A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) in Beyond Reality

Aug 15, 2018 MadProfessah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018-read

A Darker Shade of Magic is the first book in the Magic London series by V.E.Schwab. Published in 2015 by Tor Books, it became a fantasy blockbuster novel, with well over 110k ratings and 15k reviews on Goodreads, with an outstanding average score of 4.0. I had heard about these books for awhile and read the synopsis of the story, of course, but had resisted taking the plunge to read them. All I basically knew about the books is that there are four different versions of London (Red, White, Grey a A Darker Shade of Magic is the first book in the Magic London series by V.E.Schwab. Published in 2015 by Tor Books, it became a fantasy blockbuster novel, with well over 110k ratings and 15k reviews on Goodreads, with an outstanding average score of 4.0. I had heard about these books for awhile and read the synopsis of the story, of course, but had resisted taking the plunge to read them. All I basically knew about the books is that there are four different versions of London (Red, White, Grey and Black) which the protagonist is able to travel between and something magical happens that threatens the existence of all of the Londons. This précis is technically true but fairly reductive since it misses some major features of the book. First, there are actually two protagonists: Kell and Lila. Second, the magic system is based around “blood magic” and very few people in any of the Londons have the ability to weird it’s power. Of course it turns out that Kell is one of them. The other main character is Lila, who is introduced to the reader as an accomplished thief who primarily dresses in male clothing. Kell is from Red London (where magic is plentiful and common) while Lila is from Grey London (where magic is mostly unknown and rare). Very few people in any of the Londons know about the existence of the others (which is not surprising since so few people have the power to travel between them). White London is another place where magic is plentiful (almost too much so) and it turns out to be ruled by two very powerful, twin siblings named Astrid and Athos Dane, who are basically pure evil. It turns out that Black London long ago became cut off from the other Londons because they overused magic and were consumed by it. Nobody goes there any more.

It’s a pretty intriguing fantastical world that Schwab has created in A Darker Shade of Magic but the highlight of the book is not the setting but the characterizations of Kell and Lila, whom we readers spend most of our time with.

The plot involves a power struggle for a dangerous and extremely potent magical artifact that Kell inadvertently takes from one alondon to another which could lead to the evil rulers if White London basically taking over and subjugating the other habitable Londons (Red, Kell’s home world, and Grey, Lila’s).

Overall, while A Darker Shade of Magic is clearly the first book in a trilogy it is also a self-contained novel of adventure and fantasy which thrills and entertains. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what happens in the two sequels A Conjuring of Light and A Gathering of Shadows.

Rating: 4.5 stars ...more

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Dec 15, 2019 Natalie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

This book was a fun romp through various Londons led by an interesting main character and strong supporting characters. The pacing of the plot was good and the characterization strong. My only fault with the book is it's disturbing how the main character has to use his blood to work his magic.
In the book, the mc has found a magical stone and must travel to different Londons to unravel what the stone is and who it belongs to. He successfully defeats his rival and saves the prince and a young gir ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 Paula S rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really loved everything about this book - the interactions between the main characters, how the magic works, the overlapping Londons, ... It's one of those books where I'm afraid to read the sequel because how could that possible be just as good? ...more

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