Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book. Loved the fantastical aspects of 18th century history of England, France and Haiti. There were draggy parts and the book became a bit of a slog. It was worth sticking with it. Characters are well developed and believable.
4.5 stars

this was a really good read, the characters were great and I really loved the plot. It left me wanting more from this series.

Well, this one was a tough one to rate. I had trouble getting into this book so I read it in spurts. Chunk reading is great if you find the material interesting but when you're struggling to stay awake, it's hard to retain the details.

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians felt like it could be a few books that were squished together to approximate the shape of a cohesive story. One "book" was about the aspects of Revolution and the subsequent difficulties regarding drafting and implementing a Constitution (including Magical rights and Slavery Trade rights) in differing countries. The second "book" was about the abolition of Slavery and all the barbaric, abhorant (physical and magical) practices that go hand in hand with that Trade. The third "book" was about the actual Magic. Who should have the rights to use it especially with social class distinctions? What was said magic allowed to be used for? AND, this third aspect of the book followed the Dark magic (shadow Magic and Necromancy). Who was orchestrating the creation of the malevolent shadows and to what end? All three "books" felt like they were barely tethered together and the result was a book that didn't quite know what it wants to be when it grows up. The technical aspects were all there. The writing was done well. The World Developement was rich and the Characters were likeable. I would have liked it more if the characters were more dimensional and if the different storylines gelled better.


Overall:

This Alt-Historical Fantasy felt period appropriate. The wording and ambience did manage to give off Revolutionary hues. You could feel the desperation, the repression, the injustice, the grit and the will to fight for better/ freer lives.

The premise was extremely promising but the product fell short for me. BUT if bland (too harsh?!?) Revolutionary, Alt- History, Magical Realism is your thing then you might want to give this one a go. I thought it would be a nice change from the pure Fantasy I have been submerged in lately but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

This is an alternate history infused with magic that vividly realized the past. But more than that and at its core, this is a story about friendship and ideals. It’s about how friendship and ideals can clash in ways both powerful and devastating, and how the choices of a few powerful men can change the lives of many.
Overall, I think this book is strong. It was often fun, definitely interesting, and a read I think people can talk about over drinks with friends. The characters were so richly drawn that I found myself deeply invested in them even when I didn’t agree with them, which is a fascinating balance.
It wasn’t entirely successful. The middle lulls quite a bit in connecting the beginning which was fun and full of youthful excitement and the end which was full of important consequences. The lull was hard to get through but the end was worth it.
I think the author was also balancing a lot of threads. To write a story about abolition that doesn’t read like a white savior novel and to inject magic into the past without absolving very human evil. It was delicately handled, and I think overall worked though it was the part I found myself wanting to talk over with others. I would be curious how other people took these considerations.
Overall, I really liked this book. The beginning as I said was fun, the ending meaningful. If you enjoy a historical fantasy, along the lines of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, I would give it a go! I’m certainly going to read the authors work again in the future.

I can’t say I had a ton of expectations going into A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians so when I got a story packed with political intrigue and on-the-ground explorations of a revolution from a personal standpoint… I mean, that’s what I got. And I loved it.

To be honest, I only really had one issue with this book and that’s the pacing. For nearly half the book, Parry is setting up a revolution for the ages. But this book is also massive so that’s well over 200 pages of prep work that you might just not want to slog through. I nearly stopped several times. Yet there’s this captivating element to each character (and there are quite a few) that made me turn the page one after the next.

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians puts you on the ground with the characters, right in the thick of a revolution, a cry for freedom from oppression told through the eyes of those it truly affects. Any time I see a revolution in a fantasy book, it’s often coming from the higher ranking characters in that society and doesn’t quite capture the need, the desperation to achieve something great. Here, though, it’s different.

The story alternates between the politically-minded William Pitt and Wilberforce, the revolutionary Robespierre, and the slave Fina in a twist on the French Revolution. Except this time with magic — shadows you can control, weather mages, necromancers, vampires, and mind control, just to name a few examples. None of these characters intend to play the roles they do but that’s what I found so interesting. They’re just people with dreams and ambitions caught up in something so much larger than themselves and working to make the best of it.

