15 great fantasy and science fiction books from 2020 you may have missed
By Daniel Roman
A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAGICIANS is out NEXT WEEK (!) and with everything going on, it's never seemed the time to talk about it. But I want to do a thread now, because this book means a lot to me.
— H.G. Parry (on hiatus, in theory) (@hg_parry) June 15, 2020
If you don't want to read a thread, please just admire the stunning cover: pic.twitter.com/NpvRTeMCXB
13. A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry
Let’s take a breath for a moment, and imagine…what if magic existed at some of history’s most pivotal moments? What if, say, Robespierre had been able to harness magical abilities during the Reign of Terror amid the French Revolution? These kinds of questions are built into the fabric of The Shadow Histories duology by H.G. Parry. The first book, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, released last year to a lot of critical acclaim…and when you consider the sheer feat that Parry accomplished, it’s no real surprise.
This is a revisionist history tale, combining the best elements of historical fiction while asking how magic would have fundamentally changed history in fascinating ways. Here’s the blurb:
"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."
There are very few books out there like Parry’s masterwork, and now that the sequel A Radical Act of Free Magic is out as well, the entire story is available to binge-read.