Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Zacharias had never wanted to be the Sorcerer to the King.  Of course, he hadn't wanted Stephen to die either.  He doesn't like being in the public eye, he knows the fact that he is a freed slave is also detrimental to him, and he doesn't like most of the politicians he has to work with.  The problem is that Stephen was Sorcerer before him and he's inherited this position, along with the staff that grants him power.  What's he to do?

Penguin Group and Net Galley gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 1st, so look for a copy then.

It's indicative of Zacharias' nature that when another gentleman has been asked to speak at the girl's school, he talks Zacharias into doing it for him.  Zacharias has never held the view that most other men do about women and magic.  They think the women shouldn't be allowed to use any, they are lesser beings.  He's not sure about that but it might be because he's a black man.  When he finds Prunella dealing with two students who are throwing magical spells at each other and she's throwing the spells away, he's impressed.  He becomes more determined to teach women how to use their skills.

His main quest is to get the fairy world to let some magic seep into his world.  It seems the hole has been plugged and less magic is available.  Prunella doesn't seem to have a problem with that but most folks aren't as powerful as she is.  When her school mistress kicks her out of school, Prunella follows Zacharias.  It isn't long until she's involved in his problems.  She's also making him more problems!

You have characters of every kind in this story:  Dragons, mermaids, witches, fairies, and more.  Zacharias is in the middle until he finds out Prunella is an even greater sorcerer than he is.  Then he has a fighting chance.  I enjoyed this story and especially liked the ending.  I'm glad to see that there will be more in this series.  It will be fun to find out what the two of them do next.