The True Queen (Sorcerer to the Crown, #2)

by Zen Cho

One 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.

• ISBN10: 0425283410
• ISBN13: 9780425283417
• Publish Date: 12 March 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425283417

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

I read Sorcerer to the Crown for the first time right before reading this one TBH. The True Queen flows perfectly from it.

I still really fucking love Prunella. Zacharias continues to get better. We see little of them as a honeymoon phase couple, sadly. But what I see, I like.

The romance level is exactly the same: companionship, glances & guesses. Except no one is suggestive or teasing about the w/w couple. Which sucks. I felt cheated out of more in a way absent from the Sorcerer to the Crown.

I love the unique POVs while learning more about Faerie, dragons, and the island.

I didn't see villian coming. I didn’t see the solution to the character’s problems though it was obvious retrospectively. I saw part of the ending coming & I think most would but how it comes about & turns out was all surprise. And getting there was all good.

I'd love more of the series. BUT I'd want more resoluteness & on page romance before the very end. Especially if the couple is marginalized. Why only white ppl & supernatural get to romance on page in fantasy?

I mean, I’ll read them but I won’t be as satisfied even if the other qualities continue to remain the same gold standard.