Stevie‘s review of The True Queen (Sorcerer Royal, Book 2) by Zen Cho
Historical Fantasy published by Ace 12 Mar 19
I greatly enjoyed Zen Cho’s first Sorcerer Royal book and have been impatiently awaiting the next in the series. Although I was a little surprised that this new story opened not in England, but on a foreign shore, and featured completely new characters, all the elements soon fell into place as we learned how these people were connected to the British magicians and magiciennes, as well as to the world of Fairy – the Unseen Realm as our new friends would have it.
Muna and Sakti remember nothing of their lives before they awoke on a Malaysian shore, but know instinctively that they are sisters. They are taken in by a local witch, Mak Genggang, who tells them that they have been cursed. While the witch is trying to discover who or what has cursed them, Muna – who has no magic – is set to work in the kitchens, whereas Sakti is taught how better to use her own magic. After carrying out some investigations of their own, the girls learn that someone called Midsomer is connected to what happened to them. With Sakti becoming increasingly weakened by the curse, Mak Genggang sends the girls to England by way of the Unseen Realm, in the hope that the Sorceress Royal might be able to help them, where she cannot.
Things don’t go according to plan: Sakti gets stranded in the Unseen Realm and Muna finds herself alone at the school run by the Sorceress Royal, Prunella Wythe, and her friend Henrietta Stapleton. The school and its inhabitants are not at all as she expected them to be, but she tries to fit in, while hiding the fact that she possesses no magic of her own. Soon Muna is caught up in all manner of intrigue, involving multiple members of the Midsomer family. The Fairy Queen has had a valuable treasure stolen from her and, suspecting that the Sorceress Royal or some other English person is hiding it, sends a representative to the school to either find it or bring back high-ranking prisoners for her to eat. Meanwhile, Prunella’s friend Rollo Threlfall and his great love Poggs Damerrell are being held prisoner in Fairy, due to Rollo’s own suspected involvement in the theft of the treasure his draconic family were supposed to guard.
Rollo manages to get a message to Muna to pass on to Prunella, and the two young women set off to conduct a thrilling rescue – which Muna hopes will allow her to save her sister at the same time. Through their adventures, we learn a lot more about the politics of Fairy, and slowly piece together the clues as to who Muna and Sakti really are.
I loved this book at least as much as the previous one, and it was great to both meet new friends and be reunited with older ones. We also learned far more about the magical politics of England, as well as those of other parts of the mortal realm than were revealed in the first book and it was fun seeing how the families of the various central characters compared with each other. There’s loads more to learn about this world yet, and once again I can’t wait for the next instalment.
Grade: A
Summary:
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.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
