previous Sorcerer Royal, but Prunella herself is the daughter of an Englishman and a mystery woman from Mysore in India, and we mustn't forget the appearances of Chinese magician Hsiang or of Malayan 'vampiress' Mak Genggang, along with various denizens of Fairyland. All have key roles to play against certain malcontents in the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers led by Geoffrey Midsomer, who has a beef against anyone who appears different, whether by virtue of colour, class, nationality or gender. Can Zacharias, Prunella and their friends and allies hold out against malignant magical machinations?

Though at times I was confused and blindsided, in the end I thoroughly enjoyed this romp -- because romp it is indeed, despite the serious issues it is founded upon. I loved the authentic Regency speech and manners, the unusual mix of magical cultures, the burgeoning Austenesque romance between Prunella and Zacharias which threatened to go awry at the very end. More Austen was evident in the entry to Fairyland being in Hampshire, either in the vicinity of Austen's residence Chawton, or down in the New Forest at the other end of the county where Dibden Purlieu recalls the novel's Fobdown Purlieu.

I also savoured the likely parallels between the incident which upset the Malay witches of Janda Baik in the novel with a legend from a little further afield. This concerned the female vampire known as a pontianak in Indonesia. In the late 18th century a sultan drove out a community of such vampires in a region by firing cannonballs at them, as a result of which the settlement he founded was called Pontianak. Zen Cho has appeared to cunningly combine aspects of this Indonesian legend with the more recent Malayan settlement Janda Baik, which can translate as "the good widow", and somehow link them both with Prunella's origins and with Lady Maria Wythe, the widow of Zacharias' benefactor Sir Stephen Wythe.

On such relatively obscure foundations as these 'Sorcerer to the Crown' has been carefully constructed to present the elegant, edifying yet entertaining edifice that we now see. But it's the contrasting characters of the clever and proactive Prunella and the gentlemanly and cautious Zacharias in which the reader truly invests, and whom we all hope will survive for the second instalment of the trilogy. Can such a strange couple survive their odd partnership?

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