“Fantasy fans will love this fast-paced adventure, with its complex magic system, thoughtful hero and bold heroine.V.E. Schwab keeps the excitement coming with roller-coaster plot twists that establish her as, perhaps, the natural successor to Diana Wynne Jones's contemporary fantasy crown.” - The Independent “ A Darker Shade of Magic is smart, funny and sexy. 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

“Schwab ( Vicious) creates an ingenious set of nesting alternate Londons in this imaginative, well-crafted fantasy. “ A Darker Shade of Magic feels like a priceless object, brought from another, better world of fantasy books.” - io9 Just as Kell has layers, Lila is a satisfyingly rich invention.With so many worlds on the map, there's plenty left to discover.” -NPR “Compulsively readable.her characters make the book. This is a book to treasure.” -Deborah Harkness, New York Times bestselling author of The All Souls Trilogy Schwab has given us a gem of a tale that is original in its premise and compelling in its execution.

Its setting in four parallel, powerful Londons is otherworldly yet believable. “ A Darker Shade of Magic has all the hallmarks of a classic work of fantasy. Schwab has given us a gem of a tale.This is a book to treasure.'-Deborah Harkeness, New York Times bestselling author of the All Souls trilogyĮntertainment Weekly's 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now 'A Darker Shade of Magic has all the hallmarks of a classic work of fantasy. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. 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. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.Īfter an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. 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.

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. A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E.

Shades of magic series