A Darker Shade of Magic
Kell is one of the last Antari, magicians with the rare ability to travel between parallel Londons. When he smuggles an artifact from forbidden Black London, he gets entangled with Delilah Bard, a cutthroat from Grey London who forces him to take her on a cross-world adventure.
Where A Darker Shade of Magic keeps showing up
Three of our editors' lists feature this novel.
Books in conversation with A Darker Shade of Magic
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about A Darker Shade of Magic
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Kell is one of the last magicians who can travel between four parallel Londons. When he smuggles an artifact out of forbidden Black London, a Grey London cutpurse named Lila Bard robs him, saves him, and demands to come along.
V.E. Schwab's original Shades of Magic trilogy has three books: A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, and A Conjuring of Light. Schwab has since added a follow-up trilogy, the Threads of Power, beginning with The Fragile Threads of Power in 2023.
A Darker Shade of Magic is published as adult fantasy. The protagonist Kell is in his early twenties and the prose is sophisticated, but there is no explicit content. Many YA readers cross over to it without issue.
No. A Darker Shade of Magic has minimal romance and no explicit content. The series is closer to high fantasy than romantasy. Some readers find more romance in the later books.
No. A Darker Shade of Magic has minimal romance and no explicit content. The series is closer to high fantasy than romantasy. Some readers find more romance in the later books.
A Darker Shade of Magic was written by V.E. Schwab, published in 2015 by Tor.
A Darker Shade of Magic is 400 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, A Darker Shade of Magic takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
A Darker Shade of Magic is a standalone novel by V.E. Schwab, not part of a series.
A Darker Shade of Magic is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
