I’m a bit of mixed fan of the Shades of Magic. I love the world that was developed with it, and I love the way it treats magic. I am also a fan of the way the author V.E. Schwab writes—for the most part.
What I was not always a huge fan of was some of the characters, who who had a tendency to rub me the wrong way. I very much liked Kell from the original trilogy and I loved the main antagonist. But there were certain side characters (well, two) who always insisted on rubbing me the wrong way.
So when I saw that Schwab had returned to the same world to start a new trilogy—but perhaps with some new protagonists?—I was intrigued. I knew from the blurb that we would be seeing some of the old cast again, but I was excited to revisit the multiple Londons through fresh sets of eyes.
The Fragile Threads of Power is set seven years after the events of the original trilogy, and Red London is undergoing a period of unrest. Magic seems to be weakening and some see the current King’s lack of magical ability as a potential cause. An underground organization called ‘The Hand’ seems to be heading the unrest, and they are hell bent on sedition.
The real reason though for magic’s ebbs and flows might have something to do with events in White London. Unlike Red London, their new child queen, Kosika, is very much magically talented and very bloody minded. Literally. She may also have a connection with the previous ruler of White London—or something else more sinister. Considering this is White London we are talking about, it’s probably going to be something creepy and weird and I am just bouncing in anticipation.
Our other new viewpoint is that of Tes, a young woman with a special set of abilities who resides in Red London. Like Alucard from the previous books, Ted can see the threads of magic. Unlike Alucard though, she can also manipulate them. This has made her an expert tinkerer. But then she successfully tinkers with something that maybe should not have been put into her hands in the first place. And she starts getting all the wrong attention.
I was right from the get go—seeing the various Londons from these two new viewpoints was nothing short of fantastic. Kosika’s story, while it mostly runs parallel to the main narrative, is looking to be quite explosive when it finally intersects with the every other narrative thread. And Tes herself is just wonderful.
I just wish we spent more time with them. Over half the book is spent with the characters from the original series, and a good chunk of that was spent in flashback. Despite this time jumping, I never really felt like seven years had past – it would have been a stretch to convince me that it was more than one or two. Kell’s story felt like the only one with any kind of weight—he was not in the best place at the end of the trilogy and I can believe he has had a hard time picking himself back up in the intervening years.
Concerning the other side characters, Alucard is his regular cool self, of course, who gets a pass for never leaving me frustrated. But the others do. Despite the important roles they had in the original books, I never thought Rhy or Lila were terribly mature. And it was grating. While the both of them seem to have improved somewhat, it doesn’t seem like they’ve experienced seven years worth of growth and development. Rhy seems to have had his family sort of grow around rather than with him, while Lila is still stubbornly Lila.
Although there was one section of the book where I feel she may have overextended herself and for once I think this is actually going to have consequences for her.
These parts of the book were not bad, per se. But the book is quite long. And I really would have loved to have spent more time with Kosika and Tes! I feel that if less emphasis was put on the flashbacks and more was put on the new characters, not only would it have been more interesting, it would have seemed more like a standalone novel and the start of a new trilogy.
Because as it stands right now, I could not recommend people start reading The Fragile Threads of Power without reading the original Shades of Magic books first.
But as a bit of an upside, some of the new side characters associated with Rhy’s household are pretty interesting in and of themselves. I strongly suspect we’re going see more of certain inventor and forger, for example, who certainly seems to be hiding something.
If you liked the original trilogy, this is a must read. If you had some reservations about how the series ended, or if you’re like me and you get frustrated by certain individuals’ lack of depth, there’s still plenty here to enjoy. I will be following this sequel series in the future, if only to see how my creepy child queen fits into everything else.
For cbr16bingo, that’s Rings – keep and eye on those, you’ll thank me later. And I think that’s a bingo on the diagonal.