This is where Declaration really excelled. These characters are wholeheartedly human and they make mistakes. They make choices. And we get to see the impact of those choices, and the consequences. Even choices made in good faith don’t always work out the way you expect or want and it’s all there on the page.

I struggled with the book at times. The writing is quite dense and while everything still flows nicely, it can be a bit much to get through. Yet you’ll be thankful for it in the end because it frames this turning point in (fantastical) history so intimately that you’ll be standing there alongside the cast watching in awe and possibly fear as well.

If you’ve started reading and found yourself getting stuck, I strongly encourage you to keep pushing forward on this one. The payoff is there and it is superb. Seriously, the last 25% was ridiculous in the best way and that ending.

I was SO WORRIED thinking this was a standalone because I’ve heard nothing about a sequel, but the author confirmed it’s a duology on Goodreads and Thank. Goodness. That cliffhanger was killer.

For those just hearing about A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, let me just say it’s perfect for fans of historical fantasy who adore lots of political intrigue, scheming, and characters who must answer for their flaws (whether the consequences are good or bad). Despite the slow start, this has become a favorite of mine for the year and I’m dying to get my hands on the sequel!!

This books was ... just ok. There's a lot of exposition and dialog, but not much action to be a fully satisfying read. I liked the historical aspect of adding fantasy elements to the French Revolution, though. The subject and themes of this book are right in my wheelhouse, I just wish I had enjoyed it more. Still, not a bad book at all.

“For a second, the shadow remained still, and the world around them held its breath. Then, with a shriek that faded into a sudden rush of wind, it dispersed into vapor and blew away into nothing.”

I read the author’s first book “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap” and I thought that it was charming and witty. Unfortunately, those qualities were missing from this book which is set in England, France and Haiti. It is based on the French Revolution and the Haitian slave revolt - but with magic and vampires. It uses real characters such as Prime Minister William Pitt, Toussaint L’Ouverture and Maximilien Robespierre and sets them in a world in which magic is reserved for the aristocracy. It keeps slaves under control, but it’s use in war is forbidden.

I don’t think that the events depicted in this book really cry out for a fantasy retelling, but my main problem with the book was that it was exceedingly boring. The conversations and debates about magic (including necromancy, fire magic, blood magic weather magic and shadow magic), abolition, commoner’s rights and political maneuvering were interminable. It took me forever to finish reading this. When I was 80% through the book I suddenly realized that there was no way that things were going to be resolved in the final 20% of the book and my heart sank. I do want to know how things are going to turn out but I don’t know whether I have the strength to read part 2 of this. There was just too much talking and it drained the life out of me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

It is the little stage of events in history that intrigues and mystifies. Three factions often at war with each other must coexist if human kind is to continue. This is the crux of this mythical account of Revolution in the time of Robespierre. Incumbent to combat a force far more insidious than ever before, magicians, abolitionists and those in political power are no strangers to compromise for the common good. And as always insight into each other’s struggles breeds knowledge. A uncommon book perfect for an uncommon time.

DNF @ 38%

This makes me sad, but I finally had to call it. This languished on my Kindle for weeks without me having any desire to pick it back up, and when I finally did give it another chance, I made it through one more chapter before setting it aside again because I just didn't want to.

This was one of my most anticipated releases for this year. As soon as I finished reading The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep this book went on my TBR, because I'd loved the author's first book so much! Unfortunately, the two don't have a whole lot in common. I'd caution people who loved The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep that this book has an entirely different focus, with a heavy historical bent, with a slow burn plot. So if you're going into this because you loved H.G. Parry's other book, like I did, it's quite different. The two aren't easily comparable.

This book is 90% telling and 10% banter (which I did love) with very little real action going on. I did think the premise was super interesting, but it just didn’t hold my attention. There’s a lot of political talk in this, but not even the fun scheming sort that I like. It felt a lot like reading a history book at times, and I never did enjoy history books.

