Scan barcode
A review by christinecc
A Radical Act of Free Magic by H.G. Parry
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
I cannot believe H.G Parry stuck this kind of landing. Absolutely unbelievable.
"A Radical Act of Free Magic" is the second book in a duology which, last year, introduced us to a world of magic crossed with the French Revolution (& Terror), the Haitian Revolution, and the English abolitionist movement. The first book starred countless idealists who, by whatever means they could either stomach or justify to themselves, sought out freedom and justice. This didn't necessarily mean freedom and justice for all, as we soon saw, e.g. the Terror, continued slavery, and the shadowy vampire pulling strings every which way.
But not a single person in the first book thought they were a bad person aiming for bad results. They all thought they were doing the right thing in terms of what mattered to them (so... the vampire manipulating the antagonist forces sees "the right thing" very differently from necromancer Robespierre, escaped slave/revolutionary Fina in Haiti, or abolitionist Wilberforce in England).
This sequel and final installment shows us the limits of idealism. Parry retains most of the cast from the first book (minus a lot of French characters who had an encounter with Madame Guillotine) and lets them mature. Several years have gone by since the events of the last book. Our characters are wiser, more experienced, and also very tired. They are wondering if the goals they set out to accomplish are working, or if their methods are useless, or if their idealism is simply a means of making themselves feel better.
To some extent, all of these doubts are correct. Things are not same for Pitt and Wilberforce as they were in the first book, and the same can be said of Fina's alliance with Toussaint Louverture. Even the vampire's relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte bears little resemblance to his sly manipulation of Robespierre from "A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians." That's not to say that what is broken cannot be mended, and from that mending grow into an alliance stronger than ever before. It just takes the willingness to listen to those doubts in our head and see what can change for the better.
(I'm desperately trying not to spoil anything but in terms of plot: any history enthusiast of the Napoleonic wars and Haitian Revolution would freaking love this book. I'd even recommend it to people who don't typically seek out fantasy books. Parry's research is GOOD. Really, really good. And wherever possible, she makes a point of not "fixing" characters to be more palatable to a modern audience, without sacrificing the things that do make them compelling and worthy of the reader's support. One example is Nelson (more of a supporting character), whom Parry characterizes as brave, loyal to his crew, and willing to put himself in danger in a likely deadly naval battle, but she also makes it clear that he is an anti-abolitionist, and that cannot--and should not--be erased. Pitt and some other political figures are... possibly/likely whitewashed a little. But I will say that even with him, Parry tries to make him face his mistakes and acknowledge them. It just doesn't seem as stark a rebuke as with Nelson.)
On a really positive note, I remember having two bits of criticism for the first book (which was still a 5-star read, for what it's worth). First, the book had nearly no women in it, which was a shame considering there were female historical figures that could have made the cut. Second, the third protagonist Fina (an escaped slave in Jamaica turned revolutionary in Haiti) felt much less developed than the English and French factions.
I guess I should have known Parry would address both of these in the sequel (which, let's be honest, she certainly planned before the first book was even published given the amount of research she had to do). But I never, ever would have guessed Parry would make the two weaknesses of the first book the HEART of the second book.
I loved every single chapter with Fina and her journey in this sequel. Toussaint gets a ton more page-time by extension and (wow wow wow) did I become invested in their push-and-pull partnership, both striving to find the balance between what is right and what is possible.
Moreover, we meet several new female characters such as Hester Stanhope (Pitt's niece) and the most surprising addition, Kate Dove, a commoner with weather magic. Even characters who could have been minimized as "ah, yes, the wife of so-and-so, how lovely she is" and never developed were instead turned into fully realized characters. And, to the detriment of my tear ducts, every single person in the book gets the most moving and, more importantly, satisfying conclusion to their arcs.
Endings are hard to write. Long books with good endings are even harder to write. Parry somehow nails both, with a middle section that keeps you reading until you're barreling towards the conclusion, hoping against all hope that your favorites pull through.
It's been a long journey since the first book, which was one of my first reviews when I joined Netgalley at the start of the pandemic. And now I can honestly say that this sequel is even more ambitious than the first, and it was worth every page. It may not be perfect, and I certainly intend to learn more about this history for myself (literally had no idea who Pitt was in 2019 beyond "... he was a prime minister, yes?"), but I loved this duology, and I cannot wait to read Parry's work in the future (plus an older book seemingly inspired by a Dickens novel? Sign me up.)
Highly, highly recommended to anyone who seeks out historical fiction, characters with highly developed relationships, and stories that let us struggle for the right answer, even where we have the best intentions.
