When I read the first Shadow Histories book last year, I instantly fell in love with Parry’s writing, so much so that even though I wasn’t very familiar with the history of the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, or Britain’s abolitionist movement, the book captivated me all the same. As for A Radical Act of Free Magic, while I didn’t quite love it as much as its predecessor, this book was still one of the best works of historical fantasy I’ve ever come across.
I’ve tried my best to keep this review spoiler-free, but if you haven’t read the first book yet and do plan to read it, it’d probably be best if you refrained from reading my review!
In A Radical Act of Free Magic, Parry once again brilliantly blends together intense political intrigue with magic. The narrative constantly jumps between England and France and Saint-Domingue and Egypt, and the switches are seamless every time. In my review of A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, I mentioned how we didn’t get to see all the different kinds of magic in action much. But in this book we do witness some magical battles, and they were as stunning as I’d hoped they’d be! The final conflict with the French vampire king came about in a very unexpected fashion, even though I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Instead of being action-packed like one would expect a final battle to be, it was laden with emotion, and it struck a chord with me. I’ll admit that even though I was aware of how it all ends, I cried anyway.
Most of the characters in A Radical Act of Free Magic are ones we have already met in A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, aside from a few like Napoleon Bonaparte, the commoner weather mage Kate Dove- one of the first women to join the navy, and Lady Hester Stanhope. Wilberforce and Pitt retained their positions as two of the three major POV characters in A Radical Act of Free Magic. In book one, we saw them as extreme idealists, as were most of the other cast members. All of them with their black and white notions of good and evil, and all of them justifying their actions and believing them to be for the greater good, all the while still working against each other. With book two, however, Parry unflinchingly portrays the limits of idealism. As a few years have passed by, the characters are now more mature, and they are finally recognizing what they did wrong. I especially liked that Parry didn’t try to change characters like Pitt in any way to make them seem more agreeable to her readers; in fact, one of my favourite scenes would be the part where Fina confronts Pitt and holds him accountable for how Britain has treated her people, and even though Pitt does acknowledge the role he played in her people’s torment and shoulders the blame, Fina makes it clear that he doesn’t deserve their forgiveness.
Speaking of Pitt and Wilberforce, the relationship between the two remains my favourite thing about this duology, and it’s definitely one of the best written platonic relationships I’ve read. As they went through a lot of personal development in the time between the events of books one and two, their friendship changed a lot, which was equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming. Even though he was somewhat eclipsed by Pitt in book one, Wilberforce really shines in A Radical Act of Free Magic. The way Parry writes Wilberforce with his heart on his sleeve and his endearing, slightly baffled but delighted demeanour, it’s all too easy to fall in love with him, which I did.
As for the other significant members of the cast, personally I didn’t feel Napoleon as a character was as impactful in the story as I’d hoped he’d be, and he was majorly overshadowed by the vampire king, who also was sort of underwhelming. However, one of my primary issues with book one was the fact that Fina, despite being a POV character, didn’t really stand out. This time though, I loved how Parry handled Fina’s arc. Hester became another favourite of mine, and I absolutely adored her and Fina’s friendship!
To sum it up, despite some small objections, A Radical Act of Free Magic is still the best finale to the Shadow Histories duology I could ask for. If you’re a history nerd and politics-heavy fantasy books appeal to you, you should definitely check this series out! And if you’re a fantasy fan but aren’t so sure about the historical part, I’ll leave you with this: this book has a dragon.
A Radical Act of Free Magic is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The Concord has been broken, and a war of magic engulfs the world.
In France, the brilliant young battle-mage Napoleon Bonaparte has summoned a kraken from the depths, and under his command the Army of the Dead have 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 the face of an increasingly fearful and repressive government. 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: the first vampire war in hundreds of years. The enemy blood magician who orchestrated Robespierre’s downfall is using the Revolutionary Wars to bring about a return to dark magic to claim all of Europe. Across the world, only a few know of his existence and the choices they make will shape the new age of magic.
