maggiefan
Written on Jul 11, 2022
Continue V. E. Schwab's New York Times bestselling Shades of Magic series with A Conjuring of Light, now in a beautiful collector's edition.
The precarious equilibrium among the four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise. Kell-once assumed to be the last surviving Antari-begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. Lila Bard, once a commonplace-but never common-thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry.
Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery and the Night Spire crew are attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible, as an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown and a fallen hero is desperate to save a decaying world...
- ISBN13 9781789091861
- Publish Date 1 October 2019 (first published 21 February 2017)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Titan Books Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 688
- Language English
- Special Collector's Edition
Reviews
herseriallife
Written on Aug 1, 2021
Quirky Cat
Written on Dec 14, 2020
A Conjuring of Light is the third and final novel in V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic Series, and oh my goodness is that a series worth reading! I kind of hate myself for taking so long to get around to reading it.
Once again Red London is in peril. Only, this time it is likely that the whole world, and perhaps those next to it as well, will be devoured in the process. An ancient evil has risen once again, and it's up to a limited few to try and save the day.
Kell and Lila are two of those heroes on the front lines. They're the last of their kind, and as such, they have power, and responsibility, for what is happening all around them. Alongside Captain Alucard Emery, they are on a race against time – and an evil like they've never seen before.
“Love and loss,” he said, “are like a ship and the sea. They rise together. The more we love, the more we have to lose. But the only way to avoid loss is to avoid love. And what a sad world that would be.”
Wow. A Conjuring of Light is, without a shadow of a doubt, the ending that this series deserved. It was intense, emotionally raw, thrilling, and full to the brim of magic, might, and action. In short, it was perfect, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I was lucky enough to have read A Gathering of Shadows and A Conjuring of Light back to back. That means I didn't have to wait in a world of anxiety to see what happened next. Unfortunately, it does also mean that they do flow fairly seamlessly in my mind, so it's hard for me to be certain where one ended, and the other began.
All things considered, I will happily take that price. It's the price that many a book fan has taken in the past, and it is almost always worth it. Though when I re-read the series (and I will), I think I'll try to space them out a bit better, to help prevent that next time around.
“Scars are not shameful, not unless you let them be. If you do not wear them, they will wear you.”
I honestly think I loved every moment of this book. Kell and Lila's relationship, the subplot surrounding Alucard, the ship, the market, the prince, the politics, the battles, all of it. I loved watching Kell come to terms with his life, his family, and his divided obligations. Likewise, watching Lila come into power was inspiring.
The toll of the enemy, and of the battles, is not lost on me either. There is so much raw emotion and impact written into the pages. It made it impossible to avoid what was at stake, and just how much worse things could get.
All of which is proof that V.E. Schwab is a fantastic writer. She got me absolutely hooked on this series, the world, and the characters within. Honestly, I'm actually pretty sad to see the series conclude here (yes, I know there's a graphic novel series I can check out, but you know what I mean).
Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
inlibrisveritas
Written on Dec 3, 2020
I do think this was a good ending though, with plenty of open-ended areas for the companion series.
Berls
Written on Nov 28, 2020
sa090
Written on Nov 15, 2019
Well, that’s one series completely read by Schwab, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it definitely wouldn’t be the last I read of her work.
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I don’t know what I expected exactly going into this series, I knew magic was a thing and there are multiple locations, but I also thought it was going to be something that’s blown up without any substance like my previous less than happy experiences with other famous titles. However, I’m happy to say that in this case in particular I couldn’t be more wrong. The worlds continue being interesting and they get even more so every time I take an extra glance at them, I do want to know more about Black London and the other countries in Red London’s world, but for now I’ll say that the books have got enough to take of the plot being discussed.
Speaking of the plot, for a final book, the plot wasn’t moving in one constant speed. Instead the plot alternated between fast paced and slow paced, I didn’t expect to see the latter and to be very honest, sometimes I didn’t see the point of seeing it in what was supposed to be a finale. But, I will be lenient and not focus too much on it because of the final pit stop our friends had to go through. I didn’t expect it to happen, it made me incredibly excited to see more and I liked the untold mystery of the happenings in it. I did think what Kell did in regards to the note there a wasted opportunity, but for a final book, that plot line getting a focus is not exactly relevant nor needed.
The characters in the book continues being one of the series’ highlights and we get the final final confirmation to what has been eluded to since book in regards to Lila. I enjoyed seeing Kell, Alucard and Rhy each try to work around with what they were dealt, I didn’t expect to see a deeper side of the King and Queen, but I’ll greatly appreciate it. That being said though, I do believe that Schwab created a bigger than needed ensemble in book 2, having them carry forward to book 3 without the bigger memory they should have created then made me a little annoyed trying to recall who did what. It wasn’t too many thankfully, but it was still something before they went away and I stayed with the ones I knew a little too much.
I think the issue ultimately lies with world building or more accurately, with how accessible the world was made outside of the Londons’. It wasn’t or isn’t as great as I hoped, I mean I get why, but as someone who doesn’t read books in completed series back to back, I want to be able to easily pick up a book I read after a while and immediately don’t feel like I’m missing something. This book is not severely lacking in that area, I just greedily wish for me despite knowing that it will serve close to nothing plot wise.
Magic however. is another aspect in the series that continues being awesome to see, Lila is now a lot more proficient so seeing her and others get to use more of it is always just fun. The magic system is a lot more versatile than a I thought, you can do a lot of things here if you’ve got the basics done and I personally want to see a fast forward 10 or 15 years in the future to see how Lila will be like as I’m almost 100% sure she’s going to be leaving Kell in the dust skills and abilities wise. Or at least I hope so lol.
Thankfully for me there is a new trilogy in the works for this series and it will feature the entire cast of this book despite them not being the actual leads and I’m fine with that as long as I get to see the Antari be badass again. I do know that there is a graphic novel series going on, but for some reason I wasn’t a fan of any graphic novel I read so far so I will refrain for a bit, maybe after I finish her other series. She has me hooked and I can’t wait to see more!
I do have one more thing to add before I wrap this up though, I sometimes listened to this book on audiobook and I’m just going to say that Kate Reading is a fantastic narrator. However, I had issues with the guy reading with her, I don’t know what it was but he wasn’t very fun to listen to. Anyways, small comment that just boils down to preference so yeah :)
Final rating: 4/5
Renee
Written on Oct 20, 2019
Now I understand the absolute love for this series.
Kerka97
Written on Jan 19, 2019
alindstadtcorbeax
Written on Sep 18, 2018
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just a warning that this kind of has spoilers a little? If you’re currently reading, or plan to, I kind of hint at some of the characters’ fates, so you may not want to read!
Okay. So. I was absolutely in love with this whole trilogy, and never been more frustrated to go on 3 vacations within 3 weeks
abookishblether
Written on Jun 12, 2018
A Gathering of Shadows ★★★☆☆
A Conjuring of Light ★★★★☆
Obviously as this is the third book in the series I won't be doing a full review with spoilers, but I have a lot of feelings to write out.
As much as it looks like I am disappointed by this series based on my ratings I adore Schwab's writing and would genuinely read thousands of pages about these characters. My main complaint about this series is that I feel short changed by the lack of plot. This book I personally feel delivered the most plot and really kept me more engaged than the second. I wish the series had been a duology and the plot relevant parts of the second had been moved to the first book.
I was ready to give this book five stars for a long period, but I found the conclusion to be weak and rather "neatly tied". That isn't a fair opinion if I was to be considering it objectively, but the sacrifices made and difficulties felt like the minimal that could be done to prevent a neat ending that had no consequences. I'm possibly just bitter about how hyped this series was and how much I felt let down.