However, a year later, on February 24, 2017, it was reported that a movie would be produced instead, and that Sony Pictures won the movie rights, beating Fox 2000, eOne, and Lionsgate. 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. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The Guardian called A Darker Shade of Magic 'a compelling, swashbuckling read reminiscent of Tim Powers’ more gung-ho fantasies'. In a world with magic, it's of course unavoidable that things go horribly wrong along the way.

Delilah first saves Kell, then captures him and talks him into going with him. It's a risky pastime with dangerous consequences.Īfter a smuggling job goes wrong, Kell escapes to Grey London where he finds Delilah Bard, a young thief looking for a taste of adventure and a chance at something more. However, Kell has a secret life as a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of magic. Kell officially serves the royal family of Red London, The Maresh Empire, as an ambassador, traveling between worlds to deliver messages, letters of importance and other such news. It is the first installment of the Shades of Magic trilogy.Īs a young Antari magician, Kell is one of the last magicians with the rare ability to travel between the four parallel Londons, which he calls Red, Grey, White, and Black. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.A Darker Shade of Magic is an adult fantasy novel by American author V.E. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. 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.

It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.Īfter an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see.

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.

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.

The darker shade of magic