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)

Deep and versatile world

(as posted on Goodreads)
I read a few view this book – made by a well-known and experienced fantasy book reader and reviewer, and mostly said that the overall plot was derivative and old. I, not being a well read and well known reviewer did NOT find it derivative and old!
I started reading this back in (April?), and it didn't really grab me. I restarted it in December, and it really DID grab me. Perhaps it's just my lack of experience with fantasy books, but it really seemed fresh and haunting! I like that there were no hanging threads at the end, except that there definitely is room for sequels and continuances. Now I have to get the next book in the series; I really am curious as to what happens with the world and the characters!

Amazing narrator, mediocre story

I really enjoyed it until about Chapter 67/75, then, in my opinion, the characters started acting very irrational (bad guys included) and the plot felt really forced. I hear the second book is better, and I'm looking forward to it - mostly because of the narrator. Can Steven Crossley just narrate my life?? If I could give more than 5 stars for his performance, I would.

Great Worldcraft

This is a YA fantasy set in parallel worlds where magic works. I liked this book, and I will be reading the next in the series someday. The worldcraft knocked my socks off. Schwab has developed the mechanics of the magic- and its limitations and its social implications and its true nature. It has sensuous details: Balanced magic smells like cut flowers, power magic fades out colors, and each parallel world has its own distinct miasma.

The characters worked well and held my interest, but they won't follow me into my dreams. There are two sufficiently complex characters working out a relationship while solving a rather interesting problem, and a genuinely complex villain.

Pacing almost ruined this book. If this book were not a gift from a friend, I would not have finished it. When I hit the wall, I made a list of characters so that I could keep track of those I did not care enough about to remember. Later on, though, I realized I was following along just because I was hooked.

By the end of the book, I wanted to stay in this world and keep following these characters.

The audio performance made the book better. An important character, Kell, was voiced in a way that was at odds with his description, but otherwise it was flawless.

take awhile

I read "the invisible life" first and loved it so I tried this one. It took much longer for the book to catch my attention but once it did it really had a hold on me. This narrator was much harder to understand but I'm sure that's just the accent. I'll definitely be buying more of this Authors books!

ok, but not the best.

Became tiresome. narrator voice poor. regret buying. Characters often survive what should be lethal injury.

Upset that I wasted a credit on this audiobook.

I had to stop the audiobook at chapter 11 because I couldn't tolerate the narrator. He speaks at such an even pace that my mind wants to tune it out and I have to struggle to pay attention. He also does that thing where he tries to do a starkly different voice and accent with each character, but he's not a competent voice actor. He does that thing I really hate where a man will put on a high, airy voice for female characters that just makes them sound vapid. As a narrator, I want to hear the story in his natural voice, not his strained and poorly executed impression of a vaguely French-sounding woman.

The story itself seems very good. I like the world building the author does and her detailed descriptions of the different Londons. I'm going to have to buy the books and read them rather than listen to them.

magic

good story, original plot, good end. Wonder what's new in store for Lila & Kell.

Good but not amazing

didn't really grab my attention but wasn't bad, interesting world concept but had a hard time caring about the characters

Magic, action, strong characters, strong enemies

I loved this book and loved even more that there wasn't a crap load of romance and pining over one another like most annoying books about magic. Strong story and characters with a hint of humor and heartbreak.

Good story and well read

starts a little slow, but once it picks up it moves well. enjoyed this first listen from this author.