A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic, Book 1

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes. As such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. There's White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.

Officially Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see - a dangerous hobby and one that has set him up for accidental treason.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

©2015 Victoria Schwab (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"There is much more to explore in this amazing world from the acclaimed author of Vicious." (Library Journal)

Great book well narrated

It was a wonderful book, the best fantasy I have read in a long while. It is well narrated and while it may start slow it draws you in and then you can't put it down

Great premise

This could have been a great book. Interesting ideas, but it was marred by too much violence. The story got lost in all the blood.

Interesting and Entertaining

Not the most original adventure but a good offering none the less. A good listen as background noise as it's not complex or twisting and you can easily push the rewind button of you do miss a beat.

Loved the story, the narrator was okay

It got annoying hearing Lila’s voice in this audiobook, but after time I got over it. The narrator was smooth with deliveries but his female voices weren’t a strong point. The story is a slow burn as the world building is more of the forefront with this one. But it makes me excited to get the second book!

This series is great.

I cannot say enough good things about this series. It's nearly as fun as Harry Potter but for grown ups, lots of surprises along the way. It doesn't take itself too seriously.

good

Took almost half the book to reveal the plot but once it was there, it was very fast moving with alot of magic and action. Overall I really enjoyed it.

A very solid series-starter. Love the concept

This was really good! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect because I had really enjoyed VICIOUS and didn't like THE NEAR WITCH (I never finished it) and I also had some personal qualms about starting this book... but I'm really glad that I did because it was actually really enjoyable! I actually enjoyed that some things were set up in book one that weren't resolved. They weren't cliffhangers but things that will be important to the plot in future books (I'm pretty sure I know what's up with Lila) and I like that it wasn't all resolved in ADSOM so it keeps me pulled to keep reading (even though I would anyway).

That being said...

This was a fantasy world that just totally came together as my kind of book. I LOVE anything with parallel worlds and I really liked how it was incorporated into fantasy instead of just sci-fi. The magic system is really interesting too. It's not just magic and non-magic... there really are shades of magic and each world has varying degrees of how magic is incorporated and affects its citizens. I am still suuuuper curious about Black London and I kind of hope we journey there in a future book. I just have to know!!

ADSOM wraps up nicely and closes out a story line which is nice not to be left on a cliffhanger! There's a lot more to discover so I'm sure the next book will get into that and also dip into what spiraled into play here so I thought it was nice on world-building side. There was a solid foundation but there's still so much more to discover, and everything was nicely built into the story and I didn't feel any infodumps about this world-system.

I also liked that the romance was slow and steady. Obviously there's something building between Lila and Kell but it wasn't instalove and their relationship is built on a friendship -- that almost isn't even a friendship! They butt heads, Lila is stubborn, Kell is kind of a loner (minus his affection for his brother), and yet their sparring and jabs totally work. I do love banter in my book relationships and although this was less flirting and romantic banter, it was just perfect for these two.

I'm actually surprised how much I enjoyed this because I really hadn't expected to. I listened to the book on audio, having purchased it in an Audible sale, and mostly wanted to listen to the audio because Michael Kramer narrates the second and third books and he is one of my all-time favorite narrators! (Okay, and Kate Reading but Michael is most important.) I actually did like the narrator of this book so I'm not sure how the switch will go, even though I love the narrators of the next books! Steven Crossley is British so it was perfect for a book about Londons and I really enjoyed his narration and will actually go seek out more books that he voices. I didn't like how he voiced the spell casting (it was much too formal because it wasn't described as "said", not anything that had to be so formally announced and pompous) but really that was the only thing I didn't like about it.

had to keep listening

a great story. it was hard to pause! ready to get the second book. the main characters are great and make it easy to want to follow them in the adventures.

very good storytelling.

the pace the storie moved along was very good.
looking forward to the next book

Very Entertaining

I liked it a lot. good characters. engaging plot
I read a lot of this genre, and I thought it was well done. The world of the book has a lot left to explore.