A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) in Overdue Podcast

Nov 11, 2015 Joseph rated it really liked it

An imaginative, colourful (sorry) and very fun novel from Schwab. Entertaining characters with a refreshingly bold and deeply loving relationship between the two young men of Kell and Prince Rhy. Not to mention the fantastically fun and believable ambitious thief Lila, seeking adventure and loves a good fight, as well as men's clothes.

Highly recommend for a lot of fun, as well as fans of Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere' and Scott Lynch.

Longer review here: http://mrjknowsnothing.blogspot.co.uk...

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Jul 20, 2016 David rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorite-covers

Early on I was expecting this to be a five-star book for me. The initial setup of the novel, where the brilliantly original setting is introduced, where Kell's past and daily life is dolled out in small bits and pieces, was excellent. Beyond excellent, even. Schwab's prose is punchy, economical, and vivid throughout. I fell hard for her words and her setting, but then the actual plot kicks in, and a lot of the magic fades. Ironic for a book that spends so much time talking about magic. Not that Early on I was expecting this to be a five-star book for me. The initial setup of the novel, where the brilliantly original setting is introduced, where Kell's past and daily life is dolled out in small bits and pieces, was excellent. Beyond excellent, even. Schwab's prose is punchy, economical, and vivid throughout. I fell hard for her words and her setting, but then the actual plot kicks in, and a lot of the magic fades. Ironic for a book that spends so much time talking about magic. Not that it's a terrible plot and I never really stopped enjoying the book, but it was just a bit simplistic, familiar, and predictable to wow me, and a book that doesn't wow me isn't a five-star book. I was ready for something more complex, and certainly ready for something more original to go with the wildly original setting, and I didn't get it. I've heard people who don't read fantasy much deride it as being nothing but macguffin stories, which isn't really true, but with books like this getting popular you can see how someone might get that impression. The trope is certainly common enough to give someone the wrong idea.

One thing I really liked is that Kell and Lilah don't really have any romantic tension. They're just friends on an adventure together. How refreshing! But other than that, our two main characters don't really go anywhere. They don't have much of an arc and, while enjoyable to read, they are fairly underdeveloped if you examine them too closely. Lilah more than Kell, since we at least get a couple of deeper glimpses into Kell's past as the novel progresses. His complicated relationship with the royal family, the things he's done in his youth to protect his step-brother, prince Rhy, etc. Unfortunately they always made me wish I was reading a whole book about that instead. Something more personal, slower paced, with much lower stakes, with more personality and cultural and political flavor to really immerse you in this world and these characters. A magical macguffin/world in peril story is fine for a bit of fun, but I can't help but feel like Schwab wasted her setting on a fairly trite plot that wasn't worthy of it.

Overall a very enjoyable book that didn't quite live up to its potential on the plot and character front, but also a great incentive to get my hands on all of Schwab's other books in the hopes that one of them really knocks it out of the park. Many of the ingredients for a truly top-tier, world-class fantasy novelist are on show here and she's firmly on my radar now. ...more

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