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Bibliophiles of the internet, my name's Adriana and today I'm here to share my thoughts on
"Sorcerer to the Crown" by Zen Cho.
"Sorcerer to the Crown" is a fantasy of manners set during the Regency Era. It's about a character named Zacharias,
who becomes England's first ever African Sorcerer Royal.
His predecessor, mentor, and father-figure, Sir Stephen, has recently passed away and is haunting him,
and also Zacharias is dealing with a severe magic shortage effecting England, especially in light of their war with France.
What's more, he stumbles across a crafty female magician named Prunella, and although women are forbidden
from practicing magic, she may just be the key to solving the country's crisis.
I love this book for so many reasons. Not only is it written exceptionally well, but it presents a strong social commentary
on the intersections of privilege, race, and gender, and how those things affect our ability to move through the world.
I really connected with Zacharias' struggles. His mentor, Sir Stephen, was a white Englishman, beloved and respected by all.
But Zacharias is not only trying to manage a very difficult office, but he also has to worry about other people's prejudice.
You can see him analyzing how he's presenting himself—forcing himself to be overly-collected, worrying about
whether he's being pleasant ENOUGH, because he's aware that society falsely associates brown people,
especially African people, with anger, violence, and aggression.
So he's never able to truly be comfortable, he's never allowed the luxury of letting his guard down,
because if he doesn't conduct himself in a certain way, that directly affects the way his colleagues view him,
and that could, in turn, effect his ability to do his work.
Zacharias is not only burdened with maintaining a very stressful office, but he's also aware that his competence
is constantly being tested and called into question, more so than his white counterparts.
Somehow, the subject of his professionalism and his ability to do magic is always open for debate,
whereas everyone else's, conveniently, is not.
I also really appreciate that the story addresses the uselessness of white guilt
and the extra burden that it places on people of color.
Both Zacharias' mother- and father-figures are white, most of his colleagues and superiors are white,
so naturally he does maintain a lot of personal relationships with people who have more privilege than him,
and he's extremely conscious of not letting them see the aggressions and the ugliness that he has to deal with,
because he knows that if he lets them into that part of his day-to-day, their immediate reaction is going to be
a very strong mixture of pity and guilt.
And then he would have to waste his time reassuring them, making sure THEIR feelings aren't hurt, on top of
still dealing with problems and pain that they will never understand anyway.
But I like the Zacharias has so many complicated and messy relationships in his life. Because he does love Sir Stephen
as a father, and he is grateful for the opportunities that Sir Stephen's position has afforded him.
But love and admiration cannot account for the barriers that will always be between them, because Sir Stephen,
even in death sometimes, maintains more power and more privilege.
Through that lens, the story comments on the white savior complex, because Sir Stephen bought Zacharias out of slavery,
essentially became his father, and educated him about magic, but at the same time, that wounded Zacharias.
He knows he was only saved because he had something to offer, because he proved to be of value,
and because he was chosen to show that all African people can do magic.
But part of him will always resent that none of his other enslaved loved ones were saved,
because they weren't valuable enough. And that kind of burden really does leave a mark on his relationship with Sir Stephen.
But then, on top of all of that, there's this second layer, because of our second main character, Prunella,
who is a biracial woman of color, and a magician at that.
She really brings everything into perspective, because, yes, Zacharias is very much oppressed,
but at the end of the day, he's still allowed into The Society, and he's still able to hold office, because he is a MAN,
and even men of color maintain that privilege.
Because of that privilege, at first he even holds his own contentions and misgivings about women being able to wield magic,
what with their frail bodies and sensitive dispositions.
And the we see that same problem arise when Zacharias recognizes how talented Prunella is,
and THEN deems her worthy to work with and teach, so that he might mold her into the shining example of why
all women should be able to practice magic.
But at the same time, they do both have that connection of being discriminated against and treated differently
because of their race and appearance, and through that they're able to forge a deeper relationship,
even though the struggles they face are very much separate.
That's what was most powerful to me, was that the story is able to explore the nuances of privilege and love,
while also showing that when one oppressed group breaks through a barrier, there will always be another group
waiting to be afforded that same basic privilege.
And it also does a great job of showing how it feels when you belong to several different groups that don't always overlap,
because then you might be waiting a very long time for ALL the parts of you to achieve justice or equality.
We always need to be fighting the same fight over and over again;
we always need to be making way for those who still don't have a voice.
And the story also shows that it is possible for those who have been othered to, in turn, other different groups
and maintain their own prejudices, which is why we always need to keep our eyes and ears open
to the struggles of those who are different from us.
In other words, privilege is and always will be relative.
Anyways, this story had a profound impact on me. It was very thought-provoking, but it was also just a damn good,
delightful story overall, and I gave it five stars.
So those are my thoughts on "Sorcerer to the Crown." Let me know in the comments if you have read this book
or if you would like to read this book in the future. Any and all thoughts are welcome.
But that is everything I had for this review today. Thank you so much for watching this video.
I really hope that you enjoyed it, and I will catch YOU on the flip-side of the page.
Bye!
[♫ snazzy end screen music ♫]