Londons fall and kingdoms rise while darkness sweeps the Maresh Empire, and the fraught balance of magic blossoms into dangerous territory while heroes struggle. The direct sequel to A Gathering of Shadows, and the final book in the Shades of Magic epic fantasy series, A Conjuring of Light sees the newly minted New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab reach a thrilling conclusion concerning … conclusion concerning the fate of beloved protagonists–and old foes.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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“Myths do not happen all at once.
They do not spring forth whole into the world. They form slowly, rolled between the hands of time until their edges are smooth, until the saying of the story gives enough weight to the words – to the memories – to keep them rolling on their own.
But all stories start somewhere…”
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This is SUCH an incredible series… And this was the PERFECT conclusion (for now) to it. The book was densely written and carefully crafted; it tied together loose ends from throughout the earlier volumes, while still adding enough novelty and new twists and turns to entertain on its own. I would not recommend reading these out of order; the character and plot development are artful and brilliantly manipulated, and you would lose most (if not all) of that if you had not read the previous two books. Plus, the entire series is amazing and well worth the time. If you like your books to, like life, stretch the boundaries of the expected, this is one for you. It blends together elements of so many genres/concepts: alternate worlds, magic, political intrigue, adventure, mystery, historical fiction, family dynamics, madness. Each of these is salted throughout a deftly narrated tale in a spot-on writing style full of crisp edges sharp enough to draw blood yet carefully drawn such that you don’t even notice the cuts until a character (or plot point) suddenly lies bleeding before you… This is masterful writing, and I cannot wait to see what the oh-so-talented Ms. Schwab comes up with next!
Such a fulfilling end to an amazing trilogy. The characters are well developed and at this point, the relationships between characters and the reader really makes this book a page turner. You want to see what happens.
A brutal, beautiful conclusion to a fantasy trilogy that’s rocketed to the top of my favorites list – if you haven’t picked up V.E. Schwab yet, do yourself a favor and dive in!
Almost everyone who reads fantasy novels has either read or heard of this trilogy by V.E. Schwab. When A Darker Shade of Magic first came out, I was intrigued by the cover, but I did not have much free time to read, so I passed it up. When I heard that Owlcrate was doing a set of 4 book tins based on the books, I figured it was probably time to read them. Overall, I don’t necessarily think this series lives up to all the hype it typically receives, but I still think it was worth reading, especially if you enjoy fantasy.
The final book in the trilogy, A Conjuring of Light, was another 4-star read for me! The characters are brought together in the plot and it is action-packed throughout its entirety. There is more development of the characters and the magic system, but the constant action was what truly kept me reading. I won’t give away any spoilers, but the characters must come together again to save Red London, and they spend a lot of the book on a quest in hopes of finding something that will help them save their city.
All in all, I frequently see people asking whether or not it is worth it to read this trilogy. I personally think that these books were worth reading simply because they are a classic within the fantasy genre, but I will warn you that you likely won’t be blown away. These books are interesting, but not world-shattering. With so many rave reviews of this trilogy I really expected more, but they were decent and now I can finally say that I’ve read them!
This book… well, what can I say?
It’s nearly 700 pages, but it honestly didn’t feel that way to me. I had a hard time putting it down, and whenever I picked it up, I simply tore through the chapters — until I told myself to back up, slow down, reread some of the sentences that were all so beautifully woven together.
V.E./Victoria Schwab is a true master storyteller, who knows how to add just the right amount of details, and sprinkles a little bit of a poetic feel over her words like stardust, while still keeping up the pace of the story.
I’d already fallen in love with Kell and Lila in book 1, then in book 2 I got some real feels for Rhy, and Alucard joined the cast (I LOVE that guy) — and in book 3 their voices were all so beautifully written. Oh, and Holland. Let’s talk about Holland for a moment; I’d already developed a weak spot for him since the first book, but in A Conjuring of Light we finally got some background stories and my heart BROKE for him.
The ending felt bittersweet to me (as is the case with all books I’ve read by Victoria Schwab up until now; I think she secretly likes to hurt her readers, y’know? But not too much, so that we recover every single time and keep coming back for more torture, lol), but it was all beautifully wrapped up and I closed the book feeling content and amazed.
Absolutely love this series, and would recommend it to any fantasy fan out there!
A Conjuring of Light is hefty, clocking in at the longest book in the series by over a hundred pages, and it’s chock-full of fantastic action sequences, great character development, and a conclusion that feels both earned and satisfying. If you were someone who was disappointed by the lack of action in A Gathering of Shadows, this novel more than makes up for it. This novel ricochets up the tension in all aspects, closing in with conflict from all sides, but somehow Schwab manages to tie up all the threads that she’s so deftly woven throughout the series while leaving enough open for Threads of Power.
Unlike A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows left us off on a cliffhanger, one that is resolved quickly in the beginning pages of A Conjuring of Light. All the setup that was done in the previous novel comes into full force in this one: Osaron, the shadow king, has officially begun his takeover of Red London; the ostracization of Kell from his family has personal tensions ratcheting up; Lila Bard is coming into her own deeply powerful magic with no real idea how to control it; and Arnes is surrounded by Faro and Vesk, two countries on the brink of war, ready to trample Arnes in the middle. This is a expanded version of the Black Night in A Darker Shade of Magic, with the stakes much higher, a whole country at risk. All that worldbuilding that was done in the last book, introducing Faro and Vesk as tournament attendees with a few members of royalty in attendance, pays off in spades here as we now enter the world of international politics alongside the regular magical problems. There are so many layers here, so many problems that Schwab has to fix, and she does it all beautifully.
