A Darker Shade of Magic
core novel 2015 Shades of Magic
Record
| First published | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.03 (445,042 ratings, collected 2026-08-19) |
| Page count | 400 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780765376466 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
The first novel in V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic trilogy centers on Kell, one of the last Antari magicians able to travel between parallel versions of London: Red, Grey, White, and once, Black. Officially an ambassador for the Maresh Empire in Red London, Kell unofficially smuggles items between worlds for private clients, a hobby he knows is forbidden and increasingly dangerous. After one exchange goes wrong, he finds himself carrying a cursed object that should never have crossed between worlds, and flees into the mundane Grey London, where magic barely exists. There he crosses paths with Delilah Bard, a resourceful thief with grand ambitions of her own who becomes tangled in his troubles. Together they must keep the dangerous object out of the wrong hands while Kell tries to understand exactly what he has unleashed.
Where it sits
- Universe: Shades of Magic
- Series: Shades of Magic core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: V.E. Schwab
Notes
- From the series record (Shades of Magic): V.E. Schwab's 1st universe in this canon. A complete trilogy of parallel Londons (Grey, Red, White, and the sealed-off Black). Award record consists mostly of reader-vote ballot nominations on a popular rating platform (a high-volume open-nomination stage, not a juried shortlist); no confirmed Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, or British Fantasy recognition was found for this trilogy specifically.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Shades of Magic: position 1 of 3: next A Gathering of Shadows (2016)
Sources
- veschwab.com (author's own site)
- Wikipedia (English)
- https://shadesofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/A_Darker_Shade_of_Magic
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