Lila has a goal in life and she is going to take every opportunity she can to make it happen. Lila is willing to face danger even if she is unprepared to handle it as she will either survive or not, but it won’t matter as long as you are living for the new experiences. Lila’s gung-ho nature is the complete opposite to Kell’s, whom she meets when he stumbles into Grey London after he has been given a forbidden item from Black London. Lila could be seen as tragic figure and yet she doesn’t ask for pity and is trying to be as self sufficient as possible and hates the thought of being helped by others, although she is happy to take advantage of their unwariness of the world around them. The other lead character comes from Grey London, Lila Bard, who is a pickpocket with a thirst for adventure.

As I read the book I was continually reminded of Sarah’s lines: “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have made my way.” especially with the concluding line “You have no power over me”. Kell reminded me of the character Sarah from the film The Labyrinth. Kell also resents this as he does not know who his real family is even though he has grown up as a member of the Royal Family of Red London. As well as being naive Kell is also quite arrogant, as he has never had to worry about what happens to people who have not grown up with his privilege and opportunities. I found Kell to be quite naive, throughout this book he seems to be naive to the politics of power between those he serves and those he has to communicate with for diplomacies sake. Our main character is Kell he is one of the last of the Antari (magicians strong enough to travel between the London’s).

Finally there is Black London whose world was closed from the other London’s centuries ago as the magic had taken over and contaminated everything it touched. White London is a dying place where magic is scarce and those that have it wield their power in acts of dominance and violence. Red London is a vibrant place full of magic, where the people believe that magic is held in balance. Grey London does not have much magic and most people have forgotten that magic even exists. The world we know is Grey London, where the time period is set. Each London is itself almost unique from the others some are filled with magic, whilst others are barren. A Darker Shade of Magic is set around the reign of King George III, and is a story of three unknown London’s and one that is vaguely familiar. Schwab and for those of you who have read Vicious - it is a completely different story.

Shades of magic ve schwab