If you're a history buff, though, this book is probably for you! Parry does an amazing job of layering fantasy over the actual facts of the French Revolution, with astounding attention to details.

What this boils down to is I just thought it was so dry and without enough action to hold my attention. As I said, it was very much like reading a history book to me, where things that happen are often summarized, with brief interjections of scenes that we actually get to read as they happen.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the slavery portions. Slavery in and of itself is an atrocity. In my mind, it didn't require an even larger atrocity layered on top it, not to mention that it makes it even less excusable that people are adamantly defending it.

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H. G. Parry, a fun read that really feels like it puts you into the book. Set in the time of the french revolution with Slavery and Magicians rights fighting for Freedom.

**Full review to be added to Goodreads, Amazon, and NetGalley!**

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is as captivating as The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, but filled with far more revolutionary ideas and politics that really set it apart. Parry knows how to build a world that is filled with intricate details and magic systems, and it is what really makes her work shine!

I am hesitant when it comes to reading historical anything in terms of fantasy, partly because I feel there are often liberties taken. However, I think this book did a great job intermingling the era with the world of magicians and magic. Well done!

I won't lie, I was a bit concerned towards the beginning of the book. It was slow and introduced a lot of pieces and storylines. However, I was not disappointed as I kept reading. The characters were very well written and about halfway through you could tell most of them were also very well developed.

It reminded me a lot of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell which is most definitely not a bad thing because it's still one of my favorites.

All in all despite the slow start I found this book to be very enjoyable and would recommend it.

I was concerned with the two genres of historical fiction and fantasy as they both don’t to mesh well together bot Parry blended the two genres seamlessly. The characters and plot was rich. The worldbuilding was amazing. The political aspect can get messy and it may throw readers off but its important to the plot so I tried to muster through it all. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to purchasing a physical copy!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. As a lover of history in general, I fully enjoy when an author can use it and twist in the magic! As far as real life history meets fantasy, I dare say Parray stands with one of my favorites, Robin Lafevers.It is not an easy task to use real life and blend in the fantastical to make it feel like it really could have happened.

The first part of the story takes a bit to get into. There was a lot of information all at once. I do notice that this is a common trent so I try to push thought whenever possible and I'm so glad I did.

This story really hits home with the political climate the way it is right now. A lot of the story is about slavery and abolishment, so you get to see how people were treated differently based on race and class. I really enjoyed watching the characters go through the ins and outs of how to approach these matters.

I'm so thankful that this is going to be a duology because I can't wait to be back in this world after the ending the author left us with.

“Revolution. An overstatement, surely?” “It’s always an overstatement,” the man said. “Until the rioting starts.”

H.G. Parry’s A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a sweeping, sprawling, magic-infused political epic that relates one of the more dramatic parts of history, revolutions in France and what would become Haiti at the end of the 18th century, through a fantastical lens. This is a world where magic is restricted to aristocrats’ use, where enslaved peoples are bound as much by spells as by chains, where society is turned upside down and revolutions fought both because of and through the use of magic.

In so many ways, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians feels written to be one of my favorite books. I was a history major in college, a French Revolution nerd who’d grown up on Robespierre and St. Just and Desmoulins fanfiction LiveJournal groups (yeah, I admit it), with an equal love for fantasy novels, especially urban fantasy and low fantasy and whatever other terms people come up with to mean “our real world but with magic in.” An era I am both fascinated by and knowledgeable about, a “but with magic!” premise that had me constantly texting things like “omg Marat is a druid” to an equally nerdy friend (side note: we’re listed as Robespierre and St. Just in each other’s phones. We’re terrible people, yes, but I mention this to establish some nerd cred here), justified comparisons to my favorite book of all time, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell – it all should have added up to five-star perfection for me. And believe me, I wanted so much to love it. But it just…fell a little short.
I’ll say right here: this is still a positive review. I gave Declaration four stars on Goodreads, and 4.5 on other sites that utilize half-stars; I’m still recommending it to people, I’m still texting my St. Just-y friend to giggle over the “of COURSE that’s how they’d use magic” elements of the book. I did enjoy it. I maybe even loved it. But I went in with, perhaps unfairly, high expectations, and they were somewhat disappointed by the execution.

