A Far Better Thing - H.G. Parry - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: H.G. Parry

NARRATOR: Nathaniel Priestley

GENRE: Historical Fantasy, Retelling

PUBLICATION DATE: June 17, 2025

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A standalone historical portal fantasy blending Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" with fae magic. Interesting characters and writing; average world-building. Somewhat slow. Excellent as a retelling but it might work better for those who know the original novel and those aware of the French revolution. The author is still among my favourites, but this book isn't my favourite of her works. Recommended but not to all.

Plot Preview: (Offering just a barebones diluted version. Reasons below in main review.)

London, 1780. Sydney Carton works for the fae but is looking for revenge against them. When he bumps into his lookalike Charles Darnay, he finally has that rare opportunity. It will take time, magic, and shrewdness, but Sydney is determined to do whatever it takes to rectify the injustice done to him.

The story comes to us in Sydney’s first-person perspective.

I picked this book up as soon as I saw the author's name. While I'm not a fan of YA novels in general, I have enjoyed two of her YA Fantasies (‘The Magician’s Daughter’ and ‘The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door’) and hence knew I had to get this one. 

When this audiobook began playing, the name 'Charles Darnay' in the first chapter sounded vaguely familiar. Then came the names 'Lucie Mannette' and 'Doctor Mannette', and my brain screamed, "OMG! A Tale of Two Cities!"

I rushed to the blurb to confirm if this was a retelling and was delighted to learn because it was indeed based on AToTC, a classic I have read multiple times in my childhood. However, I was also heartbroken to discover because this retelling is also based on Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. NorrelI", a novel in my TBR but still unread. 😢

I don't know if the second novel has any influence on the plot, but the first novel is visible throughout its pages, from start to end. If you are familiar with the Dickens work, then this is good and bad. Good because this retelling pays good homage to its source material. Bad because you can already guess some of the major twists. And the ending. 😒

If only I were familiar with the other book as well! The historical content from ‘The Tale of Two Cities’ is so strong in this retelling that I'm fairly sure the fantastical content has roots in ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr. NorrelI’. This is why I usually prefer reading the original books before going for the retellings. Sadly, my lack of awareness about this book's being a retelling led me to jump into it directly. 😢

The story mainly occurs during the French revolution, and the key events are replicated from Dickens’ story. It might be helpful to know certain basic details about the Reign of Terror so that you can understand the characters’ actions better.

I can't reveal much about the story because those who know the Dickens novel already know its fundamentals and those who don't know the Dickens novel will get major spoilers. So just know that the plot is really good. I love how it retains the core of the original but adds fae elements in all the gaps. Then again, this also means that I knew most of the story even before I began the book. What could have been shocking twists had I not known the original classic merely resulted a resigned sigh of "I knew it already." I wish it had deviated a little more from the original so we could get surprises beyond the fae content.

The characters’ personalities are also a mirror of the original source. Lookalikes Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton are lookalikes in this book too, but for a valid reason. (🤐) Doctor Mannette, Lucie Mannette, Madame Defarge, and several other characters reprise their roles from the classic, but some of them come with an added *glimmer*. (IYKYK.) As their personalities are mostly echoes of how Dickens sketched them, I knew their behavioural attributes in advance. However, because this retelling comes from the perspective of Sydney who is mostly focussed on himself, the other characters aren’t developed so well. Whatever depth I saw in them wasn’t a result of this novel but of the classic.

The world-building isn't so satisfying. While many places are mentioned, it is tough to visualise them. The locations in the human world all sound the same, whether it is London or Paris, 1780 or a decade later. The fae world is even more vague, which is really sad because I pick up this author for her prowess in fantasy, not history.

The pacing is a bit on the slower side. But given the original classic’s length and this novel’s faithfulness to its plot structure, this result is to be expected. The original is way too bleak in its content, not a surprise given the time period and location it is set in. This bleakness also carries forward in this retelling, which is mostly depressing. I wish it had a touch more of happiness.

All of the above is a feedback on the historical content, thanks to the AToTC link. But what about the fantasy content? I think the novel might end up disappointing most of those who pick it more for the fantasy. The magical content is fairly limited and vague. Several things stay unexplained, including one crucial detail connected to the background identities of Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette. The only positive, so to say, is that the portrayal of the fae and the fae kingdom isn't the kind you usually see in fiction, so there is a freshness (of the darkish kind) to them.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 13 hrs 6 min, is narrated by Nathaniel Priestley. Honestly, I cannot think of any flaws in his performance. He was really good as a narrator and voiced all the characters without making them sound fake or exaggerated. Despite this, I kept drifting away from the narration. I'm not sure if this was because of my present state of mind (it's very chaotic in my head these days) or because his voice had a lulling tone that reminded me too much of bedtime stories. I still think the audio is a great option; it just came into my life at the wrong time.

That said, the audio isn't for those who can't keep track of complex narratives. There's a lot happening in this plot, both in the present and the past. Though we see everything only through Sydney's first-person perspective, the timeline changes and interim time jumps make this an unsuitable option to audio newbies.

Overall, this turned out to be an unexpected mash-up retelling of two books, one of which I have read. I never would have imagined ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ to be a worthy contender for a retelling as a portal fantasy. 🤯 Kudos to the imaginativeness of the author! This might not be my favourite of her works that I have read, but I am still impressed at the creative attempt and will continue to read her.

While the book is a standalone and works well on its own merits, you might enjoy it better if you know the Dickens’ work and read it as a retelling. I have a feeling that without familiarity with the original (and also without some basic awareness of the French revolution), you will not be able to appreciate this as much because you will miss out on several nuances.

Definitely recommended but not to all. This would be a good option for historical fantasy readers looking for an intriguing magical take on ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and are okay with slow pacing and with more history than fantasy.

3.5 stars, rounding up wherever applicable for the audio version.

My thanks to Macmillan Audio for providing the ALC of “A Far Better Thing” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.