A Darker Shade of Magic: A Novel (Shades of Magic #1) (Paperback)
Other Books in Series
This is book number 1 in the Shades of Magic series.
Staff Reviews
"While the cover leaves a little to be desired, V. E. Schwab shows us the age old adage that you can not judge a book based on that alone. A Darker Shade of Magic is a beautifully plotted, well thought out, and deeply imaginative addition to the fantasy genre. Now available in a paperback edition, we are introduced to four unique versions of London, spread across different realities, and a Traveler, who has the ability to trek between each of them. World-builders, like Brandon Sanderson, should beware as Schwab gives them a run for their money. The magic in this book, which is a character in and of itself, is wonderfully fresh and dark, with tiny bits of additional details that really bring it to life. Overall, a very clever and wonderful twist to fantasy fiction, with a slight historical feel."
— JodieDescription
"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
About the Author
VICTORIA “V.E.” SCHWAB is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed novel The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the Shades of Magic series, Villains series, and the Monsters of Verity duology. Her work has received critical acclaim; been featured in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post and more; been translated into more than a dozen languages; and been optioned for television and film. When she’s not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and is usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.
Praise For…
"Confident prose and marvelous touches-a chameleon coat, a scarlet river of magic, a piratical antiheroine-bring exuberant life to an exhilarating adventure among the worlds."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Compulsively readable...her characters make the book."--NPR
"Feels like a priceless object, brought from another, better world of fantasy books...kept me engrossed by its story every bit as much as I was fascinated by its complex, multilayered world."--io9.com
"Has all the hallmarks of a classic work of fantasy...This is a book to treasure." -Deborah Harkness, New York Times bestselling author of The All Souls trilogy