A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. SchwabKell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and … between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
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.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse 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.
“A Darker Shade of Magic has all the hallmarks of a classic work of fantasy. Schwab has given us a gem of a tale…This is a book to treasure.”—Deborah Harkeness, New York Times bestselling author of the All Souls trilogy
Shades of Magic series
1. A Darker Shade of Magic
2. A Gathering of Shadows
3. A Conjuring of Light
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
more
I liked this, but I’m quite unlikely to continue with the series. Maybe I’m just nit-picky, but it seemed like the first third of the book was all set up. Sure, you need to establish the world and the characters, but none of the core action that ends up driving the story starts until almost 30-40% of the way through.
That said, once the story starts, it is a fun read. The characters have constant set backs, the villains keep right on coming, and you do have to wonder how the heroes will get themselves out of their bind.
OMG I LOVE this series…
I’m always looking for good fantasy series, so when I saw this one I gave it a try. It is well written and easy to follow.
In this story, there are 4 different Londons (black, white, grey, and red). The doors between the worlds are closed and only Kell and Holland, both filled with magic, are able to travel,between the worlds. That is until Kell meets Lila and a powerful black stone. Suddenly, the race is on to save the Red London from the evil rulers of White London. And the black stone used by Kell to try to defeat the evil also holds an evil all its own.
This is an action packed story with characters fighting for their lives and the lives of their worlds. Now I have to read the second book in this series!
I wish I liked this more. I will make myself read book 2, maybe its one of those books that should have never been spilt up, because it certainly felt incomplete by itself
I absolutely love the world building and magic system in this book; well thought out ideas that are well executed.
I absolutely loved the book and am reading the second book of the series now. Loving that one too
I absolutely loved reading this book. The prose was effortlessly beautiful. It was beautiful because that’s just what Victoria Schwab does. I want to kiss her feet and the ground she walks on.
Lila Bard was my favorite character. She is the embodiment of chaos. When the captain attacks her in her quarters, she kills him and then sets his ship ablaze!
Devoured it in two sittings, so I must’ve liked it. I had a really hard time connecting with Lila, though. Her backstory is completely undeveloped so I had trouble connecting and empathizing with her. The magic system, though, is super cool, and the evil baddies were truly evil. A little more violent than I tend to like in my novels, but overall I enjoyed this a lot.
I knew when I opened A Darker Shade of Magic that the main character, Kell, had an enchanted coat, replicated in the numerous cosplays and fanart that have emerged from V.E. Schwab’s active and creative fandom. Yet I was still entranced by the beginning of the novel: a description of a coat that could not only turn inside out but right and left, along with varying other ways to reveal different outfits, such a whimsical opening I was drawn in immediately. What a character wears is a minor detail in the grand scheme of things, especially since Schwab goes on to introduce us to not just one magical city but four of them, layered on top of one another like a cake. Grey London (our London), Black London, White London, and Red London, the last of which is Kell’s home city where he plays the role of adopted prince in public, in private a smuggler of banned goods between the Londons, as he is one of few individuals even among several worlds of magic who can move between them. It is this smuggling business that gets him into trouble, accidentally bringing in a forbidden and powerful artifact from Black London, the only city to be sealed off from the rest after it was devoured by magic. The dead London.
Schwab does quadruple the work to create four settings, all named the same thing and all with the same geography and famous river, yet manages to make them strikingly different, easy to tell apart even for someone like me who can find the minutiae of so much world-building a bit dense. These Londons are slick and stylishly creative, Schwab deftly taking descriptions that could’ve been ludicrous (a ruby-red river that somehow doesn’t look like blood, a city the color of bone) and creating worlds so lifelike they’re almost characters themselves. It is the world that takes center stage in this novel and is the more memorable than the main characters, which is saying something, as they were lovable too.
