A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians

A Novel

By: H. G. Parry

Narrated by: Andrew Kingston

Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

A sweeping tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a genre-defying story of magic, war, and the struggle for freedom in the early modern world.

It is the Age of Enlightenment - of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution in France, to the weather mage Toussaint L'Ouverture leading the slaves of Haiti in their fight for freedom, to the bold new Prime Minister William Pitt weighing the legalization of magic among commoners in Britain and abolition throughout its colonies overseas.

But amid all of the upheaval of the early modern world, there is an unknown force inciting all of human civilization into violent conflict. And it will require the combined efforts of revolutionaries, magicians, and abolitionists to unmask this hidden enemy before the whole world falls to darkness and chaos.

For more from H. G. Parry, check out The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep.

©2020 H. G. Parry (P)2020 Redhook

Critic Reviews

"Impeccably researched and epically written, this novel is a stellar start to what promises to be a grand new fantasy series." (Booklist, starred review)

"A rich, sprawling epic full of history and magic, Declaration is Jonathan Strange with international politics and vampires. I loved it." (Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January)

"Fans of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell will be enchanted by this sprawling epic of revolution and dark magic." (Locus)

Could have been better

2.5 stars

I expected this to be so much better than it actually was. My biggest complaint is that it was boring. It didn't make me mad, it didn't make me sad, it didn't make me glad. It didn't really inspire any emotions in me, which is pretty unfortunate. On paper, it sounded pretty good. The time period of the French Revolution, the issue of slavery in Britain as well as in the US and France, and well-known public figures of the time, like Robespierre all sounded great. Thrown on top of that were vampires and magicians. It all sounded very cool. But when I started listening, and it may have been the combination of the narrator and the story, but I had trouble keeping plugged in with endless discussions about politics, philosophy, and religion, The narrator also had this weird way of putting pauses in the middle of his sentences that ended up being more distracting than effective. I kept plugging along, hoping it would become better, and there were definitely moments where I became very interested in the characters and what was going on, but for the most part, I had to really force myself to pay attention. This was a very conversation-oriented book, and ultimately, it just didn't work for me. I started out really interested and excited to get the next book, but at this point, I think I'm going to give the second book a pass. I might still check out the other author's book, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Keep, because the description definitely sounds intriguing, but for now, I'm going to give this author a rest.

If you like Harry Potter and History, must read!

Every year, around the beginning of Fall, I google "books to read if you love Harry Potter." Every year, I am horribly disappointed. But not this year!

This concept was a daunting challenge, to say the least. This author is an incredible writer... to somehow recount the events surrounding the French Revolution with immense historical precision and still tell a new story with well-developed and sympathetic characters is quite the feat. It was masterfully accomplished.

I am a high school French teacher, so I knew which characters wouldn't make it, but I still felt their loss and mourned their downfall.

As for the performance... it was better than average. The Narrator sometimes slipped back into a British accent and I did have a hard time telling who was speaking during some of the more intense, back and forth conversations. But all around, he was solid.

If you like history and fantasy, this is a must-read.

Abolition, French Revolution and Magic...

Took a shot on this on a whim after seeing a print copy at the store. Glad I did. A really interesting alternate history novel tied to the French revolution, but in this reality, magic and magicians are real. They are fighting for their rights while at the same time, the battle for the abolition of slavery rages in the the territories controlled by France and Britain.

Great Book!

I loved this book and I really loved the unique story. The different perspectives of the same story helped to get a wider picture of the world. I would love to read more books in this setting.

In the Same Vein as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

An astounding novel that combines real people and events from history and mixes them with fantastic and logical magic.

Loved their first book - this one not so much

This is a historical period I know well and it felt as though the author was determined to show every moment of their research. i was continually on the point off giving up on it as too dull but tottered on to the end. I'm not sure it was worth the effort.

Some alternate histories feel witty and fun, this felt turgid and fairly pointless. Also pitt the younger and robespierre being powerful magicians... well it felt a bit too convenient.

And the book is at least 6 hours too long. for me it dragged. I loved so much about the first book, but felt it was a bit slow in places so would try the new one... only to find that there was much more of the slow bits and less of the characters and conversation and flights of fancy.

That said, it's fairly well written, is clear in description and there's obviously an enquiring mind at work. It would be much more pleasant if they didn't insist on showing ALL their research in such tedious detail.