The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab

September 9, 2024

The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab

After the battle for control of the four Londons and Kell's loss of his powers, Kell and Delilah have roamed the world in her ship, returning regularly to visit Red London where Kell's brother Rhy is now king. The city is thriving with peace, prosperity and magic. But not everyone is happy with that, and a group calling themselves The Hand are working to sabotage the peace of the kingdom. Meanwhile, in White London, magic is dying out and the new queen is desperate to restore magic to her kingdom.

A return to the world of Schwab's beloved Shades of Magic trilogy, with a new story line featuring many of the beloved and despised characters from that series. The White London sections are less interesting than the Red London plot line, but I am assuming the author is setting up another book focused on White London. The audiobook is narrated by four different narrators which helps to differentiate the various threads and POV's. It would be helpful to read at least the first book in the trilogy before tackling this one to get an idea about the characters. Recommended for readers of high fantasy.

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

October 6, 2023

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

Four months after the events of A Darker Shade of Magic, Lila Bard is living her dream life on The Night Spire, a privateer craft. Kell is living in Red London with the royal family, assisting with preparations for the upcoming magicians' tournament and trying to keep his brother Rhy from getting himself killed. But with all the great magicians gathered in Red London, it's only a matter of time before the situation gets out of hand and becomes explosive.

The second book in Schwab's Shades of Magic series. People seem to either adore or despise it on Goodreads. Like many sequels, this isn't as good as the first book, but it's not terrible either, although the last third did start to drag. There are lovely descriptions of magic, the settings, and the characters. While the first book can be read as a stand-alone, there is a cliffhanger at the end of this one. Not sure if I'm interested enough to read the third book. Recommended for hardcore fantasy readers.

Dueling wizards

Gallant by V. E. Schwab

June 22, 2022

Gallant by V. E. Schwab

Olivia Prior grew up in the Merilance School, essentially an orphanage for girls. All she has left from her mother is a journal that has several pages ripped out. But then a letter arrives, inviting her to Gallant, her mother's family's home. But when she arrives, no one is expecting her or admits to having invited her. Her cousin is hostile toward her, and Olivia sees shadowy figures, but she is not about to leave until she gets some answers. One day, Olivia crosses through a gate at the bottom of the garden and finds herself in an alternate version of Gallant.

The atmosphere is gothic and the writing is good but the plot is sketchy. The main theme is that everything has a mirror image that is the opposite. I like Schwab's adult books better than her YA books. It didn't really hold my attention, although I did like the cover.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

September 29, 2022

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Kell is an Antari, one of the last magicians who can travel between the four Londons: Grey, White, Red, and once upon a time, Black. His home is in Red London with the royal family, while the most dangerous one is White London, ruled by the Danish Twins and Holland, their Antari. Kell has a side business smuggling magical artefacts for collectors and dilettantes. In Grey London, he encounters a pickpocket named Delilah, who first robs him and then rescues him. Together they must return a mysterious stone to the correct London and find the other half, but which London is the right London?

Colorful, weird characters, invented language, magic in many forms, all mixed with social and political aspirations. Four Londons exist in the same place but on different planes (multiverse), and Kell speculates that there may be more. I have come across the multiple city concept before, in books like The City and The City by China Mieville, where the main character crosses from one version of a city to another by going through a checkpoint. Kell cuts a doorway from one London to another by using his blood. There are two more books in the series.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

October 22, 2020

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

Addie LaRue is a girl who always wanted more than life in her small French village offered.  Born in the late 17th century, in a moment of desperation, she makes a bargain with a dark god, gaining immortality but cursed by the god to be forgotten by everyone she knows or meets.  But all of that changes 300 years later, when she meets a young man in a bookstore and he remembers who she is.

This was an interesting take on the Faustian bargain with the devil, bartering one's soul for eternal life.  Characters throughout fiction have made such deals, including Faust and Dorian Gray.  Although at devastated at first at everything she has lost, Addie gradually learns what she has gained from her pact.  We experience history through her eyes, from Paris in the early 18th century through World War II, up to the present day. 

To be honest, I got a little bored and felt this could have been 50 or so pages shorter - the reader doesn't need to know every little facet of Addie's life as an immortal.  But fantasy enthusiasts will find it entertaining and fresh.