The True Queen Series: Sorcerer royal 2 Published by Penguin on March 12, 2019
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Dragons & Mythical Creatures, Fiction / Fantasy / Historical, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency
Pages: 384
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Reading Challenges: 2024 Audiobook challengeOne of NPR's 50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade
In the follow-up to the "delightful" Regency fantasy novel (NPR.org) Sorcerer to the Crown, a young woman with no memories of her past finds herself embroiled in dangerous politics in England and the land of the fae.
When sisters Muna and Sakti wake up on the peaceful beach of the island of Janda Baik, they can’t remember anything, except that they are bound as only sisters can be. They have been cursed by an unknown enchanter, and slowly Sakti starts to fade away. The only hope of saving her is to go to distant Britain, where the Sorceress Royal has established an academy to train women in magic.
If Muna is to save her sister, she must learn to navigate high society, and trick the English magicians into believing she is a magical prodigy. As she's drawn into their intrigues, she must uncover the secrets of her past, and journey into a world with more magic than she had ever dreamed.
Review:
In The True Queen sequel to the Sorcerers’ Crown, Zen Cho perfectly conjures the period’s opulence, absurdity, and conflict. Her magical societies are so wholly interwoven with history that you’ll start to believe there was a Sorceress Royal – and that centuries ago, you could travel through Fairyland from one side of the world to the other. The writing is just as witty and tongue-in-cheek as ever; so many lines had me doubled over, laughing at the sheer, dry wit. There’s also a sapphic relationship! The pacing is superb – I couldn’t put this book down, yet it never felt like it was going too fast. There are ebbs and flows to the narrative that allows the reader to take a step back and absorb everything that’s happened without actually breaking from the flow of the story. Though there were several years between the two books, I am glad I got to read them together long after they were published and enjoy them one right after the other.
About Zen Cho
Zen Cho was born and raised in Malaysia, and lives in the UK. She writes fantasy and romance. Her titles include the Sorcerer to the Crown historical fantasy novels and Malaysian contemporary fantasy Black Water Sister, as well as the Lambda Award-nominated novella The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, and a short story collection, Spirits Abroad. Her newest novel, The Friend Zone Experiment, is a contemporary romance set among London’s East and Southeast Asian community.
Zen is a winner of the Hugo, Crawford and British Fantasy Awards and the LA Times Ray Bradbury Prize, as well as a finalist for the World Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, Astounding, Kitschies and Diverse Book Awards. Her short fiction has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Chinese and Japanese. She has spoken at literary festivals and conventions, taught creative writing and appeared on radio, and was once a model in a campaign for a global luxury make-up brand, chosen specifically for her accomplishments rather than her looks.
When she isn’t writing, Zen works as a lawyer. She enjoys cooking and baking, reading, gossip and travel.
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