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A review by chirson
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
4.0
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell gets an update, and it's sweet, cool and immensely funny.
Finally a Zen Cho I really got into! After my initial two half-failed attempts--stories I appreciated but didn't quite feel too compelled by--I think I was finally on the same wave length with the story. The tale of Zacharias, a Sorcerer Royal whose position (a source of trouble in itself) is constantly endangered by the racism of his contemporaries, and of Prunella, who is extremely magically talented, but happens to be neither well born, nor a man, nor white (unwritten and written conditions of being a thaumaturge), kept me guessing and gave me a female protagonist who's as ruthless, pragmatist and unfazed as one could want her to be.
It took me a good few chapters (and Prunella's appearance) to get into the story (and then I took a break to read the newest Temeraire book) but once I did, I enjoyed it immensely. The characters were interesting and likable. The plot, while it felt slightly contrived at moments, was interesting enough (although I thought the pacing wasn't without its problems). But it was the voice that I loved best--the irreverent, amusing tone that made me re-read passages. If Perilous Life... and Terracotta Bride both seemed emotionally removed for the sake of creating the right impression, here this distancing seemed to make sense in light of the overall worldbuilding and time setting. And above all else, there was an emotional climax that felt fully satisfactory for me, unlike in these earlier stories.
I look forward to Zen Cho's next.
Finally a Zen Cho I really got into! After my initial two half-failed attempts--stories I appreciated but didn't quite feel too compelled by--I think I was finally on the same wave length with the story. The tale of Zacharias, a Sorcerer Royal whose position (a source of trouble in itself) is constantly endangered by the racism of his contemporaries, and of Prunella, who is extremely magically talented, but happens to be neither well born, nor a man, nor white (unwritten and written conditions of being a thaumaturge), kept me guessing and gave me a female protagonist who's as ruthless, pragmatist and unfazed as one could want her to be.
It took me a good few chapters (and Prunella's appearance) to get into the story (and then I took a break to read the newest Temeraire book) but once I did, I enjoyed it immensely. The characters were interesting and likable. The plot, while it felt slightly contrived at moments, was interesting enough (although I thought the pacing wasn't without its problems). But it was the voice that I loved best--the irreverent, amusing tone that made me re-read passages. If Perilous Life... and Terracotta Bride both seemed emotionally removed for the sake of creating the right impression, here this distancing seemed to make sense in light of the overall worldbuilding and time setting. And above all else, there was an emotional climax that felt fully satisfactory for me, unlike in these earlier stories.
I look forward to Zen Cho's next.