This is I believe the first time in all three books that the gang is all together: Kell and Lila finally reunited after a fraught time apart in A Gathering of Shadows; Rhy, mostly trapped in the castle by virtue of his royal position; Alucard, no longer captain with his ship no longer seaworthy; and even Holland, our first antagonist turned reluctant ally. Not only are all of these characters being in one place fun, providing both witty banter and the chance for juicy character development, but also immensely satisfying. These characters have spent two books developing on their own, and while they meet up on occasion, we’ve never had a moment where all the characters are together and on the same side. They’re not a group of friends, not entirely, not with Kell and Alucard’s rivalry over Rhy and Lila holding Holland responsible for the death of her father figure, which makes to drive characters to their breaking points, the culmination of tensions that have been building for over a thousand pages coming to fruition. We get fights, both emotional and physical, snippets of the past from various characters, and swoon-worthy romantic scenes (and I’m not sure why people keep categorizing Shades of Magic as YA, given these semi-explicit moments).
I’m so thankful Kell and Lila get to spend some time together after their too-brief meetings in the last book. I’m overall not one too involved in romances, but it turns out if you give me two excellent characters I’ll get invested. Both characters have plenty of time to develop and stand on their own, so it feels much less like two characters who were built to be in a romance with each other and more like two real people coming together in a genuine relationship. If there was any character I wasn’t entirely convinced by, it was Osaron, because I love a good villain with a great backstory, but I can’t even really complain about it. In a cast so great it would’ve been hard to balance an interesting villain with such a colorful group, and each character stands so well on their own without any kind of important villain interaction.
Everything I could’ve wanted came to a great conclusion, leaving some threads open for later development in the second series, Threads of Power, but overall this was a satisfying conclusion to mostly every character arc in the series while leaving me ready for more. (There was one arc that finished on a tone I didn’t like, but I can’t hold it against Schwab for not babying my personal favorite character.)
It took me a long time to get to such a well-known series, but it was absolutely worth the wait. A Conjuring of Light is one of the greats in terms of trilogy conclusions. So often I find that endings disappoint me, by being too tidy, by leaving me with too many questions, by butchering character arcs and romantic endings, but this book had none of that. Every book in this series, not just the ending, is a masterclass in fantasy, worldbuilding, and even general writing; everyone can find something to enjoy, love, and learn from in these books. It’s possible I feel so positively about it because I know more will come; the next series in this universe is Threads of Power, and if I need something to hold me over I can always go to The Steel Prince comics, depicting the life of Maxim Maresh, Rhy’s father. There is much more to this world to be explored, and even with so perfect an ending I’m still looking for more.
review blog
I loved this book. I loved this series. What a wonderful act 3 and fabulous conclusion to this series. VE Schwab is a talent and I look forward to reading more of her work.
I started this trilogy a year ago.
Usually, I will start a series/trilogy and read it in spurts. I’ll read book one then a month or so later book 2.
Unless I’m obsessed like I was with the Wool AKA Silo series and The All Souls AKA A Discovery of Witches trilogy I won’t do a series all at one time.
That doesn’t mean the series wasn’t engaging, wonderful, and all sorts of bookish greatness.
A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic Book 3) by V.E. Schwab was delightful. Yep, delightful. A very well done finale to a fun trilogy.
One of the things I loved the most about this trilogy is that the author made up a language for it. As an author, I really respect that. I don’t think I could pull that off as wonderfully as Schwab did.
I recommend reading the Shades of Magic trilogy if you enjoy magic, adventure, and brilliantly built characters.
What a phenomenal end to a magical series! Tension rides almost every page of A Conjuring of Light. I had to force myself NOT to put it down and forge through uncertain what would happen to my beloved characters. The story was jam-packed with pirates, sinister magic, and consequences that felt true to the narrative.
The wonderfully satisfying conclusion to the Shades of Magic trilogy does not disappoint.
Actual rating: uh infinity stars
Look at my heart on the ground, pathetically spitting blood and tears everywhere.
Alright. Review time.
Listen. I know that there are books we get excited about. Books we get obsessed with. Books we feel an immediate connection to.
This is one of those books.
This entire TRILOGY – it made me shiver, it made me snort, it made me cry, it made me legitimately CARE for these characters as if I knew them personally in real life. And that’s not something I’d say lightly. Every character and every chapter were beautifully developed and changed. The world building was the most beautifully transporting I’ve seen in a loooong time – ever since Avatar: The Last Airbender and Six of Crows (both of which I’ve seen/read multiple times prior to indulging myself in this story).
And I FELT.
Oh, did I feel.
To tell you the truth? I cry every single time I read a certain sentence; it just does it for me and completely rips my heart in two. It’s the context, the map room Rhy only saw once, when he was eight years old. It crushes me. I think that sentence is burned into my mind, strange as it seems.
Holland, Kell, Lila, Rhy, Alucard, Hastra, Ojka, and every other character I met hold special places in my stone-cold heart.
And I still can’t get over Kell’s coat, Holland’s entire, beautiful character, and the fact that “Alucard” is “Dracula” spelled backwards.
A very satisfying end to the Shades of Magic. As usual, the character voices are amazing. I could read a book of just the characters talking to each other, I think. But this has more! Plot! Magic! Love! Sadness! Triumph!
Honestly, just go read it.