A Gathering of Shadows

A Novel

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Michael Kramer, Kate Reading

Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell's possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland's dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games - an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries - a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again-and so to keep magic's balance, another London must fall.

©2016 Victoria Schwab (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

WOW - so much better!

I can't stop listening to this book! I love these narrators and the story keeps me wondering what happens next. Great action and story line as well as lots of intrigue!

everything is bigger and better in this sequel!

I can't wait to listen to the third one! The narration changed from the last one, and though the first one seemed just okay at the time, I thought it was better than this one. It's more the mechanical nature of the performance in this one that bothered me. But it did not detract from the story once I got into it.

listened 3 times

L, love, love this progressive yet medieval story. Highly recommended. As good as Harry Potter, but shorter.

great story

There's a shift in readers in this audiobook from the first book in the series, but the choice of readers in this and the final book is a good one. Perspective alters as well from just Kell, Lila and periodically Rhy in Darker Side of Magic to a wider range of perspectives in this book. I have heard it called 3rd person personal which allows for the individual perspective to be tightly woven and not omniscient. It works well with this story as places in this book encompass more than just the various Londons. Enjoyable story well told and well read. 👍

great book, I didn't care for the woman narrator.

This is a great series of books, I really enjoy them. But the woman that narrates bugs me, she ads weird pauses.

Swashbuckling fun and amazing magic!

I love this series! The magic in this second book is incredible! Lots of swashbuckling fun.

I enjoyed the audio more with two performers. The first book's Lila wasn't done as well as the second's. The performance was enhanced by the addition of the female performer.

Fun new characters!!

I love these books and I’m about to dive into Conjuring of Light and I can’t wait!

I was too harsh

I was sour about how short it was, and how unsatisfying the conclusion was. A few months later I've come back and given it a 5/5 because, infact, it's really quite good. I was just personally not ready to be finished with the story. I wanted it to continue, and that's telling in of itself.

Excellent building off of the first.

Good improvement in world building. logical yet surprising character development. Not really a "twist" of the plot at a couple spots but I "didn't see it coming" so it was fresh.

Hard to improve along a series, typically status quo but this is an improvement.

A great book

I used audible for the first and second book. Now I will use it for the third book. Schwann, has written a superior book. The diversity in characters and the settings worked well together. I love that I know so much about the characters I find myself saying things out loud like, “come on Bard you got this.”
This story has a great plot and moved along at a perfect speed. A fantastic book and a must read for sure.