Sydney Carton was my favorite character in A Tale of Two Cities, so when I stumbled across a retelling with him as the focal character AND fantasy elements, I knew I had to read it.

A Far Better Thing is a retelling of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, but it almost acts as a companion in the sense that it almost feels like a "behind the scenes" story, at least in my opinion. It's been a few years since I read ATOTC, so I read a quick summary before I began this book, and I'd definitely recommend refreshing on the original if it's been a while (or introducing yourself to a general summary if you've never read it before). This novel follows the original material closely, and the fairy worldbuilding is seamlessly integrated into the story so it feels almost like it can exist as a companion to the original. The writing style feels very Dickens-esque (at least, from what I remember of ATOTC), which further enforces the illusion that this can be read as an extension of the original.

If you've read ATOTC, you probably won't be shocked by the majority of the plot. Sydney Carton is no longer just a simple English lawman; he's a mortal servant to the fairies, and apparently, he's supposed to represent the changeling that replaced him - Charles Darnay - in court. Similar to ATOTC, the book carries a handful of interweaving storylines involving a) the Manettes, b) the Defarges, c) the French Revolution, and d) the faerie realm. It follows a similar structure to the original ATOTC, but there's a bit more subterfuge and, obviously, the involvement of the fairies. I don't want to say too much else about the plots involving the fairies because that spoils the changes from the original, but I will say that I really enjoyed them and thought they fit well with the political plots. Admittedly, in true Dickens fashion, the pacing is a bit slow and the stakes can be very low at times, but I didn't mind because I enjoyed the prose and the premise.

Speaking of the premise, I do want to quickly mention that I'm not sure if there's a real point to involving the fae folk in a story like ATOTC other than that it's cool, and sometimes that's fine. I was trying to figure out if there was going to be any sort of symbolism with the fairies in the context of the French Revolution, but didn't really see much of that. I think there are some really well-done themes with the idea of mortals being human because they remember, and also questions of what defines human nature. But overall, I think the premise was more of just a cool idea than anything intentionally symbolic.

Most of the characters came from ATOTC, and my opinions on them didn't really change from the original. I liked this in-depth look at Sydney Carton, especially with this supernatural backstory. I also enjoyed the motives that this book gave him and his interactions with the "worlds" (normal and magical, kind of like two cities). I didn't mind any of the other original characters, but they got significantly less page time in favor of Carton's story. There are a few new characters that I think blended well into the ATOTC cast, although they mostly related to the faerie realm in some way. I don't think I was particularly fond of any of the characters like I am in the typical books I read, but I did enjoy their arcs and how their fates were woven together. I also liked that it wasn't particularly romance heavy and that it kept the same dynamics between the characters as the original.

If you enjoyed A Tale of Two Cities or just find retellings of classics enjoyable, A Far Better Thing employs enchanting prose and subtly woven fantasy elements to provide another facet to the story of Sydney Carton.

4.25/5