A Darker Shade of Magic - (Shades of Magic) by V E Schwab

About the Book

Kell is one of the last Travelers -- magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes -- as such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne -- a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London ... but no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see -- a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive -- and that is proving trickier than they hoped.

Book Synopsis

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

A Darker Shade of Magic gets an updated cover design in this repackaged hardcover edition with special extras including beautiful colored endpapers and a foil stamped design under the jacket. This edition also features a glossary of Antari spells and Arnesian words, and bonus short stories from within the Shades Universe.

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
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Shades of Magic series
A Darker Shade of Magic
A Gathering of Shadows
A Conjuring of Light
The Fragile Threads of Power

Villains Series
Vicious
Vengeful

Review Quotes

"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

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, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Fragile Threads of Power. 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.