Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


A Title Both Literal and Not

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

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I saw the author post something on social media before this was released about how some early readers didn’t think the novella had enough fighting to be wuxia. Zen Cho said that was because she meant for the novella to be a fan-fic of an imaginary 50 episode tv series of that genre. I don’t really know much about wuxia but I do think that The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water has the flavor of it at least. The general premise is […]

More Magic A Little Austen and A Few Surprises

The True Queen by Zen Cho

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I’ve had The True Queen sitting on my shelf a while; long enough that I remember the general plot and characters of the first novel in the series (A Sorcerer to the Crown) which ended up being a little bit of a problem when I didn’t quite remember who certain characters were at first or how they were meant to relate to each other. The first novel is Jane Austen-esque, and this one keeps the general vibe, but the story this time is all new; […]

“Why, all the greatest magic comes down to blood. And who knows blood better than a woman?”

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

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Set in the Regency era, the book follows Zacharias Wythe, recently appointed Sorcerer Royal of England’s Unnatural Philosophers, who has to contend not only with rising opposition against his rule from his fellow sorcerers, but also a mysterious drain on the available magic in the country. Political crises, the question of women’s magic use, and the unstable relationship with Fairyland on which England depends for its influx of magic are all problems he must solve. On the surface, this is a pretty standard fantasy romp […]

A pretty good follow up to Sorcerer to the Crown, even if I did predict everything.

The True Queen (Sorcerer Royal, #2) by Zen Cho

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First of all, on the one hand this was a good follow up to Sorcerer to the Crown, which took pretty much everyone by surprise several years ago. It was like a little breath of fresh air, a light fantasy full of people of color in a setting people of color don’t normally inhabit in fiction (Regency England), taking on existing power structures and being all clever and wonderful. This book continues that tradition (this time with an emphasis on kindness and identity). At the […]

I was all about it until I wasn’t

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

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England has a bit of a problem.  Their magic is fading, and no one seems to know why. Zacharias, the new Sorcerer Royal, is determined to find out why, and hopefully fix the problem.  Poor Zacharias. He is young, and grieving for the death of his mentor, and suffering from a mysterious (to us, at least) malady. Oh, and he’s black. So really, there’s not much going for him. Prunella Gentleman is a young lady in a school for gentlewitches.  She’s not a student, though, […]

Magically Delightful

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

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It took me a while to find my feet in this one, but once I did, it was a delightful romp through a fantastical Regency England. In Cho’s world, magic is in the air….or it would be if the Fairy Courts hadn’t plugged up the hole allowing their magic to trickle into England. But someone’s pissed off the Fairy Queen, and it becomes quite the kerfuffle for our titular Sorcerer Royal, Zacharias. On top of Fairy feelings, Zacharais is also fighting deep seated racism since […]



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