A Darker Shade of Magic

* Hardcover
* Paperback

***A Darker Shade of Magic*** is an adult fantasy book by V. E. Schwab. It is the first installment of the *Shades of Magic* trilogy.

## Synopsis

Kell is one of the last *Antari*—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

## Parts

* Part I: The Traveler
* Part II: Red Royal
* Part III: Grey Thief
* Part IV: White Throne
* Part V: Black Stone
* Part VI: Thieves Meet
* Part VII: The Follower
* Part VIII: An Arrangement
* Part IX: Festival & Fire
* Part X: One White Rook
* Part XI: Masquerade
* Part XII: Sanctuary & Sacrifice
* Part XIII: The Waiting Kin
* Part XIV: The Final Door

## Characters

### Red London

* **Kell Maresh** — The adopted *Antari* Prince of Arnes. As an *Antari*, Kell functions as an ambassador between the other Londons; he regularly uses these official travels for his smuggling affairs. He crosses paths with Lila Bard when he receives a mysterious stone from Black London.
* **Rhy Maresh** — The Crown Prince of Arnes. Rhy is the only biological son of King Maxim and Queen Emira, and the younger brother of Kell. While his adoptive brother is an *Antari*, Rhy barely possesses any magic.
* **Maxim Maresh** — The King of Arnes. Maxim is the husband of Emira and the father of Rhy and Kell.
* **Emira Maresh** — The Queen of Arnes. Emira is the wife of Maxim and the mother of Rhy and Kell.
* **Calla** — A vendor at the Night Market.

### Grey London

* **Lila Bard** — The Shadow Thief. Lila is a skilled thief who does not easily trust people and dreams to possess her own ship and be a pirate one day. She meets Kell when she steals the Black London stone from him.
* **Barron** — The owner of the Stone's Throw.
* **Ned Tuttle** — An Enthusiast. Ned wants to study and learn magic.
* **George III** — The King of the United Kingdom. Due to his dementia and "madness," George is unable to rule.
* **George, Prince Regent** — The regent of the United Kingdom. As his father is unable to rule, he acts as the prince regent.

### White London

* **Holland Vosijk** — The *Antari* "slave" of the Dane twins. Holland, just like Kell, is an ambassador. He is bound, controlled, and tortured by Athos Dane.
* **Athos Dane** — One of the two ruthless co-rulers of Makt. Athos is the twin brother of Astrid and bound Holland with a soulseal.
* **Astrid Dane** — One of the two ruthless co-rulers of Makt. Astrid is the twin sister of Athos.

*more characters*
## Collector's Edition

*Main article: A Darker Shade of Magic (Collector's Edition)*
On October 31, 2017, a special collector's edition of *A Darker Shade of Magic* was released.

## Illustrated Deluxe Edition

*Main article: A Darker Shade of Magic (Illustrated Deluxe Edition)*
On December 19, 2023, V. E. Schwab announced that she partnered up with Wraithmarked Creative to create illustrated deluxe hardcovers for the *Shades of Magic* trilogy. The project will be funded through Kickstarter starting from January 9, 2024.

## Movie adaptation

*Main article: A Darker Shade of Magic (movie)*
On February 3, 2016, it was announced that Gerard Butler's production company G-BASE have acquired rights to adapt the book as a limited TV series. However, a year later, on February 24, 2017, it was reported that a movie would be produced instead.

On October 3, 2019, the movie's screenwriter was announced: Derek Kolstad, the creator of the *John Wick* franchise.

## Gallery

### Covers

US cover.Full US cover.US cover, new paperback.Full US cover, new paperback.US audiobook cover.UK cover.Full UK cover.Bulgarian cover.Estonian cover.Farsi cover.French cover.German cover.German audiobook cover.Hungarian cover.Indonesian cover.Italian cover.Persian cover.Portuguese cover.Portuguese Brazilian cover.Romanian cover.Russian cover.Serbian cover.
### Discarded cover designs

"I could see the below cover working well on the paperback edition, but I was more excited about the stylization on the final for the hardcover.""This is a beautiful cover but not as unique to this stroy [*sic*] as the final one we chose.""The below cover was, again, great looking but I worried that it was starting to look a bit like a horror novel; a little 'jack the ripper' with the veins.""First up... I loved Kell's map-jacket but ultimately thought this one was just a little too YA-looking for the book."

