annieb123's Review of A Radical Act of Free Magic (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.

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.

A Radical Act of Free Magic (Shadow Histories, #2)

by H. G. Parry

Reviewed by annieb123 on Dec 25, 2021

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