Review by Booklist Review
In this immersive conclusion to Parry's Shadow Histories duology (after A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, 2020), set amid eighteenth-century social unrest and warfare, three key players oppose a sinister blood magician (i.e., vampire) before he can consolidate power. As this elusive enemy aids Napoleon with summoning a kraken and a dragon for France, they seem poised to conquer all of Europe. In French colony Saint-Domingue, former slave Fina helps General Toussaint free its slaves, until the enemy is alerted to their treachery. In England, William Pitt and William Wilberforce fight fractious legislative battles in Parliament over battlefield magic, the suppression of magic in commoners, and the abolition of slavery. Yet their political battles matter little if Pitt, hiding his own blood magic, cannot stand against the enemy when the time comes. Parry blends historical fact, political intrigue, military battles, and fantastic magic in this compelling alternate history. While the characters' human-rights debates are centered in eighteenth-century politics, they still ring true today, particularly on the difficulty of upholding personal beliefs with political actions, and the slow grind of legislating social change. Satisfying and entertaining.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The entertaining if conventional final installment to Parry's Shadow Histories series (after A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians) returns to the Enlightenment era as war, magic, and revolution sweep Europe and its colonies into a frenzy. While a magically empowered Napoleon Bonaparte summons a kraken from the sea, an army of the dead rages across the continent in the name of French conquest, and Toussaint Louverture uses weather magic to fight for freedom in Saint-Domingue. In England, the aristocracy practices magic freely while the magical abilities of common folk are suppressed--but the British government debates a law to allow commoner magicians to wield magic in service to the royal army. And in the background of all of this chaos, a dark, powerful force uses old magic to seize power over Europe. Parry pieces together an elaborate, perhaps occasionally overstuffed, story of mystery and intrigue that easily transports readers into its fantastical world. Though some will wish for a more radical take on the history here, fans of the first volume and of European historical fantasy played straight will find plenty to enjoy. Agent: Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Assoc. (July)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Leaders of Britain's abolitionist movement join forces with a veteran of the Haitian revolution to push back Napoleon's deadly forces in Parry's second Shadow Histories novel. Napoléon Bonaparte isn't a particularly talented magician, but his potential as a general and conqueror attracts the attention of the same mysterious figure who manipulated Robespierre to set off the Reign of Terror in A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (2020). When Bonaparte summons a kraken to serve the French navy and later finds a dragon hidden in the sands of Egypt, it's only a matter of time before France and Europe fall at his feet. William Pitt, meanwhile, is growing weaker by the day as he works to keep a deadly and dangerous magical secret from his enemies. William Wilberforce continues to fight for abolition but is stymied at every turn. Fina uses her magic to help Toussaint Louverture keep hold of Saint-Domingue, but she eventually makes the journey to London and meets Pitt and Wilberforce. With a first-rate blend of political drama and magic battle--action, Parry manages to inject tension and stakes into a historical drama where average readers will know at least the broad strokes of the ending. Effortlessly switching from France to England to Egypt to Saint-Domingue, Parry folds in show-stopping new characters like Kate Dove, a commoner weather mage dead-set on avenging her brother's death by kraken, and Lady Hester Stanhope, who would become one of the most famous explorers of the 19th century. When the three main characters, Fina, Pitt, and Wilberforce, finally face off with the stranger, the resulting conflict brings the series' meditations on idealism, the fight for human rights, and the necessary limits of institutional power to a head. Absolutely superb. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
