A Darker Shade of Magic Series: Shades of Magic #1
by V. E. Schwab
Published by Macmillan
on 02/24/2015
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 401
Length: 11 hours and 34 minutes
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A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab
Kell 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 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 LightAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
I’m officially making a stupidly stubborn as all hell Female main character trope!!! I think these just kind of piled up on me! Don’t get me wrong , I still love the book but I get frustrated a lot!
Delila Bard, is unlike any other female MC that I’ve read. So I like that she’s original in that sense but that stubbornness is UGH!!
Going into this book, i really had no idea what it was about. I was attending the Otherworld event where V.E. Schwab was going to be at and I wanted to read more of her books so i started with this.
The premise of the different worlds being known to the people and having some people traveling between the worlds is pretty cool.
I did have a bit of a hard time getting an idea of what Kell looks like and couldn’t match him up with who he is. But it’s BECAUSE of who he is that kept me in the story.
I also liked the relationship between Kell and Rhy. Even if the whole royal family “thinks of Kell as family”, it’s only Rhy who actually acts like it. Kell isn’t a power move for him.
The way things, definitely keep me wanting more so we’ll see what Kell, Lila, and Rhy get into the next book.
About V. E. Schwab
Victoria “V.E.” Schwab is the #1 NYT, USA, and Indie bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and This Savage Song. Her work has received critical acclaim, been featured by EW and The New York Times, been translated into more than a dozen languages, and been optioned for TV and Film. The Independent calls her the “natural successor to Diana Wynne Jones” and touts her “enviable, almost Gaimanesque ability to switch between styles, genres, and tones.”
