A Darker Shade of Magic: A Novel (Shades of Magic #1) (Paperback)

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A Darker Shade of Magic: A Novel (Shades of Magic #1) By V. E. Schwab Cover Image
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This is book number 1 in the Shades of Magic series.

Staff Reviews


While this series takes a minute to get into the action, I felt like once it hits its stride it’s really great. Complete with a somewhat complex magic system, a lovable but deadly female rogue, dueling David/Goliath type magicians, truly sadistic blonde twin rulers and a high stakes world destroying evil coming in from all sides set in multiple 1800s Londons (Yes, I’m talking about a multiverse here!). A great start to this super dynamic trilogy.

— Zinna

Description


"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 Antarimagicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in ArnesRed Londonand 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 Shades universe, the Villains series, the City of Ghosts series, Gallant and the international bestseller The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Her work has received critical acclaim, been translated into over two dozen languages, and optioned for television and film. First Kill – a YA vampire series based on Schwab’s short story of the same name – is now a Netflix series. When 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

Product Details
ISBN: 9781250891211
ISBN-10: 1250891213
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 16th, 2023
Pages: 416
Language: English
Series: Shades of Magic