A Quick Note On This Review: This article includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org as a way of supporting both local bookshops and my own ability to write.
Biddy, a sixteen year old orphan girl being raised by a magician on the shores of an enchanted island off the coast of Ireland called “Hy Brasil.” Rowan, the magician who’s raised Biddy, often disappears from the island to make contact with an outside world that’s lost its connection with the source of all magic, making it harder for mages and witches to cast spells. Then, one day, Rowan doesn’t come home, and Biddy has to set out on a journey to save him. The adventure takes her through the poorest parts of London, an enchanted castle beneath the city streets, and into the very nature of living magic.
The Magician’s Daughter by HG Parry was a book I picked up because it was a recommended equal of The Prestige by Christopher Priest. In many ways, it fits with the recommendation, though Parry’s work is far lighter and heartwarming than Priest’s is. The use of magic and its absence in the world is the main driver of the plot, but as other reviewers have pointed out, this is not a story about war and romance, but a meditation on what it actually means to feel empathy and love for another that isn’t necessarily grounded in romance.
Parry’s relationships between characters are at times a little unclear, but what she does that’s interesting is illustrate fully what it means for two people who are unrelated to one another and have a vast gulf between them can still be connected in the relationship between Rowan and Biddy. Rowan as a mage has an unspecified lifespan and the ability to connect with magic in a way that Biddy, a human orphan, is fundamentally unable to do. Through the clear boundary this puts between Rowan and Biddy, Parry explores the depth of connection and kinds of affection that human relationships can have without straying into areas of romantic fantasy.
For readers that are looking for books that have good female characters, The Magician’s Daughter would be a good match. Biddy and Morgen play primary roles in the story and the focus of the story relies heavily on how both characters are able to undermine – if not outright change – systems that have been predominantly patriarchal in nature. Further, readers that are interested in ideas around found family and don’t want a novel that explores the darker aspects of human nature too heavily would benefit from reading this novel.
Writers would benefit from this novel if they would like some guidance on how to tell a story that doesn’t require romance to make it work. While other stories have these components too, I’ve most often found that the power of friendship or the parental relationship are the two primary analogs, and The Magician’s Daughter provides a third option that I haven’t encountered frequently. Further, I think the book does a good job of exploring the ways that characters and their relationships can be the primary driver of narrative in the context of fantasy. While every good book usually relies on character relationships to some degree, Parry’s ability to create a narrative that uses relationships as a microcosm of the larger conflict was entertaining to see, if only because it presented existing elements of story in a novel way.
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What’s Next?
I am an avid reader and have quite a few thoughts on how some books could benefit both people that want to be entertained and those looking to sharpen their literary skills.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what I’ve been reading – and how it could benefit you – I will be publishing those thoughts on Fridays on a weekly basis. Check back next week for a discussion of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men!
The Writerly Review 