I had a hard time reading this book but I did love the concept of the book. The magic system was excellent and how it was tangled with history. One thing that was a big issue to me was it was too political and that just wasn't for me. I do have a few friends that will absolutely love this book and I will tell them they should go out to buy it.

Wow! I loved H.G. Parry's prose, her writing is clear and elegant. The premise was really unique, and was handled superbly. Sometimes alternate histories can be really juvenile, but A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians was both magical, and cleverly written. The magic is balanced with a heavy dose of politics, which both adds depth to the story and grounds it. I do wish the book has a different cover though. I think the cover gives off the wrong vibe, and I was expecting something entirely else based on the cover and the description.

I plan on expanding this review on my blog and Goodreads. Thank you for the ARC! I am eagerly awaiting Parry's next book!

Had a hard time getting through this honestly. Could not get into the story very well. It wasn’t a draw in instantly couldn’t put it down book for me.

Not a terrible book! Just focuses too much on politics. I wished they had focused more on the magic

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians follows three sets of characters: the new British PM William Pitt and his friend Wilberforce fighting for abolition in post American Revolutionary Britain, Robespierre at the dawn of the French Revolution, and a woman, Fina, enslaved on a Jamaican sugar plantation. However in this version of our world there is magic. Magic is typically reserved for the elite and commoners are imprisoned or executed for its use by the Nights Templar. Pitt and Robespierre inherited rare forms of dangerous magic that must be kept quiet. The slave trade even more horrific with the additional use of alchemical spell-binding that renders them unable to control their bodies while sparing their ability to think and feel.

I was initially drawn to the book by the extraordinary cover. It has an intriguing magic system I enjoyed reading about and honestly would have enjoyed more of a focus on the magic than on the litigation of it. I’m generally wary of retellings or the use of prominent historical figures in alternate histories, but I think Parry did an excellent job of bringing her version of these figures to life. The book unfortunately had a difficult time of keeping my attention. This is an extraordinarily dialogue heavy book. While a good deal of it is witty, interesting, and informative, over time the inclusion of the history and politics weighed down the pace immensely. I would look forward to Pitt and Wilberforce’s encounters with shadows, Robespierre and his mysterious benefactor, or any of Fina’s story and notice I was skimming through the politics more and more frequently to get to more interesting bits. Ultimately I DNF’ed the book at page 191.

In theory, a book about the Age of Enlightenment and magic would seem rather interesting. In practice, however, the story was too much politics and not enough magic.

"A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians" is an incredibly clever and bold approach to the fantasy genre. It's an alternate history of the late eighteenth century, the time of the French Revolution's madness and excesses. Shuttling between London, Paris, and Haiti, it's a world filled with magic. In France and England, magic is suppressed by law. The Knights of Templar regulate magicians. Only aristocrats can use it. In France, its use is limited by bracelets. In Haiti, the enslaved drink a potion each day to suppress their magic and keep them subservient. But, Revolution is in the air and in Haiti and Santo Domingo, there is open rebellion. In London, abolition is hotly debated. In Paris, Robespierre breaks open the gates to the Bastille. Exhaustively researched, very detailed, at times, the reading is dense and too-filled with political minutiae so that it's not always a smooth read. Nevertheless, the concepts are fascinating.

The description of this book got me excited but unfortunately it was a very dry and boring read. The magic needed to be amped up and the politics toned down. The story was hard to follow because it had a very detailed political plot. There wasn't anything in this book to keep me engaged which is why I struggled to get through it.

This was... awesome.

It's an alternate history, a magical retelling of the late 1700s. But I've read quite a few alternate histories, and quite a few books that try to pull the "ohoho this historical famous person turns up in my story" gambit, and most of them fall flat. Most of them are hackneyed, and just seem gimmicky. This, like I said, was awesome.

The most important thing you need to know is that it's political as heck.

Do not expect a rip-roaring action adventure, although there certainly are some moments. But if you like political skulduggery, the French Revolution, vast contests between nations, exploration of the tension between a man's loyalty to higher ideals and his loyalty to loved ones... If you watch the movie Amazing Grace and almost lose it with glee over the parliamentary shenanigans and the relationship between Wilberforce and William Pitt... then this is DEFINITELY the book for you.

This book does get dark, at points, but it's almost all the historical aspects -- slavery, and the French Revolution. I love this book, I want to have it on my shelf, and I can't wait for the sequel where we get to see Napoleon and the great, magical showdown.

A very difficult book to get into; I'm afraid I couldn't get beyond 15% of it. The plot seems to meander, going nowhere. The magic is interesting, especially the rules and the restrictions placed on its use, but the plot needs more focus in my opinion.

This story was magical, whimsical, and fun. It did not disappoint. The characters in this book were well developed and the plot was intricate and amazing. This novel was beautifully written.