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What Members Thought
Delightful. Prunella is just so exasperatingly awesome, and staid Zacharias her perfect foil. The somewhat archaic language (or least time-period specific) fit so well, even if I did have to employ my reader's dictionary quite a bit (I enjoyed learning some new words). Great pacing, fantastic secondary characters (Damerell forever!), and a well-drawn world of magic and extremely believable (bureacracy and) politics.
Super fun. Even if you don't tend to go for fantasy, you should do yourself a fa ...more
Super fun. Even if you don't tend to go for fantasy, you should do yourself a fa ...more
i very much wanted to like this, but it turned out to be quite dull.
3.5 stars, really. I thoroughly enjoyed this but it's not like it was life-altering for me or anything.
Zacharias Wythe is the Sorcerer Royal, which is cause for great consternation amongst his peers because he's *gasp* an emancipated slave. A black guy! Oh noes! So he has his share of difficulties. When he goes north to investigate why magic is dwindling, he discovers not only that it was deliberately blocked by the fairies, but he also found a witch of incredible power. That poses another prob ...more
Zacharias Wythe is the Sorcerer Royal, which is cause for great consternation amongst his peers because he's *gasp* an emancipated slave. A black guy! Oh noes! So he has his share of difficulties. When he goes north to investigate why magic is dwindling, he discovers not only that it was deliberately blocked by the fairies, but he also found a witch of incredible power. That poses another prob ...more
This book feels like Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, mixed with a dash of MT Anderson's Octavian Nothing. A compelling read set in an interesting magical universe, dealing with class, caste and prejudice. Looking forward to more from Zen Cho.
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The book was good overall, but I had some problems with it. The language was a little off putting sometimes. It kind of reminded me of Shakespeare - there is nothing wrong with it, but it took me out of the story sometimes. My main problem was that I couldn't make any connection whatsoever to either of the main characters. I liked and wanted to know so much more about them. We got a bit at the end, but it wasn't enough for me. I would read another book by this author, but I might not rush right
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p. 33 "stoicheiotical"
If you like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, there is a chance you will like this book. Agreed. ...more
If you like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, there is a chance you will like this book. Agreed. ...more
Got a couple chapters in and was struggling with the language. It’s formal to the point of feeling stilted.
Sep 04, 2015
Melissa
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Dec 03, 2015
Rudy
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Dec 26, 2015
Jocelyn
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Jan 15, 2016
Aubrey
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Dec 31, 2016
Jenny
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Apr 14, 2017
gremlinkitten
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Jul 28, 2017
Kerry
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Jan 17, 2018
Julia
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Jun 07, 2018
Laura
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Aug 25, 2018
Michele Campbell
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Oct 23, 2018
Jen
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May 21, 2019
Dawn
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Jul 12, 2021
Crowinator
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Jul 23, 2023
Lucinda
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