A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) in The Sword and Laser

Mar 02, 2016 Silvana rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: series-i-abandoned, female-nonbinary-authors, fyeahfantasy

Grey London: The Shire
Red London: Rivendell
White London: Gondor
Black London: Mordor
The stone: The One Ring

No, don't get me wrong, I am not judging V.E. Schwab for copying LoTR, I just wanted to point out the similarities in my eyes. It stopped there. (Even if she was copying LoTR, that Terry Pratchett quote got me thinking.)

Anyway, it is a quick read. I left it a week in the middle due to other books I need to finish, but was meaning to come back. Yes, the fact that we can see from miles away th Grey London: The Shire
Red London: Rivendell
White London: Gondor
Black London: Mordor
The stone: The One Ring

No, don't get me wrong, I am not judging V.E. Schwab for copying LoTR, I just wanted to point out the similarities in my eyes. It stopped there. (Even if she was copying LoTR, that Terry Pratchett quote got me thinking.)

Anyway, it is a quick read. I left it a week in the middle due to other books I need to finish, but was meaning to come back. Yes, the fact that we can see from miles away that the two lead characters are going to be entangled in a romantic plot, the writing is good enough to make this an easy read.

However, I did recognize a number of familiar situations or phrases, sentences people make in movies when the hero is cornered/near death then somebody comes to save him/her or when the hero is about to do something then the enemy suddenly appeared out of thin air (in this case, sometimes literally). So yeah, there are a few moments of me thinking, wait, I've seen this somewhere.

But let's not dwell into that. So... four Londons! I haven't been into one *sigh* but it got me excited. Here, there was no annoying or superlengthy info dump - show, don't tell - in terms of worldbuilding. Can't wait to visit that London in the next book. The magic system is also pretty good. Maybe when the TV series comes out and becomes popular, as travars will be the new alohomora.

Characters....the main ones were not as interesting as Kell's magical coat (the most interesting magical item in the entire book, not the macguffin). Lila is so tropey (a pretty, feisty girl wearing man's clothing, has a dark past, great particular skills and this weird yearning for pirating - why exactly, not sure) and so did Kell in a way (yes, he's handsome, somewhat angsty, and had fantastical eye color and Lila is totally crushing on him). Holland is actually the interesting one; if this is a grimdark book, he'll be the main POV.

I gotta admit I was hesitant in reading in this book - considering my allergy to YA - and it sometimes felt like one, especially when the two main characters interacted. I could live without the kissing, for sure. After some thinking, I am not sure whether I will continue the series especially NOW that I know there will be more kissing in the second book. ...more

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Jan 22, 2016 mina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A light and quick read.

Nice worldbuilding. There are 4 Londons stacked side-by-side: Grey, Red, White, and Black Londons: the sequence shows the increasing influence of magic. Once there were doors in between, but now there aren't. The story focused on one of 2 (male) persons (named Kell) who can travel between these Londons, and 1 cross-dressing girl thief (Lila) who got caught in the middle, just because she had unluckily pickpocketed him. And of course, since this is London we are talking ab ...more

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Apr 06, 2017 Melani rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: alternate-earth

I am finding myself feeling rather lackluster about this book. I liked it, it was fine if predictable, but I think I was expecting a lot more and it’s just not there. This is going to be one of those reviews that sounds a lot more negative than I actually feel about the book. I did like it, I’m going to read the next books, but I can’t work up to the level of excitement that I feel has surrounded the book.

The premise of the book is that there exist four cities, all named London, in a kind of par I am finding myself feeling rather lackluster about this book. I liked it, it was fine if predictable, but I think I was expecting a lot more and it’s just not there. This is going to be one of those reviews that sounds a lot more negative than I actually feel about the book. I did like it, I’m going to read the next books, but I can’t work up to the level of excitement that I feel has surrounded the book.

The premise of the book is that there exist four cities, all named London, in a kind of parallel universe situation. These different cities are all very different, though they share some bare bones similarities in the form of geography, some physical structures (mainly where the author needed them to share structures), and of course the name. The four cities don’t even share a language, though English is considered the language of royalty in all other Londons but ours, the ‘grey’ and magic-less one. No real explanation given for why except that it is the language the four cities use to communicate and I guess since no one in our world knows about the other cities, English is the default. Included in these differences is the amount of magic and how the worlds use magic. Our London has so little magic its non-existent. Red London is in perfect balance, White London is starving (despite being second closest to the magic source? It is a huge plot point that feels very much like a plot hole). Black London is one no one speaks about, it became overrun with magic a few centuries ago and was sealed off, and is the reason the four cities are so separate from each other. So you have these four cities, and the only person who can travel between them (except Black London of course, that is completely sealed off) is a super rare kind of magician who is identified by having on black eye. Why exactly the remaining three Londons have kept in touch is never really explained. Like I said, all doors were closed and sealed off; but apparently the monarchs keep in touch for some reason. Because PLOT I guess. Kell is one of these magicians, one of our protagonists, and a smuggler. Lila is a thief from our world, and our other protagonist. Kell smuggles the wrong item (and evil stone) from one place to another and Lila steals it from him. This, of course causes, the two of them to get tangled up together and oh goodness can they stop the evil? It is all so very rote and predictable.

