A Radical Act of Free Magic: The Shadow Histories, Book Two (Shadow Histories, #2)

by H. G. Parry

A Radical Act of Free Magic is the epic conclusion to the genre-defying Shadow Histories series following A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians; a sweeping tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own.

The Concord has been broken, and a war of magic engulfs the world.

In France, the brilliant young battle-mage Napoleon Bonaparte and has all but conquered Europe. Britain fights back, protected by the gulf of the channel and powerful fire-magic, but Wilberforce's own battle to bring about free magic and abolition has met a dead end. In Saint Domingue, Fina watches as Toussaint Louverture navigates these opposing forces to liberate the country.

But there is another, even darker war being fought beneath the surface. A blood magician is using the Revolutionary Wars to bring about a return to dark magic. Across the world, only a few know of his existence and the choices they make will shape the new age of magic.

Praise for A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians:

'A rich, sprawling epic full of history and magic' Alix E. Harrow, Hugo award-winning author

'An absolute delight to read' Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library

'Impressively intricate; fans of the magic-and-history of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell will be delighted' Alexandra Rowland, author of A Conspiracy of Truths


The Shadow Histories
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians
A Radical Act of Free Magic

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

• ISBN10: 0356514714
• ISBN13: 9780356514710
• Publish Date: 22 July 2021 (first published 20 July 2021)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 528
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

A Radical Act of Free Magic is an immersive and beautifully rendered alternate history fantasy and the second volume of The Shadow Histories by H.G. Parry. Released 20th July 2021 by Hatchette on their Redhook imprint, it's 528 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

I love well written alternate history speculative fiction, and this is a good one. The characters are three dimensional and believable, the background settings are immersive and complete, and the dialogue is a joy. The Napoleonic wars time period is a personal favorite and the magical aspects, dark blood magic, magical beasts, and campaigns, are so well intertwined around a framework of real history that it's not always clear where one begins and the other ends.

Pitt's relationship with Wilberforce is a centrepiece of the novel and the author manages to convey the complexity and subtlety of their friendship without bogging the reader down in minutiae. There will be inevitable comparisons to Naomi Novik's Temeraire books, and whilst they're very different in both scope and content, I think there will be a large overlap in the readership and I would recommend this series to the fan of Novik's excellent novels. This is the second book in the series and although this book can be understood without any background, I believe it would work best read in order.

This would make a nice series for fans of historical fantasy, alternate history worlds, political history, and fans of the Napoleonic era. I was blown away by the depth of verisimilitude and world building.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Quirky Cat]

A Radical Act of Free Magic is the second novel in H.G. Parry's The Shadow Histories, an alternate historical fantasy like I've never seen before. I confess that I got so excited by this one that I didn't stop reading the first novel in the series first (bad me, I know), but I still really enjoyed everything I found within these pages.

Napoleon Bonaparte is a dangerous and brilliant battle-mage, and he's commanding an Army of the Dead as part of his plans for domination. He's taken down most of Europe, and yet some still resist. There will always be those that resist.

Yet the war against Napoleon is masking a hidden war, one that is infinitely more dangerous and should never risk being left unchecked.

"Are you smiling?"
"It's a serious frown, but I put it on backward."
"Well, straighten it."

Wow. What? Vampires and Napoleon in the same book? This is something that I never knew I needed, but now I'm not sure how I lived my whole life without it. A Radical Act of Free Magic is an intense and brilliantly unique novel; I can't believe more people aren't talking about it!

I know that to some, the concept might sound a bit...out there, but trust me – H.G. Parry is rocking it, bringing this alternate historical world to life in ways that I would never have even dreamed of.

It's more than enough to keep readers interested from start to finish; I can tell you that much. Better yet, this series is surprisingly approachable for new readers. I didn't read the first book in this series, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (I know, shame on me), but I didn't struggle at all. In fact, I was quickly sucked into the world.

I'm obviously going to go back and read the first novel at my earliest convenience because this series is worth a deep dive into!

Thanks to Redhook and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Thank you to Orbit Books and Angela Man for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. A Radical Act of Free Magic will be available on July 20th. This is the second book in the Shadow Histories duology.

I loved A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians and I had high hopes for its sequel. Let me say, A Radical Act of Free Magic did not disappoint! It continued the story perfectly, to the point where I felt like there hadn’t been a pause between the two books at all. This is a fantasy take on history (as evidenced by the fact that Wilberforce, Robespierre, and Napoleon are all characters) and Parry wrote it beautifully and with confidence. I think it takes a fair amount of skill to pull off something this ambitious. I have to say, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Parry came up with the idea for this series. Holy crow, it’s unique!

Parry’s writing is vivid and descriptive. I never lacked for details. There is no rushing to get to the action, which makes this a very slow moving book (at least for a good chunk of it). However, I was never bored. I was enthralled from the very beginning, sucked in by the richness of the prose. The story is a complicated one and could be confusing if not for the care taken to make sure each word is perfectly placed.

The characters were fascinating. I hesitate to say that I liked any of them, what with the fact that they are based on real people. Picking a favorite would seem weird to me. They were all great to read about; However, I did find Wilberforce’s point of view to be the most interesting.

I realize that I haven’t talked all that much about the fantasy aspect of this fantasy book. That’s because, oddly enough, it was the part of the book that interested me least. Okay, that doesn’t make sense since it is apparent throughout the story and is tied into the plot rather inextricably, but for me it’s the complex maneuvering and the moments of quiet tension that really drew me in.

This book isn’t all derring-do or action-packed moments. It has a slow build that is nonetheless engrossing. A Radical Act of Free Magic is smart, creative, and absolutely genius. I highly recommend reading it.

https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2021/07/12/a-radial-act-of-free-magic-by-h-g-parry/