A Darker Shade of Magic cover art

A Darker Shade of Magic

Shades of Magic, Book 1

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A Darker Shade of Magic

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

A Darker Shade of Magic is the incredible first installment of the Shades of Magic series, from number one New York Times best-selling author V.E. Schwab.

Most people only know one London; but what if there were several? Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel Londons. There’s Grey London, dirty and crowded and without magic, home to the mad king George III. There’s Red London, where life and magic are revered. Then, White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. But once upon a time, there was Black London....

©2015 V. E. Schwab (P)2015 Tantor Fantasy Mystery Supernatural Thriller & Suspense

Critic Reviews

"A Darker Shade of Magic has all the hallmarks of a classic work of fantasy. Schwab has given us a gem of a tale...." (Deborah Harkeness)
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This is a great story and I’m excited to get to the next one. For me the narrator gave the most unrealistic voices to the characters and almost ruined the book for me.

Loved this book, had to actively try to ignore the narrator

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A bit of a slow burn. Beautifully woven story with magical worlds and lots of layers. The characters are complex in a good way, and left me wanting more.

A beautiful magical world

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Brilliant story and great characters. However, the narrator was dreadful!!! It is a credit to how good the story was that allowed me to tolerate the terrible narration. His tone was all wrong, he appeared to misinterpret the story and his female voices were embarrassing!

Magic and adventure

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I enjoyed the story and also the readers voice. Magic is my cup of tea

A good story and a soothing voice

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The story was excellent. And the world and characters created were brilliant. But the narrator nearly ruined it all. I had to put all my effort into ignoring his voice and focusing on the content

Great story but bad narrator

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