The True Queen

By: Zen Cho

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin

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.

©2019 Zen Cho (P)2019 Recorded Books

Perfect!

This is a must read for fantasy lovers of color. You will see yourself and laugh, be entertained, and fall in love with each character. 👍🏽👍🏽

A Solid Sequel

I wouldn’t call this a follow-up to the first novel in the duology as this centers around completely new characters sometime after the events of the first. However, the book does heavily feature a number of returning characters - most notably Henrietta Stapleton, Mai Genggang, Rollo, and Damerrel. That old Regency era style of writing also returns! So many reader-listeners hated it in the first book, but I quite liked it. If that’s something you couldn’t stand in the first installment, you may not fare any better this time around.

It was a pleasant, easy listen, and while there weren’t many twists and turns it was fun to figure it out and wait to see my theories confirmed. It was sweet. I think some of the action would have been better served with more build-up throughout the novel and a few of the relationships could have also read better if they’d also been given more attention along the way. Still, I can’t say I was disappointed with anything.

If you enjoyed the first book and aren’t looking for a serious and deep novel to read but something lighter and a bit silly this is great!

Part Sorcerer to the Crown, part Diana Wynne Jones

The first book in this series, Sorcerer to the Crown, was very much a fantasy of manners. It had humor, action and magic, but all was anchored in a portrait of the strictures of 19th-century British society. Race, class, gender and politics were as central to the story as sorcery.

The second book focuses on a different set of characters. While listening to it, I kept being struck by how much it felt like a Diana Wynne Jones novel--Castles in the Air, one of the books in the Wizard Howl series, came particularly to mind. It was much less grounded in real human society, much more free-wheeling and fantastical (and some of the characters a little more arch and ridiculous).

Finally it dawned on me that the narrator, Jenny Sterlin, also read the Wizard Howl books! That doubtless accounts for part of the remblance, but the fact remains that I never considered it with book 1. If you miss the late, great DWJ, this would be a great choice. But if you're yearning to dive back into politics and propriety, you might be a little disappointed.

More Please

As with every story you create, I am left wanting the characters lives to continue to the next adventure

charming!

I found this book to be really delightful and very charming good adventure good characters in and a Sweet Love story