A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (2015)
Spoilt by a contrived ending
Book cover blurb
Welcome to Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, with one mad king - George III. Then there is Red London, where life and magic are revered, and White London, a city slowly being drained through magic war, down to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London…but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is one of the last Antari - magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons - and acts as an ambassador and messenger between the Londons, in service of the Maresh Empire. Unofficially, he’s also a smuggler, which is a dangerous hobby for him to have - as proven when Kell stumbles into a setup with a forbidden token from Black London.
Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
But Perolous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
Prepare to be dazzled by a world of parallel Londons - where magic thrives, starves, or lies forgotten, and where power can destroy just as quickly as it can create.
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My Review
I really enjoyed this book or at least most of it, but I was spitting nails right at the end. Let me explain.
My enjoyment of A Darker Shade Of Magic didn't stem from the usual gubbins. The story, characters and the world, or worlds, were fine, but what really kept me reading was the pacing. Most novels you read these days seem to be in a competition to get to the point and by extension the end as quickly as possible. There's never any time spent just spending time. I found this book to be quite different. Schwab apparently just decided to relax and meander through her story at a gloriously leisurely pace. I never felt like I was being rushed towards the action. In fact even the action held a kind of slow-motion to it. And I have to admit I loved what the writer was doing.
Unfortunately, my temper reached ballistic proportions as we approached the book's climax. All of a sudden, when our heroine was painted into a corner or three, everything became infuriatingly contrived. Every problem she faced, everything she needed, all the things she needed to happen, just suddenly fell in her favour. I don't know if Schwab just ran into writer's block or simply couldn't be bothered to put the effort in but over the course of just a few pages she managed to ruin the vibes of this entire book for me.
Ouch. That got a little more ranty than I intended. This really is a great book, it's just that five percent towards the end that brings it down.
My copy of this novel
Tor hardback edition.
Published in 2017
429 pages
ISBN 9780765399113