A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians.

Serie/Series: Nej/No.
Författare/Author: H.G. Parry.
Genre: Fantasy, historisk roman/historical novel.
Språk/Language: Engelska/English.
Sidor/Pages: 531.

(English below)

 
Handling: Det är upplysningens tid och Maximilien Robespierre drömmer om ett fritt Frankrike. Han vill införa demokrati och frihet för alla magiker bland den vanliga befolkningen. Han får hjälp av en hemlig välgörare men är vägen till frihet kan ta olika former, är det verkligen den vägen han vill ta?

William Pitt är Englands premiärminister och bär på en stor hemlighet. Tillsammans med sin bästa vän Wilberforce försöker han få ett slut på slaverihandeln och underlätta livet för den vanliga befolkningen och deras magianvändning, men det är mycket som sätter käppar i hjulet för dem.

På den franska kolloniön Saint-Domingue startas ett uppror bland de förslavade människorna och snart sprider sig upprorets eldar till fler plantager och öar. Både Frankrike, England, Spanien och många fler länder ger sig in i upproret på olika sidor samtidigt som ett krig pågår i Europa. När en armé av de döda gör entré ställs allt på sin spets.

Min åsikt om boken: Detta var en något förvirrande och långdragen bok. Stundtals var den enormt intressant och spännande men stundtals så seg och tråkig. Det blev för mycket av politiska detaljer som inte riktigt fyllde något syfte medan det som verkligen kunde föra fram historien inte fick tillräckligt med plats (t.ex. slavupproret). Istället hamnade väldigt mycket fokus på t.ex. William Pitt och Wilberforces vänskap och politiska karriär, som inte var så jätteintressant. Att de stod och höll tal i flera timmar gång på gång beskrivet i detalj tillför liksom ingenting till berättelsen.
De olika typerna av magi var dock intressant att läsa om, men fick inte heller så mycket utrymme så jag är förvirrad över om detta egentligen var tänkt att vara en fantasybok eller en historisk/politisk roman? De historiska/politiska detaljerna upptog nästan allt utrymme. Det var segt.
Boken var dock helt ok, men kunde ha varit mycket bättre.

Mitt favoritcitat ur boken:

"He felt sick, if he were honest, and not at all like a revolutionary. Yet when he heard the verdict come back, acquitting the prisoner of all charges, he knew that he was exactly what he needed to be. The world had shifted under his words. In that moment, like the parting of a veil, he could see the France around him resemble the one in his head: the one that was united, and equal, and free."
 - Sid 52.

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Story: It's the age of enlightment and Maximilien Robespierre dreams of a free France. He wants to introduce democracy and freedom for all magicians among the commoners. He gets help from a secret benefactor but the road to freedom can take many shapes, is this really the way he wants to take?

William Pitt is the prime minister of England and his carrying a huge secret. Together with his best friend Wilberforce he's trying to abolish the slave trade and make life easier for the commoners and their right to use of magic, but there's a lot that stands in their way.

On the french colony island Saint-Domingue a rebellion starts among the enslaved humans and soon the fires of the rebellion spreads to more plantations and islands. Both France, England, Spain and many other countries meddles in the uprising on differens sides at the same time as a war is ravaging Europe. When an army of the dead is created everything is on the line.

My opinion about the book: This was a somewhat confusing and lengthy book. At times it was very interesting and suspenseful but at times also very slow and boring. There were too many political details that didn't fulfill a purpose while the things that could have carried the story forward didn't get enough space (like the slave uprising). Instead a lot of focus was on William Pitt and Wilberforce's friendship and political careers, that wasn't really that interesting. That they tood and held speeches for hours time and time again, described in detail didn't bring anything to the story.
The differens kinds of magic was, however, very interesting, but that didn't get enough space either so I'm a bit confused about if this was really meant to be a fantasy book or a historical/political novel? The histoical/political details almost dominated the whole book. Not very entertaining.
The book was alright but could have been so much better.

My favorite quote from the book:

"He felt sick, if he were honest, and not at all like a revolutionary. Yet when he heard the verdict come back, acquitting the prisoner of all charges, he knew that he was exactly what he needed to be. The world had shifted under his words. In that moment, like the parting of a veil, he could see the France around him resemble the one in his head: the one that was united, and equal, and free."
- Page 52.