A Darker Shade of Magic - ComeLibros Club

Hardcover, 430 pages

English language

Published Oct. 13, 2017 by Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-7645-9
OCLC Number:: 902986970

(2 reviews)

Welcome to Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, with one mad king―George III. Then there is Red London, where life and magic are revered, and White London, a city slowly being drained through a 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 is one of the last Antari―magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons―and acts as an ambassador and messenger between the Londons, in the service of the Maresh Empire. Unofficially, he's also a smuggler, which is a dangerous hobby for him to have―as proved when Kell 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, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces …

Welcome to Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, with one mad king―George III. Then there is Red London, where life and magic are revered, and White London, a city slowly being drained through a 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 is one of the last Antari―magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons―and acts as an ambassador and messenger between the Londons, in the service of the Maresh Empire. Unofficially, he's also a smuggler, which is a dangerous hobby for him to have―as proved when Kell 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, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces Kell to spirit her away 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.

10 editions

Jaelyn reviewed A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (Shades of Magic (Collector's Edition))

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

4 stars

Four parallel universes are layered on top of each other. All they have in common is there is a city upon a river called London. Everything else in the world diverged a long time ago when they were separated. Grey London is ours, dull and without magic. Red is resplendent and in balance. White was once all powerful, before Black London fell to the darkest of magics and White was used as a firebreak to stop the spread.

Kell, from Red London, is one of the few remaining magicians capable of traversing worlds. While he transports messages between the rulers of the 3 surviving cities, he also smuggles trinkets for those who would pay a great deal for anything from another world. But when he is tricked into smuggling something far more dangerous than he bargained for he ends up falling in with a thief & aspiring pirate of Grey …

Four parallel universes are layered on top of each other. All they have in common is there is a city upon a river called London. Everything else in the world diverged a long time ago when they were separated. Grey London is ours, dull and without magic. Red is resplendent and in balance. White was once all powerful, before Black London fell to the darkest of magics and White was used as a firebreak to stop the spread.

Kell, from Red London, is one of the few remaining magicians capable of traversing worlds. While he transports messages between the rulers of the 3 surviving cities, he also smuggles trinkets for those who would pay a great deal for anything from another world. But when he is tricked into smuggling something far more dangerous than he bargained for he ends up falling in with a thief & aspiring pirate of Grey London, Lila, to put things right.

It’s an interesting world and the stacked nature of the worlds and need for trinkets from each adds a decent limitation to Kell’s powers that everything makes sense and drives the plot forward. Nothing gets too silly when it comes to the uses of magic and the multiverse. I wish we had more of to round out the characters and each version of the city but it’s not significantly lacking given it’s part of a series; it lays a decent foundation there even if it could give more of a hook. I certainly enjoyed Lila.

fmartingr@books.bimbiribase.xyz reviewed A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (Shades of Magic (Collector's Edition))

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

4 stars

Even I didn't know at first I got hooked with the main characters and the possibilities the world(s) the author created, is an fast and easy read (even though it took me a while). I can easily recommend this to anyone how likes fantasy novels, but I'm gonna wait until I read the entire saga, the next book is already on its way.