Sorcerer to the Crown

"I was blown away immediately with this story. And I guess in some ways, this is like a bit like Babel . Again, here we are in a world that we recognise, a history that we recognise, the England we know, but in this version a royal society of magic exists. We are again at these intersections of colonialism and empire that I always find interesting, and looking at how magic is being used here—I suppose as a substitute for the other powers of empire. The head of the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, linked to the king, is the first person of African descent in the position. This is causing a stir – ‘what is he doing here?’ There are women who might become involved too. So, you have an old society locked in its own rigid orthodoxy, now being challenged by marginalised people who are also, we find, using magic from other systems, different to what the English are used to. I found the book fascinating because I’m a historian – this is a little earlier than my time period, but it’s in my wheelhouse – and I just thought it was well done. And there’s a dragon in here called Georgiana-without-Ruth, which was just hilarious to me. It’s a really matriarchal dragon. I love that not only is this linked to what’s happening in the Metropole, in London, but it’s also linked to these larger forces happening, for instance, in Malaysia – and it brings in these other bits of Malaysian folklore. I do that in A Master of Djinn where, while everything is centred around Cairo, I make sure magic is everywhere in the world: Germanic goblins, West African deities and what have you – a little bit of everything going on. Zen Cho is doing something similar in her world-building. I really, really liked this book. It was part of a duology. I’m still hoping that there’ll be more."