Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

6 reviews

clarabooksit's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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percys_panda_pillow_pet's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I never thought I'd be so invested in the Age of Enlightenment and Reign of Terror outside of history class, yet here I am! H.G. Parry is really a genius at blending historical facts and figures with magic and other fantasy elements. The characters were brilliantly crafted, even with the basis of their real-life historical counterparts.

When I picked up A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians at my local library, I just thought the title sounded cool and the summary was intriguing. However, I had this fear that the historical elements would be too boring so I started putting off reading it. I'm really glad I just buckled myself down and got it done, though, because this was such a good and solid read. I really appreciate the characters more than anything. I was so invested in the outcome of their arcs, despite the flaws they all held. Robespierre was especially fantastic, as from his perspective the reader felt sympathetic to him and even rooted for him despite the atrocities he eventually committed. In the end, I really felt bad for him. Even throughout the book, I just sort of felt bad for him, due to the strings being pulled knowing and unknowingly.

I think my only issue with the entire book was that by the end, though there were elements of the plot wrapped up, there were far more loose threads. It didn't feel like it could ever standalone apart from the series of books it belongs to. Of course, it is part of a series, so it's not expected to be totally independent, but I was definitely disappointed when I finished it and realized I didn't have the sequel on hand to start immediately. My recommendation for this series so far is to try and read all the books one after another if possible. Unfortunately, there are only two books of the series out so far, so that does limit that recommendation.

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quirkykayleetam's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Welcome to another book that I cannot give an objective rating to because it happens to appeal to my very niche interests: political debate surrounding British abolition.

This book emphasizes the historical in historical fantasy, repeating historical debates and events with a slight magical twist. The question is never WHAT is going to happen, but WHY. What is driving things behind the scenes in this magical version of history.

The novel gets top marks from me for its excellent banter between William Pitt and William Wilberforce (the historical characters I know best) and because it starts, not with anyone famous or recognizable, but from the point of view of a slave in Jamaica. The book immediately centers a usually ignored perspective in history as the most important and an ignored character as the person upon whom the entire plot might hinge.

Points taken away because of the dark ending to the book where things seem to be driven by one person, leading to a head-to-head show-down. There is much more complexity in history, in this magic system, and in this world than that. I hope the sequel does not let me down.

Are there dragons? No, but you should know that there are vampires and that this is a major plot point.

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