A stunning collector's edition of the acclaimed novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab.
With an exclusive metallic ink cover, this edition will feature:
* End papers of London
* Fan art
* A glossary of Arnesian and Antari terms
* An interview between author and editor
* Original (never before seen!) tales from within the Shades of Magic world
Kell is one of the last Antari-magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons. There is Red London, where life and magic are revered, Grey London, without magic and ruled by mad King George III, and White London, a city slowly being drained through magical war, down to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London... but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell acts as an ambassador and messenger between the Londons, in service of the Maresh Empire. Unofficially, he's also a smuggler, a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences-as proved when he stumbles into a setup with a forbidden token from Black London.
Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of 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. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive...
Prepare to be dazzled by a world of parallel Londons-where magic thrives, starves, or lies forgotten, and where power can destroy just as quickly as it can create.
- ISBN10 0765399113
- ISBN13 9780765399113
- Publish Date 31 October 2017 (first published 1 January 2015)
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint Tor Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 432
- Language English
- Special Bonus Content Collector's Edition
Reviews
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
While I am a fan of excellent heroines, very few capture me the way Lila did. The minute she swooped into this book, speaking of her swashbuckling dreams, I was entirely on board.
A Darker Shade of Magic isn’t about Lila, though. Not really. It’s about Kell and the Antari who travel through worlds, and a bit of corrupted Black London that has found its way into his unwitting hands. It’s about danger and sacrifice and courage and stubbornness and Lila is very much just along for the ride. And who came blame her? With London in four shades and the chance to travel between worlds (let alone countries…) I’d have hopped on board as well!
There are a few scattered things I want to note about A Darker Shade of Magic. The first, obviously, it the incredibleness that is Delilah Bard. She’s a shadow, a thief, a fighter, and a pirate. There are never enough pirates in fiction to satiate me. Beyond that, she is just plain interesting. Her dialogue? So good. It plays at my heartstrings. For example:
“I’m not going to die,” she said. “Not till I’ve seen it.”
“Seen what?”
Her smile widened. “Everything.”
My favorite line in the book. Possibly one of my favorite bookish quotes of all time, which is an honor held almost uniquely by novels by J.K. Rowling and John Green. Good company. I want to cut Delilah Bard out of the pages of this book and keep her with me. Glorious, wonderful character.
The second thing is the opening line. Although the first line of a book is supposed to be the hook that draws you in, I find that very few resonate with me enough that I can’t get them out of my head. “Kell wore a peculiar coat.” is one such line. It tell the reader so much and absolutely nothing at all. Who is Kell? Tell me about his coat. If his coat is peculiar, he must be too. H ow is he peculiar? How did he get this coat? … on and on it goes. Simple. Luring. Perfection.
Then there are the little casual bits thrown in all over the place – like Lila’s eye, and how did the stone really get to White London? Paying back Cella? Rhys and Lila’s future flirtations (this happens, right? Tell me it happens). I am so utterly enthralled in this novel that I am still wrapped in its pages and eager to learn more. The world building is astounding, the characters are delightful, the story is intriguing… as a reader, I really couldn’t ask for anything more.
Beth C.
Characters were also quite well done. Even those in the book for shorter periods of time than the main characters had...personality. Life. Meaning. As an avid reader, I've seen that it can be hard to write extra characters well - it seems that they get less effort and attention precisely because they aren't around very long. Not the case here, which truly made a difference in the overall story.
Basically - I can't wait to read #2 :)
writehollydavis
littleread1
Terri M. LeBlanc
And Lila? Her devil-may-care attitude reminded me of Peter Pan. She’s all bravado and pluck, but secretly scared that her actions may impede on her obtaining her dream. Lila is certainly a character I admire.
Sadly, for me, A Darker Shade of Magic fell short on the plot. The story was all characters and in the end, the plot was two-dimensional and a bit predictable; it was as if NOTHING happened 400 pages. The book was just 400 pages of getting to know Kell and Lila; and I seriously doubted the need to read another book by Schwab.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews
luddite
leahrosereads
Finally getting around to writing a review after my third read of this! And it's still not going to be a great review.
I absolutely love this trilogy! I love the characters and the setting and the trials that the characters go through. I love Lila, Kell and Rhy individually and together with their banters. And of course, I love Holland and his real struggling vibes.
And honestly, I dig the big (and bigger) bads here. The twins are a creep factor of like 1000, and I just love when my big bads are that disturbing.
VE Schwab does a great job at building not just a world, but a universe here. One that I can see her expanding (obviously, lol) in the future.
Joséphine
Initial thoughts: The amount of wit Schwab is able to weave into the most dire of situations is remarkable. I tend to smirk while holding my breath when it comes to her books. Things started off rather slowly. Of course, this helped to establish the setting and the way magic worked across the parallel Londons. It allowed readers to better understand how the Londons differed and how they were connected. While this was definitely important, that made the pacing feel a little off-kilter for me. When the conflicts arose, no doubt, they kept me on the edge of my seat but they set in a little later than I would've liked. Meanwhile, my mind kept wandering during the first third of the book.
That being said, despite the "traditional" fantasy elements involving royalty and magic, good vs. evil, deceit, and so forth, A Darker Shade of Magic was wholly original. Coupled with Schwab's talent for creating monsters, it was a wonderful start to the trilogy.
girlinthepages
First off, I want to clarify that I am in no way bashing this book. The writing was excellent, it was more of an issue with the plot never catching my attention. Fantasy is really hit or miss for me (I either LOVE it or am bored to tears by it) and this book clearly fell into the latter category. I thought Kell was an adorable muffin of a protagonist, but other than that I couldn't bring myself to truly become engaged with the other characters, which was a problem when they were in grave danger and I was supposed to be ~shocked and afraid~ for them. I also am not a fan of any story telling medium (tv show, movie, book, video game, etc) that has a plot that takes course only over the course of a day or two, so this story had that working against it in my mind. I think this book just had too much action for me and not enough character development (it felt like it was altercation after altercation and I wasn't really getting a sense of urgency/excitement since they were happening so often).
Though this is the first and only book I've read by Schwab, I do think she has great skill when it comes to writing villains. The only part of the book when I was generally intrigued and couldn't put it down is when Kell was "visiting" White London and had to interact with the Dane Twins and Holland (I have a feeling if I were to choose to keep on trying with this series that Holland would be my favorite). For some reason the Dane twins reminded me of a more sinister version of the Lannister twins from ASOIAF and White London was terrifying enough to hold my interest. Red and Grey London honestly just bored me.
Overall: I think my reading experience with this book is truly an instance of "It's me, not you." This book had too many elements that didn't jive with my personal reading tastes, but I can objectively see why so many people love it. A small part of me wants to push on to AGOS to see if a switch in my mind will flip and I'll see what all the fuss is about, but I'm also wary because when I force myself through a book I'm not enjoying it can land me in bit of a slump and I start to avoid reading altogether. I might try another series or book by Schwab in the future because I can tell she's a talented writer, but for now I'll have to except my fate as a major black sheep when it comes to this story.
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SaveThis review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages