Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Freed slave Zacharias Wythe is the first black sorcerer in Britain - and he's at his wits end. Not happy about a black man holding the staff of the Sorcerer Royal, Britain's aristocratic magicians are undermining him at every turn. In fact, someone is so unhappy about it that they keep trying to kill him. Making his position even more precarious is the closure of Britain's border with Fairyland which is causing Britain's atmospheric magic levels to drop dangerously low. With all this going on, the last thing he needs is an extremely talented but exasperating young student who insists on breaking every rule in magical society.

Sorcerer to the Crown is an imaginative and funny romp with sparkling prose and surprisingly biting social observations about race, class and gender. Fantasies set in regency London have been done before, but the diverse set of characters is new and both protagonists - one a freed slave, the other a mixed race woman - face prejudices that add a more unique aspect to a well worn setting. However, I felt that Sorcerer to the Crown was not quite sure what it wanted to be. The plot was definitely underdeveloped and lurched from a romance to a comedy of manners to an Austenesque social commentary and back again, and so I found it hard to keep track of what the hell was going on. Either the book needed to be longer, or some of the most absurd parts of the plot needed to be cut. That being said, I liked Sorcerer to the Crown, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

Recommended for: Anyone who likes their fantasy light and humorous.

Rating: I liked it, but didn't love it. Three stars on Goodreads. 

Read On: Sorcerer to the Crown is the first book in a planned trilogy with the second book, Sorcerer Royal due to be published later this year. Other historical fantasies with a 19th century British setting include Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and Soulless by Gail Carriger.