Thank you so much to Redhook and Netgalley for granting me a free eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
"A Radical Act of Free Magic" is the second book in a duology which, last year, introduced us to a world of magic crossed with the French Revolution (& Terror), the Haitian Revolution, and the English abolitionist movement. The first book starred countless idealists who, by whatever means they could either stomach or justify to themselves, sought out freedom and justice. This didn't necessarily mean freedom and justice for all, as we soon saw, e.g. the Terror, continued slavery, and the shadowy vampire pulling strings every which way.
But not a single person in the first book thought they were a bad person aiming for bad results. They all thought they were doing the right thing in terms of what mattered to them (so... the vampire manipulating the antagonist forces sees "the right thing" very differently from necromancer Robespierre, escaped slave/revolutionary Fina in Haiti, or abolitionist Wilberforce in England).
This sequel and final installment shows us the limits of idealism. Parry retains most of the cast from the first book (minus a lot of French characters who had an encounter with Madame Guillotine) and lets them mature. Several years have gone by since the events of the last book. Our characters are wiser, more experienced, and also very tired. They are wondering if the goals they set out to accomplish are working, or if their methods are useless, or if their idealism is simply a means of making themselves feel better.
To some extent, all of these doubts are correct. Things are not same for Pitt and Wilberforce as they were in the first book, and the same can be said of Fina's alliance with Toussaint Louverture. Even the vampire's relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte bears little resemblance to his sly manipulation of Robespierre from "A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians." That's not to say that what is broken cannot be mended, and from that mending grow into an alliance stronger than ever before. It just takes the willingness to listen to those doubts in our head and see what can change for the better.
(I'm desperately trying not to spoil anything but in terms of plot: any history enthusiast of the Napoleonic wars and Haitian Revolution would freaking love this book. I'd even recommend it to people who don't typically seek out fantasy books. Parry's research is GOOD. Really, really good. And wherever possible, she makes a point of not "fixing" characters to be more palatable to a modern audience, without sacrificing the things that do make them compelling and worthy of the reader's support. One example is Nelson (more of a supporting character), whom Parry characterizes as brave, loyal to his crew, and willing to put himself in danger in a likely deadly naval battle, but she also makes it clear that he is an anti-abolitionist, and that cannot--and should not--be erased. Pitt and some other political figures are... possibly/likely whitewashed a little. But I will say that even with him, Parry tries to make him face his mistakes and acknowledge them. It just doesn't seem as stark a rebuke as with Nelson.)
On a really positive note, I remember having two bits of criticism for the first book (which was still a 5-star read, for what it's worth). First, the book had nearly no women in it, which was a shame considering there were female historical figures that could have made the cut. Second, the third protagonist Fina (an escaped slave in Jamaica turned revolutionary in Haiti) felt much less developed than the English and French factions.
I guess I should have known Parry would address both of these in the sequel (which, let's be honest, she certainly planned before the first book was even published given the amount of research she had to do). But I never, ever would have guessed Parry would make the two weaknesses of the first book the HEART of the second book.
I loved every single chapter with Fina and her journey in this sequel. Toussaint gets a ton more page-time by extension and (wow wow wow) did I become invested in their push-and-pull partnership, both striving to find the balance between what is right and what is possible.
Moreover, we meet several new female characters such as Hester Stanhope (Pitt's niece) and the most surprising addition, Kate Dove, a commoner with weather magic. Even characters who could have been minimized as "ah, yes, the wife of so-and-so, how lovely she is" and never developed were instead turned into fully realized characters. And, to the detriment of my tear ducts, every single person in the book gets the most moving and, more importantly, satisfying conclusion to their arcs.
Endings are hard to write. Long books with good endings are even harder to write. Parry somehow nails both, with a middle section that keeps you reading until you're barreling towards the conclusion, hoping against all hope that your favorites pull through.
It's been a long journey since the first book, which was one of my first reviews when I joined Netgalley at the start of the pandemic. And now I can honestly say that this sequel is even more ambitious than the first, and it was worth every page. It may not be perfect, and I certainly intend to learn more about this history for myself (literally had no idea who Pitt was in 2019 beyond "... he was a prime minister, yes?"), but I loved this duology, and I cannot wait to read Parry's work in the future (plus an older book seemingly inspired by a Dickens novel? Sign me up.)
Highly, highly recommended to anyone who seeks out historical fiction, characters with highly developed relationships, and stories that let us struggle for the right answer, even where we have the best intentions.
Thank you so much to Redhook and Netgalley for granting me a free eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.