The Magician's Daughter


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by H. G. Parry
 Excerpt from The Book of Gothel copyright © 2022 by Mary McMyne
 Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio
 Cover illustrations by Shutterstock
 Cover copyright © 2023 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
 Author photo by Fairlie Atkinson
 Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
 The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
 Redhook Books/Orbit
 Hachette Book Group
 1290 Avenue of the Americas
 New York, NY 10104
 hachettebookgroup.com
 First Edition: February 2023
 Simultaneously published in Great Britain by Orbit
 Redhook is an imprint of Orbit, a division of Hachette Book Group.
 The Redhook name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
 The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
 The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to hachettespeakersbureau.com or email [email protected].
 Redhook books may be purchased in bulk for business, educational, or promotional use. For information, please contact your local bookseller or the Hachette Book Group Special Markets Department at [email protected].
 A signed limited edition has been privately printed by Charnel House Ltd www.charnelhouse.com.
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Parry, H. G., author.
 Title: The magician’s daughter / H.G. Parry.
 Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Redhook, 2023.
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022026623 | ISBN 9780316383707 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780316383806 (ebook)
 Subjects: LCGFT: Fantasy fiction. | Novels.
 Classification: LCC PR9639.4.P376 M34 2023 | DDC 823/.92—dc23/eng/20220609
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022026623
 ISBNs: 9780316383707 (trade paperback), 9780316383806 (ebook)
 E3-20230127-JV-NF-ORI
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Acknowledgments
 Discover More
 Meet the Author
 A Preview of "The Book of Gothel"
 Also by H. G. Parry
 Praise for H. G. Parry
 
 
 
 
 Begin Reading
 Table of Contents
 
 
 
 
 Praise for H. G. Parry
 The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep
 “If you’ve ever checked the back of your wardrobe for snow and lamplight—if you’ve ever longed to visit Pemberley House or 221B Baker Street, to battle the Jabberwock or wander through a fictional London fog—this book belongs to you. It’s a star-studded literary tour and a tangled mystery and a reflection on reading itself; it’s a pure delight.”
 —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author
 “Many have tried and some have succeeded in writing mashups with famed literary characters, but Parry knocks it out of the park…. Just plain wonderful.”
 —Kirkus (starred review)
 “Part mystery, all magical, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is both amusing and perceptive; the novel entertains as it reminds us of the power of words and how fiction can influence real life.”
 —Locus
 “H. G. Parry has crafted an imaginative and unique exploration of how words shift our lives in ways big and small. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is a rollicking adventure that thrills like Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere mashed up with Penny Dreadful in the best postmodern way. Equal parts sibling rivalry, crackling mystery, and Dickensian battle royale, it’ll be one of your most fun reads this year.”
 —Mike Chen, author of Here and Now and Then
 The Shadow Histories
 “A first-rate 
 
 By H. G. Parry
 The Magician’s Daughter
 THE SHADOW HISTORIES
 A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians
 A Radical Act of Free Magic
 The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep
 
 
 
 
 To our Lockdown 2020 house. Nothing is ever forgotten.
 And to Robin and Much, our lockdown mice.
 Now and forever, my loves.
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter One
 Rowan had left the island again last night.
 He had done so quietly, as usual. Had Biddy not been lying awake, listening for his light tread on the stairs outside her bedroom, she would have never known he was gone. But he had slipped out of the castle once or twice too often lately while she slept, and this time she was ready. She got out of bed and went to the window, shivering at the touch of the early-autumn chill, in time to see him cross the moonlit fields where the black rabbits nibbled the grass. Her fingers clenched into fists, knowing what was coming, frustrated and annoyed and more worried than she wanted to admit. At the cliff edge he paused, and then his tall, thin form rippled and changed as wings burst from his back, his body shriveled, and a large black bird flew away into the night. Rowan was always a raven when he wasn’t