Kell and his adopted brother, the biological prince Rhy, are charming with a true sibling relationship that comes with all its push and pulls, bickering, and true familial affection. They are expanded, more lovable versions of the brooding hero and prince charming archetypes, with character development happening slowly but consistently through the novel, culminating in a relationship that promises to be one of the highlights of the sequel. But it’s Kell’s new friend who dominates the narrative in the best of ways: Lila Bard, crossdresser, master pickpocket and thief, and unapologetically confident. So often narratives for women are about finding themselves, discovering what they truly want in a world determined to drag them down, but Lila knows what she wants and just can’t seem to find it: adventure. There was a bit of ‘not like the other girls’ syndrome going on with her, nothing too egregious because she really isn’t: I rarely find a female character who is confident, but not arrogant, self-sufficient, but not cold, and with an interesting backstory that doesn’t involve sexual assault in some fashion. And Lila’s dislike of the women around her is a carefully constructed fabrication, thinly veiled jealousy that they have families, food, and a warm place to sleep, while Lila fights every miserable day like it’s her last, because it very well could be on the streets. When Kell, running from the forces he’s unleashed with his dark artifact, literally stumbles into her, the story takes off, the characters leaping both into action and off the page in a flurry of action and excitement.
Although I am slightly late to the V.E. Schwab party, having only read her rereleased debut novel The Near Witch last year, it’s impossible now not to see how she became a household SFF name so quickly. This book is a powerhouse, an absolutely explosive foray into the fantasy world. Schwab’s signature style was already present in The Near Witch and has just developed into a prose that can be alternatively lyrical or fast-paced, a perfect fit for both world-building this unique setting and keeping up with action sequences. A Darker Shade of Magic closes some threads and opens bigger mysteries to be explored in the rest of the Shades of Magic books. Lila steals the show in this book with a characterization that manages to deftly dodge a misogynistic trope, the two boys fade into the background a little more than I’m sure was intended. I’m willing to forgive that minor detail, as the two of them are set up to have a much more interesting and conflicting relationship in the next book, A Gathering of Shadows, and with how amazing this book was, I’ll be jumping into the sequel as fast as possible.
review blog
Hmmm. Not convinced about this series as of yet. The different London’s are most definitely interesting and I really like the magic. Kell slowly grew on me as the story progressed. Lilah annoyed me in the first half of the book, but we’ll see if she starts to grow a little more on me in the next book. I didn’t love the story. I thought it was going to be mind-blowing and sweep me off my feet. That didn’t quite happen, but I’m holding off judgments until I read the second book. It was a fun seeing Kell and Lilah being chased by Holland and outsmarted by Astrid. I hope to see more magic in the next book.
If I am ever half the writer VE Schwab is I will die happy.
Can I give more that five stars? This would get it. I would recommend this to everyone who enjoys low fantasy. EVERYONE! Such a great book with wonderful characters.
Very good book and entertaining to read, Glad I bought it.
GUYS. GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS. THIS BOOK. WAS AMAZING. LOVE IT. SO MUCH. WORDS. I CAN’T. AHHHHHHHHH *Faints*
Rational thought. I can do this. FOCUSING. Okay.
It’s become my habit over the years to sit on books for a really long time. Honestly, I have no idea why I do this, but I’m a mood reader who just likes to take things at my own pace. Consequently, I’ve become pretty good at guessing which books I’ll be fanatically in love with once I read them. Call it intuition or whatever, but if a book has been around for a hot minute I can usually tell how I’ll feel about it. This one was no different. I’ve known for a while that I’d absolutely love it, which is why I’ve been avoiding it. I know that makes zero sense, but it takes ENERGY to enter a new fandom and love it with your whole heart. A few days ago, however, I realized I was ready to take the plunge and fandom?
I HAVE ARRIVED.
This book was just????? I don’t even know. I loved everything about it. The way Schwab wrote it, the world building, the magic system, the story, THE CHARACTERS??? It was all so awesome and earned a special place on my favorites shelf.
Lila might be my favorite female protagonist ever. She’s had a tough life and she’s not afraid of a fight, but she also has an amazing strength of spirit with a sharp wit. Kell is an adorable ginger who’s trying to find where he fits in, despite being a powerful Antari. Both of them are lost in between worlds and manage to find each other and I just LOVE THEM. It was great how Schwab subtly worked in some very minor romance vibes without taking away from the rest of the story.