Declaration draws largely on real history, and the accuracy and authenticity of that history is to H.G. Parry’s credit; the seamlessness with which “…and magic!” can be plugged in, as it were, is likewise. Some of the magical details are so chef’s-kiss just right (hence the aforementioned texts!), and the fantastical elements of this version of the world truly do enhance, rather than overshadow or undermine, the real history, real lives, and real turmoil of the period. It becomes not so much alternate history, an exploration of “how would things be different if…?” as it is a parallel history exploring “how much would things be, in fact, still the same?” Given a world with magic threading it through it at every level, European nations still find ways to colonize and terrorize other cultures – they just use magic to do it. The Reign of Terror is still truly terrible and grotesque – but now the horror is added to by the vision of an undead army marching upon France’s battlefields. The practice of slavery is no less abhorrent, no less genocidal, for the inclusion of magic as an instrument of enslavement, and, significantly, it’s also not any more abhorrent with the use of magic than it was in our non-fantastic reality. That Declaration winds up feeling a bit like a pop history book more than a novel at times isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the authorial voice stands a bit outside, a bit detached, from its Great Men and Women of History characters, even when they are at their most human and emotional, even when depicting their points of view. It’s a style reflected, somewhat, in the character Fina’s strain of magic, her ability to view the world through others’ eyes, while remaining entirely herself. And it’s a style that makes sense for this grandiose, dramatic, revolutionary part of history, lending the story a sense of fatalism and inevitability that works for a novel based so much on real history that spoiler warnings feel almost silly, and in which most readers are probably aware of the broad results, at least, of the revolutions and uprisings that are terrifyingly, intoxicatingly, urgent to the characters experiencing them.

So why, if I’m praising all these aspects of the book, did I start by saying I was left a bit underwhelmed, feeling like somehow the book felt ironically bloodless? Because, and maybe this is too much my high expectations and my historical training speaking here, I kept waiting for Declaration to be about something more. It could have taken a few different paths with its mysterious mastermind in the shadows, mucking about in the minds of history’s important players – and it didn’t, ultimately, choose the one I thought would be most interesting, most rich, most…something. I’m left feeling a little uneasy about the suggestion of an unknown, Machiavellian figure literally manipulating the people who made history, because having that sort of shadowy mastermind behind it all didn’t end up meaning anything on a larger level. Robespierre, Pitt the Younger, William Wilberforce, Camille Desmoulins, Toussaint Louverture – these were significant figures, who shaped history around themselves, who made decisions and spoke words and took actions that changed the lives of everyone in their present time and for centuries to come. If you tell me they were all dealing with, influenced by, perhaps used by, the same single mystery man lurking in the shadows to shape history for his own ends instead, I’d like that mystery manipulator to be…a point. A thesis. A significance himself, however that plays out. Instead, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians ultimately seemed to be a great brush with fascinating pieces of history, overlaid with a magical sheen, and nothing more. Maybe that alone is enough, and I’d be lying if I pretended I didn’t have a lot of fun reading just that - but it could have been even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the advance review copy!

Thank you to Redhook and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I heard about this book when it was mentioned by a panelist at Virtual Balticon back in May. Am I glad I went to that panel!

This book is an incredible twist on the history surrounding the French Revolution. If you ever wondered "what would the 18th century world have been like with some magic thrown in?" this book not only answers that, it will answer it so realistically that you'll wonder if it were your own history books that got it wrong.

The only heads up I would give is that it's VERY heavy on political wrangling. This is not at all a problem for me, and is very fitting with what was going on at the time, but may not be what everyone looks for in this genre. Also, according to the author it's part one of a duology, so expect to wait until 2021 for the conclusion. Of course, the benefit to historical fantasy is that we can look in our history book and have a rough guess at what will happen, but where's the fun in that?

