Fantasy isn’t usually my “go to” genre but I’ve been trying to expand my repertoire so that I can reccomend a variety of titles to students. Various book podcasts expounded upon the wonder of this novel. Needless to say I was expecting great things the moment my eyes settled on the first sentence…but I was a bit disappointed. I didn’t find it immediately riveting. But, I stuck to it (I have a “give a book 100 pages before giving up” rule), trooping through backstory and antecedent action.
Then…
I met Prunella
(no worries, Prunella showed up well within the first 100 pages).
Prunella has become my new favourite character making the story’s protagonist Zacharias more complex and interesting. After meeting Prunella I soon fell in love with this story and found myself completely immersed in the world of “old England” and the land of Fairy.
This novel reminded me a lot of Susanna Clarke’s “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” another favourite of mine but “Sorcerer to the Crown” is far more accessible in length for my students.
I cannot WAIT for the next in the series. I will definitely be adding this title to my little classroom library and have already reccomended it to our school librarian.
Zen Cho has become my front runner in fantasy favourites.
Ink And Spine 