A Darker Shade of Magic Collector's Edition

A Novel

by V. E. Schwab

Hardcover, 432 pages

Published Oct. 31, 2017 by Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-9911-3

STEP INTO A UNIVERSE OF DARING ADVENTURE, THRILLING POWER, AND MULTIPLE LONDONS.

Kell is one of the last travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magic city.

There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad king--George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered--and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London--a place where people fight to control magic and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, ambassador of the Maresh Empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world …

STEP INTO A UNIVERSE OF DARING ADVENTURE, THRILLING POWER, AND MULTIPLE LONDONS.

Kell is one of the last travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magic city.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs into 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.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

This description comes from the publisher. A Darker Shade of Magic is the first book of the Shades of Magic trilogy.

6 editions

Jamie reviewed A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (Shades of Magic, #1)

Review of 'A Darker Shade of Magic' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I've been really struggling with my reading the last couple of months and I can't figure out exactly what's gone wrong. Initially I thought the problem was too much - I read over 100 books last year; always had an audiobook going in the car or on a walk and my nose near an e-reader the rest of the time. I had set aside all of my own thoughts because I wasn't happy enough with them. Replaced them with something a little less painful.

I still think that's a part of what's wrong with my reading. But maybe a larger part is the quality of the writing and the lack of innovation. I want to read something that doesn't remind me of anything I've read before and it's so frustrating to be unable to find it. It leads me to unhappy literature and non-fiction. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," according to Tolstoy. And that fits my literary quandary, too. Light lit is all alike; dark lit provides the only opportunity for something original. (I know that's severely overstated - or hope it is, anyway.) So I get stuck with the bad divorces, the drug-addled philanderers, and the rapists and murderers of modern fiction or the light mystery that's the same as the last with a different setting and characterization.

So, I'm trying to find the good in the light, starting with A Darker Shade of Magic. Even though it includes two of my least favorite words on the cover: "Book One".

Like every other fantasy novel it has a couple of magical dudes and a dark object of power that needs to be destroyed. It has the character required for the adventure that doesn't seem like an ideal candidate but is probably made of stronger stuff than it appears. There are warring kingdoms and the requisite intrigue and pawns. There is an extremely weak attempt to create some logically constructed fictional languages.

It has lines something like "she heard distant screaming and took several moments to discover it was coming from her own mouth."

It has multiple Londons in multiple worlds for no reason whatsoever. There's nothing about any of the Londons that seem like London. There's no placing this setting on a timeline or any attempt to do so.

This novel has two attributes to recommend it: it moves quickly and wraps itself up sufficiently enough that if you aren't inclined to continue the series you'll have no nagging questions if you ever remember these characters in the future.

I'm trying here, people.

Alex Keane reviewed A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (Shades of Magic, #1)

Review of 'A Darker Shade of Magic' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

One of the best fantasy stories I've read in a good long time. A story of parallel Londons struggling to survive after one of them succumbs to a dark force. I love the way certain facts are alluded to that could be answered in a sequel, but the story stands alone with its ending being the beginning of a new adventure. Wonderful writing.

Juliane reviewed A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (Shades of Magic, #1)

Review of 'A Darker Shade of Magic' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

After reading the first half of the book, I would have given 4 stars. But after the second half, I want to give 100 stars - so it ends up with 5 stars.

What an extraordinary read! This is how a book should be! We have fantastic characters, especially Lila is great. Her kick-ass attitude and her lifesaving skills are impressive. Also the story is special: several Londons, different worlds, magic! I'd love to see a film out of this book, I'm sure it would be a blast.

The book starts slowly, introducing the world, setting and characters. I was a bit confused about the belonging of characters to the different Londons, but as the story speeds up, all confusion left me. Suddenly I found myself forgetting to breath. What suspense!

So, what now? Actually the story ends in a good way, you could stop reading. But well, I want …