The author V.E. Schwab wrote The Darker Shade of Magic ©2015. It is a multiverse adventure in which there are four Londons: 1) colorful Red London with magic used wisely and generously, 2) austere White London with magic used to control in an evil manner, 3) dull Grey London with no magic at all, and 4) reputable extinguished Black London with black magic. I truly enjoyed the inventive setting with portals to different lands. The characters were also engaging and amusing. Kell is part of the royal family in Red London; he is an Antari, a blood magician. An Antari can pass through portals between the four Londons. Kell wears a jacket suited to each London and it has multiple sides… not just a reversible jacket with an inside and an outside, but with a seemingly infinite number of sides reachable by a turning sequence. Lila is a streetwise thief with a thirst for adventure and a spunky, independent attitude to go with it. When their two cross paths, the two form a bond – a bond which both of them will vehemently deny.
As I read on, fascinated, I thought to myself, that if this were a TV series or movie, I would hate it. I would be thoroughly confused. But then, a book is always better than its associated movie. But my initial confusion led to fascination with the intricacies of the plot, and I soon grew to enjoy the cleverness in the complexity.
A potential turnoff is that this novel has so much bloodshed. (Another plus of a book over a movie; I only have to imagine as much gore as I can handle.) Much of this blood though is from an Antari, a person endowed with powers who uses the magic flowing within his own blood to invoke a spell, but who also heals quickly. I chose to read this book on the recommendation of a friend and also because last year I'd read and given five stars to a ©2020 fantasy novel by V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue (11/14/21). I never thought I was a fan of fantasy fiction but in perusing my list of books read in 2021, the ones to which I gave five stars were of that genre.
Here are some other reviews of A Darker Shade of Magic by other publications and by Amazon readers. Also, do not skip reading the writeup by Alicia Hayden in The Oxford Blue. The ethereal artwork at the end of this post is hers as well.
Although Amazon readers rated this novel 4.4 /5.0, only slightly over half of them gave it five stars. I was surprised the number was not higher. I whole heartedly give A Darker Shade of Magic five stars. I already have the second book of the trilogy checked out of my local library.
That's great that you found an author and genre that you are enjoying! I'm finishing "The Island of Sea Women" right now and really enjoying that, too (I think you'd like it).
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