## Trivia

* As of 2018, V. E. Schwab's best opening line, according to her, is the one from *A Darker Shade of Magic*: "Kell wore a very peculiar coat."
* The novel's original title was "Traveler." It was decided to change it after a dispute over whether to spell it with one or two "l"s. After going through dozens of possible titles, it was finally settled on *A Darker Shade of Magic*.
* While working on *A Darker Shade of Magic*, Schwab nicknamed the book "PIRATES, THIEVES, AND SADIST KINGS."
* In March 2020, Illumicrate announced that their 5th-anniversary box would be an exclusive "A Darker Shade of Magic" collector's edition box. The box contained a signed exclusive red naked hardback edition of *A Darker Shade of Magic* which was designed by Titan Books. The box sold out in less than 30 minutes. Because the demand was so high and the box sold out so quickly, the box was later restocked, albeit with unsigned copies.
	+ Almost a year later, matching editions of *A Gathering of Shadows* and *A Conjuring of Light* were announced and sold.

## References

1. ↑ Kickstarter announcement — V. E. Schwab on Twitter
2. ↑ "V.E. Schwab's *A Darker Shade of Magic* is Being Adapted for Television!" — Tor
3. ↑ "V.E. Schwab's *A Darker Shade of Magic* Is Changing Direction, Now Headed to the Big Screen!" — Tor
4. ↑ "'John Wick' Writer Derek Kolstad to Adapt 'A Darker Shade of Magic' for Sony (EXCLUSIVE)" — Variety
5. ↑ "How the Cover Was Decided for V. E. Schwab's New Book *A Darker Shade of Magic*" — Tor
6. ↑ "Hey, writers: Share the best opening lines you've written so far." — "Kell wore a very peculiar coat."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
7. ↑ "YES! The original title was TRAVELER but we got locked in a very weird debate in-house over whether it should have one L or two and no one could agree and we'd just come off of VICIOUS, which, shockingly, NO ONE CAN SPELL."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
8. ↑ "A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC was seriously, like, title #73."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
9. ↑ "I wrote PIRATES, THIEVES, AND SADIST KINGS (not real title)."
(V. E. Schwab on Wordpress)
10. ↑ "**A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC** will be the first in a new fantasy series at Tor! I've been teasing this book online for AGES now–this is "pirates, thieves, and sadist kings"–and I’m so excited to finally shove this book out of the shadows and into the light!
(V. E. Schwab on Wordpress)
11. ↑ "2020 marks Illumicrate's 5 year anniversary so for us, this year is all about celebrating those big milestones! We are kicking things off in style by proudly announcing Illumicrate Collections: A Darker Shade of Magic, in collaboration with @veschwab"
(Illumicrate on Instagram)
12. ↑ "The box will contain a gorgeous naked hardback edition of A Darker Shade of Magic, designed exclusively for us by @titanbooks"
(Illumicrate on Instagram)
13. ↑ "Illumicrate Collections: A Darker Shade of Magic" — Illumicrate
14. ↑ File:IG Illumicrate box.png
15. ↑ "We honestly cannot believe this box sold out in under 30 minutes on general sale! We know that a lot of you missed out because you didn't expect it to sell so fast, and so we've spoken to the wonderful people at @titanbooks and secured more books! These ones will be unsigned however"
(Illumicrate on Instagram)
16. ↑ "We are thrilled to reveal our editions for the rest of Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab, matching the edition of A Darker Shade of Magic from our Illumicrate Collections box"
(Illumicrate on Instagram)
17. ↑ "A Gathering of Shadows & A Conjuring of Light set (exclusive editions pre-order)" — Illumicrate