A Darker Shade of Magic cover art

A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic, Book 1

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A Darker Shade of Magic

Written by: V. E. Schwab
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
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About this listen

Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes. As such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. There's White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.

Officially Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see - a dangerous hobby and one that has set him up for accidental treason.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

©2015 Victoria Schwab (P)2015 Tantor
Action & Adventure Alternate History Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Science Fiction Royalty England Funny Alternate Universe Time Travel
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What the critics say

"There is much more to explore in this amazing world from the acclaimed author of Vicious." (Library Journal)

What listeners say about A Darker Shade of Magic

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Book is good, performance made me almost not like it

I like VE Schwab and her writing. This book has a good storyline with good characters. However, the narrator read things in a tone that almost made me not like the characters - he made them sound whiny, and removed any romantic / sexual tension.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love this author’s worlds

Just read my second V Schwab novel and I wasn’t disappointed. Beautiful writing, good story and entrancing characters. My only point of contention is the narrator, who, having a rich lush voice makes the female main character sound a bit like a cross dresser... like those Monty Python skits with John Cleese and the gang doing their best female impersonations. Other than that, excellent!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

magical realism

the main characters are dynamic and unmatched in fantasy. the setting is unique and the plot is riviting. a must read

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic female protagonist.

Characters Written like real complex people. So refreshing and delightful. I wish I had a female character like this to read about as a kid.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Magical Adventure

The story had me hooked from the start. I loved the unique spin on the world. The narration was great too. Can't wait to see what the next book in the series has in store.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love love love

Great story great characters great everything. I think you should for sure listen to this one.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, poor narration

Loved the book - fantastic and engaging story. The narrator was a poor fit. He really did a disservice to one character in particular. I ended up switching to the ebook version half way through.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Narrator issues

Found the narrator difficult to listen to, a bit goofy - but the story was great.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, wrong narrator!!

I'm halfway through the book and I'm having so much trouble finishing it. The story is interesting enough that I want to keep listening, but the narrator is not the right one for this book. My problem is not the accent, but the dialogues don't match to his inflections and speech rate. I don't know how to explain it but it just sounds wrong and rushed. It's unfortunate because I love audiobooks and was looking forward to enjoying this one. Overall, I don't recomed this audiobook, instead get the physical book if you are looking into this series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An amazing read

Narrator was really good and portrayed the story well, but was gutteral at times. Story was well written and entertaining throughout, with cliff hangers and strong story elements. Overall was amazing to listen to.

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