I think Cindi J's review is quite comprehensive. What she doesn't say (and very likely didn't mind) is that this is in Regency-speak - not the slang, per se, but the obsessive politeness. Everyone uses a LOT of double negatives and such to work around giving insult. This is done to such a degree that it makes the reading slow going (at least for me it did).
Fun magic, fun villainy, fun characters but, oh, if only they could get to the point a bit faster.
Fun magic, fun villainy, fun characters but, oh, if only they could get to the point a bit faster.
Saw this described as a cross between Georgette Heyer and Susanna Clarke. As good as any quick description I think. The comparison to Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) is right up front. In this book, racism and sexism are alive and well in Regency England, and although magic works it's drying up - but only in England. Wythe, who is black, is tolerated as Sorcerer Royal only because the staff that goes with the job accepts him...and there are dire consequences if you grab it and aren't worthy. Wythe has ideas that are very unsettling to the status quo, and the hatred toward him from some of the other magicians are leading them to open warfare. When Wythe brings Prunella, a strong untaught magician but unforgivingly a black woman, to London it sets the stage for a real showdown. I thought both Wythe and Prunella are interesting characters, and this is fun world-building. Not quite certain I bought into just how Wythe became the Sorcerer Royal, but not a big deal.