I just was not wowed or surprised by this book. The writing is perfectly serviceable, and the plot is very standard. The world building is interesting, but not really as unique as I was expecting. It also doesn't feel like a living breathing world. It's there to service the plot. Also, this is supposedly set during the last years of Mad King George in our world and that.... really doesn't come across at all. It's extremely modern feeling and I'm not sure why that arbitrary time was chosen. The characters are your basic standard YA protagonists; despite this being Schwab’s adult outing. In fact, it read very much like a standard YA fantasy with just a little more sex and violence thrown in to adult things up, if that makes sense.

As I said, it is a fine book. I will be reading the others though I am not dying to read them right away. I am not rushing out to recommend this to everyone I meet though. This is a solid two and a half star read, I'm rounding up to three, but depending on how the wind blows I could just as easily round it down to two. ...more

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Apr 04, 2015 Stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, audio, books-i-own, 2016, femaleauthor, series, u-s-a, author-white

WHY?: I've been wanting to read something by Schwab forever and the premise for this book sounded like one with a lot of promise.

SYNOPSIS: There are three Londons left, each existing in a parallel universe to the others. Gray London is (mostly) the one we are familiar with circa 19th century. Red London is the one with just the right amount of magic, a stable government and residents and objects that naturally smell like flowers. Finally there is white London, drowning in magic, brutal, ugly and WHY?: I've been wanting to read something by Schwab forever and the premise for this book sounded like one with a lot of promise.

SYNOPSIS: There are three Londons left, each existing in a parallel universe to the others. Gray London is (mostly) the one we are familiar with circa 19th century. Red London is the one with just the right amount of magic, a stable government and residents and objects that naturally smell like flowers. Finally there is white London, drowning in magic, brutal, ugly and unstable. Kell, from Red London, is one of only two magicians who has the ability to cross in between these Londons and as such he plays a very important role, diplomatic and otherwise, for Red London's monarchy. As such, it is not surprising that he gets caught up in a play for power by White London which also throws him together with Lila, a street rat from Gray London who gets caught in the cross fire when she steals from Kell. The two must return a dangerous object across the three Londons in order to keep White London from taking over all. So basically a quest fantasy with some twists!

From the first moment I heard about the premise of this book I was dying to read it. I love the idea of being able to cross between parallel worlds/dimensions and examining how the absence of this or the addition of that changes a point in space, in this case London. It's a great concept which is simple and easy to understand but poses all kinds of cool scenarios and complexities. Schwab does a pretty job taking advantage of all the promise inherent in parallel worlds with the level of magic being the changing factor. The idea of having just a few mysterious people who are born with the ability to go between these worlds is also cool. They become valuable and are loaded down with expectations and it serves to make the characters of Kell and Holland that much more complex and interesting but more on that later.

Despite, or maybe because of, the cool premise, the book started rather slowly for me. The first 20% or so involved a LOT of world building that felt kind of static but after that, the action picks up and keeps accelerating to the end. The plot is relatively straight forward but the stakes and suspense continue to build as the book rolls on making the resolution satisfying if not mind blowing.

The focus on establishing "the scene" also delayed some of the character development that was needed to engage me right away. I liked Kell from the beginning. Immediately it is clear that he is compassionate and has a good heart but he is not 100% heroic. The royal family of Red London have adopted him as their own but Kell, while mostly appreciative and loyal, also resents this and cynically believes that they don't truly value him as much as his power. He chafes under the responsibility his power necessitates. However, Ry, the crown prince is his best friend and is his brother in name if not in blood, so Ry knows about Kell's small rebellions, trading goods between the Londons which is strictly forbidden. The only other magician who can cross between worlds is Holland from white London and he is a delicious and terrifying henchman reminiscent of the villainous henchman of James Bond.

Where I struggled to connect character-wise was with Delilah Bard aka Lila. She is a type of character that I normally don't connect with - very fly by the seat of her pants/impulsive/reckless and I initially didn't love her but by the end of the book I really liked her and think I probably would have loved her if it wasn't for the narrator.

And that's my last big complaint about the book which isn't really about the book but about the narrator of the audio. He had a fine voice and is in fact a much used and award-winning narrator but I did not like him for this book. He is obviously an older man by his voice and this is a book that is 90% about people in their early 20s or younger. Kell whose voice was closest to his own, therefore sounded growly and too mature, Ry, the crown prince sounded like a 14 year old who hadn't gone through puberty yet and Lila's voice and speech patterns were just weird. It made her sound immature and petulant. I think the way he voiced Lila really impacted how I felt about her as a character. I will definitely read the next book of this series in print!

FINAL VERDICT: Despite a slow start, I ended up loving the atmospheric and unique quest fantasy! ...more

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Nov 03, 2015 Heather rated it really liked it

Enjoyable. I loved the strong, flawed characters of Kell and Lila and was really drawn to the vivid Londons that Schwab created. I'm not thrilled about stumbling into yet another ongoing trilogy where I have to wait years and years for its completion, but the story wraps up enough to feel satisfying. I'll certainly keep up with the series. ...more

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Aug 13, 2016 June rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016-sciifi-fantasy

Really 3.5. Too easy and too much fighting at the end but pretty good.

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Mar 30, 2017 Jeffrey Hoover rated it it was amazing

Fun stuff and the second book is even better

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Mar 20, 2018 Jason rated it really liked it

I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I will enjoy anything with magic. The only thing keeping this from 5 stars was there were a couple of times where things were just too convenient, plus I don't need exposition from a character (like in a movie) when the author could just tell me. Other than that, original and awesome. ...more

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Feb 18, 2018 Mechelle rated it liked it

I just couldn't connect with this book. I don't know why because it has everything I usually love. I just didn't /connect/ ok. It could be because I've been really sick? But whatever. ...more

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