A Darker Shade of Magic Review
Oh this book… why did I wait so long to read this book? (I know, I’ve been busy reading other stuff.) It came out in 2015, which is now more or less 6 years ago! And cool people were reading it then so I put it on my list. And then a year or more ago I bought it and it still sat! I think my tbr shelves are getting a little ridiculous. Anyone have a way to get more reading hours in without missing anything you’re supposed to be doing? Because I really need that. So many books, never close to enough time.
Anyway, on to the book review! The book is set in London in the last year of the reign of George III, so 1920-ish. But not really that, because there are multiple versions of London. Our London is Grey, but a few special people called Antari who can travel to (and principally live in ) Red London (full of magic), White London (dying from lack of magic) and Black London (overthrown by use of evil magic). In each of these Londons, the rest of the world is totally different from the other Londons. Our has Great Britain of course, but Red London has Arnes, White has… oh I totally forget, but it doesn’t matter that much (yet; I still haven’t finished the series) and Black has… nothing. Supposedly.
The magic is basically elemental, with fire, water, earth, air, and bone. For Antari there is also the use of blood magic, which is what allows them to travel between worlds. The Antari are marked, with one eye being completely black from the magic. These are exceptionally rare, only 2 currently known.
Kell, our main character, is Antari from Red London. Officially, he carries messages between the monarchs of all the different worlds. But he also carries other things, trinkets and such, that people pay him good money for as technically taking things like this is treasonous. Of course, Kell gets into trouble with a trade and, trying to escape, he flees to Grey London and meets Lilah. Delilah Bard is a thief girl with no apparent magic in her, but after a series of unfortunate events she helps Kell with his plans to get the artifact-a stone full of Black magic-back into Black London. Along the way they have to get through Holland, character and Antari not the country, who is controlled by the White King. After some extra awesome magic fighting scenes, Kell and Lilah part ways in Red London with just a hint of romance.
The themes of this book are fairly obvious, with the opening of doors and access to power, but that doesn’t make them less meaningful. Just maybe not the reason the book was written. Really, the most exciting part of the story is the characters. They are so lifelike that it’s hard to remember they’re just fiction. The setting reads almost like a character (or three) as well, with the fabulous descriptions of the different Londons and the effect they have on the characters personality and emotions.
As a first book in the series, it sets everything up really well. We get great introductions to the worlds and characters. There’s a medium-stakes plot that could have gotten way worse without the characters’ intervention. And while there is still closure to the story, it feels like there are some definite threads that can carry the series forward. For example, we know nothing about the origins of the main characters. It’s also mentioned that Lilah has magic, but she’s not able to use it at all yet. Lastly, the doors between worlds are still effectively shut which leads to imbalance in the worlds with regards to the magic. Also, there are many worlds to explore outside of the Londons which we haven’t seen any of. So, those are my ideas for the series going forward. I wrote them down earlier, before starting book 2 and so far they’re good hypotheses for what’s going to happen farther along. Hopefully, I’ll review book 2 later this week as I continue (okay, start) reading book 3.
