Shades of Magic
Fiction
Tor Books
January 19, 2016
Hardcover
416
STEP INTO A UNIVERSE OF DARING ADVENTURE, THRILLING POWER, AND MULTIPLE LONDONS. Kell is one of the last Travelers-magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes, connected by one magical city. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad king-George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered-and where Kell was raised alongside Rhys Maresh, the rougish heir to a flourishing empire. White London-a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, ambassador of the Maresh empire, 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. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. 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. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.
WrensReads Review:
DROP WHATEVER YOU ARE READING AND READ THIS SERIES IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY
Like, for the love of everything good in the world, this book is perfection. There is no other word for it. It is PURE PERFECTION.
So let me give you a little background.
There are four Londons
01. Grey London (non-magical London)
02. Red London (magical and balanced London)
03. White London (corrupted, magical London)
04. Black London (over-come-by-magic London)
There are two people capable of going between the Londons (Antari): Kell Maresh and Holland. Kell works for the Red-London’s family, including the ever beloved like-a-brother Rhy Maresh and their parents Maxim Maresh and Emira Maresh. Holland works for the cruel brother and sister co-ruling White London Astrid Dane and Athos Dane.
So imagine that the worlds are a book. In order to get to page 04, you have to go through page 01, 02, and 03. So when Kell comes across something that shouldn’t even exist and he has to try and put it back where it came from, he has to go through different worlds to get to the one he needs.
Simple, right?
You would think if you aren’t wanted in one, hunted in another, trying to save one, and dreading the other. No to mention the people that have their own agendas trying to use Kell in the process.
Which brings us to our starring lady Delilah Bard, a petty theft who is looking for adventure and comfort. She just wants to be a pirate, just like everyone else in the world (don’t even deny it). And she is so unbelievably witty and smarter than she is given credit for.
When she runs into Kell (quite literally), her life is ever changed from the moment she challenged him. Their adventure that goes down is literally so intense that you don’t even realize it happens in like… a day? Like seriously, they mentioned it towards the end how much time has passed and I was like YOU have to be joking.
Narrator: Steven Crossley
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This guy, right here, will literally take you into the world and make you forget everything else that is going on. The tone of his voice just draws you in and keeps you there. He isn’t afraid of doing different voices for different characters, which is super nice, and his voice is kind of magical in itself so it just fits? I’m just saying.
Bottom line, you get a lot of different types of magic, different worlds, traveling, death, pirates, cross-dressing, princes and princesses, and treachery. It’s literally anything you’d ever want. And the best part is that V.E. Schwab, pseudonym for Victoria Schwab, writes as if she is aiming for adults which is super refreshing from some of the corny young-adult reading I have read lately.
In conclusion… just read this book and then tell me what you think because I want to nerd out about this so badly with anyone and everyone.
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