It is the Age of Enlightenment — of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution in France to the weather mage Toussaint L’Ouverture leading the slaves of Haiti in their fight for freedom, to the bold new Prime Minister William Pitt weighing the legalization of magic amongst commoners in Britain and abolition throughout its colonies overseas.
But amidst all of the upheaval of the enlightened world, there is an unknown force inciting all of human civilisation into violent conflict. And it will require the combined efforts of revolutionaries, magicians, and abolitionists to unmask this hidden enemy before the whole world falls to chaos.
I have been so, so excited to read this book. Revolutions? Those are my jam. Comparisons to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell? I love the bones of that book. Those two things together? Sign me up.
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a historical fantasy set over the course of the French and Haitian revolutions. It’s the first book in a new series, and looks at these conflicts from a somewhat “gentlemanly” and political perspective. This is not really a story about wars and battles — although it does have those and they do have an impact on the story — but instead a story about loud conversations in quiet places. Well, some quiet places, and also the floor of the British parliament.
Two of our point-of-view characters are historical British politicians — William Wilberforce, and Pitt the Younger. They are presented as well-meaning and ambitious men, who wish to make the world a better place through such actions as fighting for the rights of Commoner magicians and working towards the abolishment of slavery. This ties them to the other POV characters — Maximilien Robespierre (a prominent figure of the French revolution and a necromancer) and Fina (a child who was stolen from her home to be a slave on a Jamaican sugar plantation).
The book is written in a style reminiscent of classical English literature (particularly the dialogue), but with enough of a modern twist that it I didn’t find it too stuffy. Wilberforce and Pitt in particular have quite a lot of enjoyable banter, and it was the charisma of their friendship that was my favourite part of the story. I enjoyed how their relationship evolved through changes in status and circumstances, but I also grew to be a little frustrated at how distanced they were from any actual action.
That’s silly, I realise. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the lives of politicians should revolve more around words than action. But after so many scenes of polite debate and disagreements, things started to feel a little stale. Particularly since this a 500+ page book. Towards the 60% mark, it felt as though we were going through the motions of historical events, and the characters felt a little static. (Though I did find that things picked up again towards the end.)
Thankfully, Robespierre’s scenes had plenty of action (storming the bastille! inciting riots! guillotines!), and this gave a nice contrast to the other perspectives. In this world, Robespierre is someone who quietly fights for the rights of the oppressed Commoner magicians in court, and is only brought into the revolution through the prodding of a mysterious dark magician. He is made to do things he would rather avoid, and I found it interesting to watch how he would struggle to justify the rapid decay of his morals.
Fina’s chapters… I have to admit I’m not sure what to feel about them. They revolve around her quietly fighting back against controlling magic of her enslavers, and eventually playing a role in a slave revolution. She has by far the least page time of any of the four major characters, while living the reality that the other characters all too often see as a theoretical. I didn’t find her chapters particularly badly written or uninteresting, but… I don’t know. Her place in the story felt too filtered by the experiences of the white characters around her. There are indications that this may change in the books still to come in this series, but it still made for an uncomfortable read.
But with that said, Parry deserves a tremendous amount of praise for the sheer amount of research that must have went into this book. She brings the time period to life in a vivid and colourful way. Her world of magic aristocrats, disgruntled Commoners, and vampires feels real, fleshed-out, and lived-in.
If you’re a history lover and a fantasy lover, there is every chance you will love A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians. If the idea of the French revolution but with magic excites you, then I’d encourage you to dive in! But if you’re the kind of reader who tends to find “wordy” books a bit too slow, or would prefer a book depicting a slave revolution to have more focus on the slaves’ perspectives, I would perhaps look elsewhere.
We received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to Orbit Books for the review copy!
