This felt more like the 4th book in the Shades of Magic trilogy than the start of a new series, which is not a complaint. We are given the opportunity to revisit the lives of Kell, Lila, Rhy, and Alucard. The novel is set 7 years after the first trilogy, and Schwab uses flashbacks to fill readers in on what these characters have been doing, which takes up a large chunk of the book. They have evolved in various ways, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the unique family unit that has developed among Rhy, his wife the queen, Alucard, and their daughter. While I still enjoyed Lila’s sections for her weaponry skill and ability to be almost aggressively herself, her callousness has persisted, which bothered me enough that I began to prefer other characters over her. We are introduced to two new main characters in this ensemble cast: Kosika, the young queen of White London, and Tes, a fixer of magical objects in Red London.
The new characters are intriguing. Kosika is an antari and is installed as a child queen, but she operates with independence. Tes has the ability to see threads of magic (like Alucard) and can manipulate them (unlike Alucard), allowing her to fix magical items. While I liked both of these new characters, I preferred Tes, in part because Kosika’s precociousness (e.g., making strategic decisions about whether to visit the other Londons when she is still a preteen) stretched verisimilitude a little too much for me. Tes felt more grounded in reality. However, spending time with Kosika also means spending time with another old favorite. To say more would be a spoiler, but it was interesting to watch that relationship develop.
As I read, I was quickly reminded of how much I appreciate Schwab’s descriptive prose, such as “She sat like a child and swore like a sailor, and dressed as if no one had ever taught her how” and “The world hadn’t simply opened for her. It had been cleaved, parted like skin beneath her knife.” I love how evocative her language is.
I loved the Shades of Magic trilogy, and I like this one even more. It feels both new and old at the same time, and Schwab has sown some interesting seeds in White London that could lead to excellent opportunities for all these different characters to intersect in new and ongoing ways. I’m eager to see what the next books bring. . . when they eventually come out.
CBR16 Bingo Rings (rings connect a few pairs of characters)