And the story was amazing!! I was COMPLETELY invested the entire time from start to finish and couldn’t put this down. I can’t wait to dive into the next book to meet more characters and see what happens next. I’m gonna need more Rhy in my life IMMEDIATELY.
Also, HUGE shout out to the narrator of this audiobook who did such a fantastic job. I’ve read a few reviews of people complaining about it, which I genuinely can’t compute??? I thought his voice was the PERFECT pairing to this story. Seriously can’t even bring myself to listen to the other two audiobooks because they’re narrated by other people. His voice reminded me a lot of the old BBC Chronicles of Narnia tapes I used to listen to a kid, so maybe it’s my nostalgia talking, but I thought Crossley was great.
~FINAL WORD~
THIS WAS AMAZING AND EVERYONE MUST READ IT IF YOU ENJOY FANTASY ADVENTURES AND AMAZING CHARACTERS. NEW FAVORITE BOOK YA’LL.
‘A Darker Shade Of Magic’ is the first book that I have read by V E Schwab, and I was drawn to this book by the cover. I don’t tend to read a lot of fantasy or sci-fi, but this book has completely had me and immersed me in a genre I now feel completely addicted to.
The book is about Kell, an Antari who lives in Red London. There are only two of his kind that you are aware of, and he stands out due to his auburn hair and one blue eye and one black.
You learn that Kell belongs to the royal family in Red London, one of four differing types of London. He has the ability to travel to and from each world by the use of blood and magic. However, each realm has differing views and opinions on magic.
The descriptions and world-building of each London, is truly magical and I just can’t believe how amazingly well-written this book was!
Kell encounters Lira, an aspiring pirate and petty thief, and they end up helping each other out of some pretty sticky situations. With someone attempting to trick Kell, and a dangerous object that could potentially ruin it all, Lira and Kell are forced to work together in order to attempt to stop bad dark magic from taking over. But will they be successful in their plight?
This book was addictive, unique and I have not read any book like it. It is completely original and I can imagine it being made into an amazing film. I loved the bad characters for how wickedly evil they were, and I love the good characters for how truly heroic they are.
Absolutely amazing read and I’d recommend to all book lovers.
This is one of the most unique takes on Urban Fantasy that I have ever run across. The characters are incredible, the world building is amazing, and the writing is just plain gorgeous. I enjoyed the novel so much that not only do I have an ebook format of all three, but I also added the series to my “In case of apocalypse hard copies” Wish List on Amazon (and yes, that is absolutely the actual name of the list) so I can buy the paperback copies next once Tax Refund Season rolls around. 😀
I’m mad at myself for seeing Schwab’s books everywhere and it taking me this long to finally get to one of her books. Fantastic world building. Seriously top notch. I didn’t fully connect with the characters but I didn’t hate them so I won’t take off any points for that. I’m simply not in love and / or fangirling over any of them..yet. Hopefully with the next one? LoL. Please don’t take that as the characters were bland or not worth the time to get into.
World building, story line,magic, villians, all on point. I know it’s just the one book I’ve read but color me a Schwab fan.
Fun and dark and thoroughly magical. Schwab is a master of balancing character and plot, and the world she’s kicked off here is a thoroughly imagined, endlessly fascinating world of multiple Londons and the rare people who travel between. Really fabulous, and if you love the world (I sure did), you can dive right into the rest of the trilogy.
Victoria Schwab does not disappoint with this book! Great characters, intriguing worlds and a sense of adventure and suspense. My fingers itched for it each time I had to put it down.
I first stumbled upon her work several years ago with The Near Witch. I followed that with The Archived and The Unbound, and then Vicious, and recently its sequel Vengeful. I love her unique stories and writing style. It’s a feast for the senses.
This is an author whose work I look forward to.
I absolutely loved this book. The whole series is fabulous!