In the world of V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic trilogy, in which this is the first book, there are parallel worlds. There used to be gateways between them, but now only the magical Antari (identified by having one normal and one fully black eyeball) are able to travel through to the various worlds, using their blood and magical ability. Young Kell, fostered with the royal family in Red London is one of these Antari. In each of the four worlds, there is a London, the geographical […]
Magical deliciousness
I received this book for Christmas from my mom; she went to the local bookstore and just happened to pick something that I would love without me providing a detailed list of titles and authors. A Christmas miracle! 🙂 In this book, our magical hero Kell lives in London at a time where different worlds are layered on top of each other. The geography of each London is the same, but everything else is drastically different (including the magical abilities of the residents). He is only […]
A darker shade of yes, please.
Parallel universes are categorically THE BEST, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them done quite like they are here in A Darker Shade of Magic, the first book in Victoria Schwab’s* Shades of Magic series, which just published its third and final book last week. *She writes YA under her real name, and adult fiction under her pseudonym V.E. Schwab. I’m late to the party, especially given how much I love fantasy and parallel universes, but I don’t really care because I now own […]
So you wanna play with magic?
This dark fantasy is Game of Thrones meets The Night Circus and will appeal to any fans of realistic fantasy. The first book of a three part trilogy (part 3 releases February 2017), A Darker Shade of Magic is an outstanding novel that will enthrall readers and insure you are up late reading “just one more page.” There is not one London, but four. There is the world of Henry III, a Grey London without magic. There is Red London, where magic is in balance. […]
A book bursting with charm
I went into this book knowing very little about it except that there are four different parallel worlds that each have a London. Grey London is our London and called grey because it’s smoky, dirty, and lacks magic. Red London bursts with magic and everything is slightly rose-tinted. White London is coated in a mist of ash and the citizens are crazed by their hunger for power. Black London died long ago. Kell is from Red London and is one of two known people with […]




