A Darker Shade of Magic

No cover — A Darker Shade of Magic (Hardcover, 2015, Tor)

Hardcover, 400 pages

English language

Published Sept. 10, 2015 by Tor.

ISBN:: 9780765376459

(2 reviews)

STEP INTO A UNIVERSE OF DARING ADVENTURE, THRILLING POWER, AND MULTIPLE LONDONS.

Kell is one of the last travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magic city.

There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad king--George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered--and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London--a place where people fight to control magic and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, ambassador of the Maresh Empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. …

STEP INTO A UNIVERSE OF DARING ADVENTURE, THRILLING POWER, AND MULTIPLE LONDONS.

Kell is one of the last travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magic city.

There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad king--George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered--and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London--a place where people fight to control magic and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, ambassador of the Maresh Empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs into Delilah Bard, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

This description comes from the publisher. A Darker Shade of Magic is the first book of the Shades of Magic trilogy.

5 editions

Marek reviewed A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Some sharp magical fun

4 stars

Though V.E. Schwab has been on my radar for a while I haven't picked up anything by her before. I have now ordered the second two books in this series. This was an interesting, fun adventure, with lots of character.

This is a multiple-worlds story, in which dimensions with different forms or levels of magical power are connected through a shared sense of "London" (though the different Londons and the countries in which they exist are quite distinct from one another).

The primary protagonist, Kell, is a magic user who moves between the worlds. His relationship with his own world is "complicated", and things are made much moreso when he unexpectedly ends up smuggling something he doesn't intend.

There are some lovely ideas here, and the world-building is well-handled. The main characters are compelling and sympathetic, while still having some rough edges. Setting the stage across the different dimensions takes …

Though V.E. Schwab has been on my radar for a while I haven't picked up anything by her before. I have now ordered the second two books in this series. This was an interesting, fun adventure, with lots of character.

This is a multiple-worlds story, in which dimensions with different forms or levels of magical power are connected through a shared sense of "London" (though the different Londons and the countries in which they exist are quite distinct from one another).

The primary protagonist, Kell, is a magic user who moves between the worlds. His relationship with his own world is "complicated", and things are made much moreso when he unexpectedly ends up smuggling something he doesn't intend.

There are some lovely ideas here, and the world-building is well-handled. The main characters are compelling and sympathetic, while still having some rough edges. Setting the stage across the different dimensions takes some time, and so the main plot doesn't kick in until about 100 pages in, but at no point does the book feel slow - there are enough sharp ideas and interesting people to keep things moving. Once things really get going it gets hectic, without much pause for breath for the characters or the reader.

Overall, this is a fun, period fantasy thriller, and a good read. As mentioned above, I have ordered both follow-up books, and did so before finishing this one, I'm looking forward to them.

The story is not without its drawbacks though. Once the world-building phase is done, and the main plot kicks off, that's more or less that for depth. The magic, which had felt like it had some nicely inventive components, gets very general to keep things moving, and there isn't much room for character development at that stage, so the villains are a bit cartoonish, and the differences between dimensions a little...one-dimensional.

I'm still looking forward to the next book, and hoping that the extra story gives Schwab an opportunity to expand and deepen some of the nice ideas here.

fmartingr@books.bimbiribase.xyz reviewed A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Review of 'A Darker Shade of Magic' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Even I didn't know at first I got hooked with the main characters and the possibilities the world(s) the author created, is an fast and easy read (even though it took me a while). I can easily recommend this to anyone how likes fantasy novels, but I'm gonna wait until I read the entire saga, the next book is already on its way.