Early Review – A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 416 pages
Publisher:‎ Tor Books
Release Date: June 17, 2025
ASIN: B0DDJC6CDJ
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

“I feared this was the best of times; I hoped it could not get any worse.

The faeries stole Sydney Carton as a child, and made him a mortal servant of the Faery Realm. Now, he has a rare opportunity for revenge against the fae and Charles Darnay, the changeling left in his stead.

It will take magic and cunning—cold iron and Realm silver—to hide his intentions from humans and fae and bring his plans to fruition.
Shuttling between London and Paris during the Reign of Terror, generations of violence-begetting-violence lead him to a heartbreaking choice in the shadow of the guillotine.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this as an ebook for review from NetGalley.

Thoughts: This was an intricate and well-done retelling of A Tale of Two Cities but with faerie involved. The story is engaging but complex at times with many different moving parts. Prior to reading this, I had also read Parry’s “The Magician’s Daughter”, which I loved.

The story follows Sydney Carton, known to the fae as Memory. He was stolen by the faeries as a child and is now living in the human realm as a mortal servant for the faerie realm. He works as an attorney and, when he accidentally gets a client that is his own changeling, he gets drawn into complex politics (both faerie and human world). This also gives him the unique ability possibly get revenge against the fae and the changeling that took his place.

This is an intricate and well written story with some amazing world-building. I thought that this world of fae and humans was marvelously blended with the contentious history between London and Paris. I struggled to engage with the characters since none of them were all that likable, but I was drawn into their lives and story despite this.

One thing that did bother me was how much of this story was driven by hatred. Most of the hatred wasn’t even between people that knew each other, but between people who blamed the current generation for actions taken by generations that came before them. Even though Sydney learns compassion throughout the story, this wasn’t a story that made me feel good about humanity.

This was very well written, flowed well, and was easy to read.

My Summary (4.5/5): Overall I found this engaging and interesting. This was very well written and I was impressed by the integration of fae into this historical time period. I did struggle to engage with the characters and also disliked how much of this story was driven by hatred, although there are glimpses of light throughout as well. I look forward to reading more of Parry’s books in the future and would strongly recommend if you enjoy historical fantasy with intricate world-building and thoughtful themes.