If you've spent your life since reading Harry Potter looking for the next book that totally sucks you into a magical world, put this one on your list NOW.

I was thinking A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians was going to be a more supernatural historical read but it leaned more toward political historical read and maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping. Politics does nothing for me. I get enough of it through everyday life I do not really care for reading about reading it in my books. I also found that A Declaration of the rights of Magicians to be quite boring at times and it was hard to get through. That could also be the political aspects rearing its head. Overall if you are fond of more political historical fantasy read I think you will enjoy A declaration of the rights of Magicians but if you are like me you might have a hard time with the it.

I love books set in an alternative historical England. I also like when books have different storylines being told. I enjoyed the characters, they were likeable and interesting. I probably wouldn’t have picked up this book in a book store, but I am glad I was approved on Net Galley and had the chance to read it. It was overall an enjoyable experience

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a truly brilliant example of alternative history. Parry managed to stay completely faithful to the persons and events that make up the true history of this time period while deftly adding in the existence of magic and exemplifying how that existence might have impacted the French Revolution and the British fight to abolish the slave trade. Historical figures like William Pitt, William Wilberforce, Toussaint Bréda L’Ouverture, and Maximilien Robespierre are all exquisitely portrayed both as individuals that really existed and fictional characters whose minds were are invited to explore. Parry balanced this contrast beautifully. She could have rewritten history in a way that made it somehow less. She could have stayed so true to history that the narrative felt more like a nonfiction text than a novel. But she did neither of those things. She was able to bridge that divide in a way that both informs and inspires, that encourages both historical curiosity and fantastical imaginings. I’m truly in awe of what she was able to do with this novel.

One of the things I loved most about this book is how the importance in friendship is demonstrated in each of the three plot-lines. Pitt and Wilberforce, Robespierre and Camille, Toussaint and Fina (a character of Parry’s own imagination) are the central hubs around which this triune story orbits, and their relationships with one another play incredibly important roles in history. These relationships are what kept the story from seeming too dry. I especially loved the friendship between Pitt and Wilberforce, and was always excited when the narrative swung back in their direction. Parry has a gift with her craftsmanship of witty dialogue that feels appropriate to the time period without ever seeming stuffy. I found every debate and conversation a pleasure to read because of this.

Slavery is the most heinous act we as humans have ever wrought upon one another. I didn’t think it could be portrayed in a worse light than its reality, but Parry managed to make it even more horrifying with her addition of spellbinding slaves by forcing them to ingest magical elixirs that deprived them of all outward freewill. I can’t imagine not being able to control my body at all, with every single blink and twitch dictated by someone who has decided that I am property. And to make matters in the book even worse, the spellbound slaves are still completely aware inside their minds and are screaming for release and fighting a losing battle for control of their own bodies. The concept is terrifying.

While I very much enjoyed the book, I must confess that I found myself getting bogged down in the legislation pretty frequently. This isn’t Parry’s fault, as the synopsis is very clear regarding the plot of the book, and it’s a plot that is necessarily very reliant on legality and politics. However, this obviously results in a slower pace and less action that some fantasy readers expect from the books they choose, so just be aware that this book is more of an alternate history that involves magic than it is a fantasy novel. While I haven’t yet read it myself, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell sprang immediately to mind within the first twenty pages, and I believe that fans of that novel will find Parry’s sophomore work very appealing.

My only other qualm with A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is Parry’s choice of ending. For such a large, often meandering novel, the ending felt very abrupt and left me unsatisfied. If there is a sequel planned, I will be much more content upon learning of its existence. But as I went into this book believing it to be a standalone, I was a bit frustrated when I read the final chapter and saw that I had reached the end before more of the plot-lines were tied up.
Parry is a brilliant author. She has a wonderful flow to her prose that feels both effortless and highly intelligent. I know how much research goes into a book like this, but Parry tells the story in such a way that the reader is able to forget how much work went into it and simply lose themselves in the writing. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both novels I’ve read from her, and I can’t wait to see what she puts out next. But I’m clinging to hope that said next book will be a continuation of this particular story.