A Darker Shade of Magic: A Novel (Shades of Magic, 1)

"Addictive and immersive, this series is a must-read." --Entertainment Weekly

Enter #1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab's beloved Shades of Magic trilogy--a dazzling world of parallel Londons where magic thrives, starves, or lies forgotten,
and where power can destroy just as quickly as it can create.

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.

Other books by V. E. Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Shades of Magic series
A Darker Shade of Magic
A Gathering of Shadows
A Conjuring of Light

Villains Duology
Vicious
Vengeful

BUY THE BOOK

416 pages

Average rating: 7.7

250 RATINGS

|

13 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

LDew
Dec 05, 2024
6/10 stars
Overall, this was a good book, just took until about 70% for me to really get invested in the plot. Lots of world building, which was nice, but a little too much for me with lacking in getting invested in the characters. It was less action than I anticipated. Perhaps the audio version of this was not the way to go, as I did end up liking Delilah by the books end, but it took a VERY long time to get to that point. I will likely pick up the second book and continue the series.
KimE
Jun 02, 2024
6/10 stars
My review from July 2021: Something tells me that I would have liked this a lot more if I had read it myself instead of listening to the audiobook. The narrator did a good job… but somehow he made it all so BORING. There was just something about his tone that made everyone sound aloof. I might try it again as an actual read, but not entirely sold…
Paukku
May 25, 2024
6/10 stars
A little bit of fun action, but mostly this felt like The Dark Crystal without Gelflings.
Anonymous
Apr 20, 2024
8/10 stars
хорошая, но чего-то не хватает. наверное, страстей, но, думаю, они случатся дальше
Anonymous
Mar 23, 2024
8/10 stars
4/4.5 stars!

I really enjoyed reading this book from start to finish. Worldbuilding is something I'm particularly fascinated by, and there was some really awesome worldbuilding in this story. The characters were great, especially Kell and Lila, but I really loved every single supporting character and cared about them and their stories as well. The Danes were terrifying and amazing villains, and the magic was both cool and original. It was nice to read something different than anything currently out there, and this one kept me reading for hours and hours at a time until I finished. I'm definitely excited to read the sequel soon!

UPDATED 6/3/2017

Definitely 4.5 stars at least. Holy worldbuilding! This book totally held up upon reread and I'm glad I did it so I could be refreshed for reading the sequels, which I still need to do. I was really into Lila this time around more than I was before, and I'm really interested to see where she goes with the "power" that they mention she has. This time, I'm actually going to read the sequels soon! XD

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.