The Fragile Threads of Power

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Kate Reading, Marisa Calin, Michael Kramer

Length: 21 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year 2023

Veteran narrators Michael Kramer and Kate Reading return to this fantastical world, along with a new POV portrayed by Marisa Calin.

"As the threads converge, all three narrators strive to remain as consistent as possible to each other's stylistic choices, creating a nearly flawless whole."- AudioFile

V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, opens another door to a new fantasy series set in the dazzling world of Shades of Magic.

Prepare for tangled schemes and perilous adventures with friends old and new in The Fragile Threads of Power.

Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.

But barely a glimpse of them have been seen in the last seven years—and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland's absence. The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own—but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown it instead.

And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one determined to correct the balance of power by razing the throne entirely.

These two royals from very different empires now face very similar struggles: how to keep their crowns—and their own heads.

Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds.

Her name is Tes, and she's the only one who can bring them together—or unravel it all.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2023 V. E. Schwab (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Perfect way to continue the series

I was shocked when I saw that a new book had been released for this series, which I thought had long since been concluded. Loved the book overall, though it’s probably not my favorite of the four. I wish we got to see more of the story from Kell and Rhy’s perspectives.

you've done it again!

thank you Victoria- these was a wonderful read and the actors did a great job brining all the characters to life. each chapter was written like a mini story and that is what kept me binding and fighting sleep every night.

Not sure how to feel about it.

I absolutely love Schwalb. She’s a fantastic author. I just had a hard time getting into this one. There were a lot of point of views, I felt jostled between story lines. The narrator who read Tes character spoke so fast it, it was like she was on fast forward the whole time, which contrasted with the other two narrators.

I loved the glimpses between Kell and Lilah. I wish I had seen more, but alas, their love isn’t the focus of the story.

Kosika seemed WAY older. They all did.
I still loved the characters. Alucard is still my favorite! How I love him and Rhy. Can’t get enough of them.

I do look forward to the rest.

Love the book. Needs to be re-recorded or edited.

I loved everything about the book. I even enjoyed all the narrators. However I’m convinced that the reading speed of Marisa Calin was edited in post production to be at least 20% faster than she actually reads. I have listened to samples of her on other audiobooks, and she does not read nearly that fast. It was annoying to have to slow the playback rate by 20% every time she read. Marisa Calin actually has a very pleasant reading voice.

Tess was a lovely addition

I really like the world building in this book. Tess was interesting and relatable.

I did not like that there was no WhisperSync enabled. It took me months to finish this, because it is hard for me to hear every word if I don’t have the printed words to follow along with at the same time. I do have the Kindle edition, but without the highlighter effect that WS Creates, where the highlighted word is matched real time to the audio that’s playing, I was not able to keep up with turning the pages and keeping the timing right. The extra cognitive load was too much for me, and it just felt like a big disappointment. (I am AuDHD.)

The only reason I buy books through Kindle and audible is to get the WhisperSync functionality, and since all the other books in this series had it, I expected this one to have it.

Since Amazon is a disgusting company, I would not normally prefer to buy books through these companies, except that WS is such an amazing accessibility feature that allows me to read books in a way that is enjoyable and feels more natural for my brain.

Because it was so exhausting to manually make the words match up to the audio, I would get tired out and need frequent breaks, and I would find myself switching to other titles that did have the WS feature enabled.

The five stars is for the content of the book and the performances.

Couldn’t put it down

Just fantastic. I so wish I was coming to them at the very end of the series, rather than the beginning. My favorite of hers yet.

More!

Oh I want more! Further character development & new additions along with new themes - all in the same gorgeous story telling style.

As Travars

I adored traveling back to this world. Back to these characters who meant so much. The new characters in this book were so delightful. Loved every minute.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

V.E. Schwab’s writing continues to impress and to improve. She provides a subtle and intriguing depth to Londons’ main characters which is lovely.

VE Schwab does it again!

Incredible new journey back into the same incredible world by VE Schwab! It’s like coming home.