Ratings46
Average rating4.2
V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, opens another door to a new fantasy series set in the dazzling world of Shades of Magic. Prepare for tangled schemes and perilous adventures with friends old and new in The Fragile Threads of Power. Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London. But barely a glimpse of them have been seen in the last seven years—and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland's absence. The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own—but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown it instead. And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one determined to correct the balance of power by razing the throne entirely. These two royals from very different empires now face very similar struggles: how to keep their crowns—and their own heads. Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds. Her name is Tes, and she's the only one who can bring them together—or unravel it all. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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And in this moment, I suddenly know that there is, in fact, a god somewhere out there answering my prayers.
5.26.2021 Update:
If you don't religiously follow Victoria Schwab's Instagram stories like I do, then you might not be aware of the following:
1. Victoria is going to publish a book called Gallant in March. It's up for pre-order now. here's a link (if you need it) to order it off book depository. I also recommend preordering it from your favorite local bookstore as well. Anyways, the rest of this update can wait as you go pre-order it....I'm waiting......and waiting.......got it? okay. Let's continue.
2. Now that Gallant is pretty much written, she can now focus on writing this book, the first book of Threads of Powers. (Also, allegedly, she has been plotting this book for 5+ years so you know it's going to be good. )
3. Every character that survives in Conjuring of Light will be in Threads of Power, but the MCs will be new characters
4. After she writes Threads of Power #1, she is going to write Victorious, the last book of the Villains trilogy, which is unimportant to the grand scheme of this review and Threads of Power, but I'm a slut for the Villains series so it's important for me so it's mentioned.
5. So in conclusions, this book is starting to get close close (in terms of VE Schwab being just one person and can only write one book at at time) so start getting your soul ready (and don't go making deals involving them to gods that answer after dark)
This book was meant to be an “all new series” separate from darker shade of magic, yet there was so much that I didn't understand or grasp the weight of because I have only read the first in that series.
I felt like I lacked all context needed to enjoy this book, and so only enjoyed one specific character's story. That part was very invigorating, but the left felt me feeling like “yeah? So what?”
I gave it 3 instead of two because I could have stopped and just gone back to read the darker shade series, but it's the principle of the thing. Also, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere did the “magic london” concept better, and the Six of Crows series did heists AND a new series in the same universe better.
I enjoyed being back with Kell Maresh and Lila Bard, seven (fictional) years after the end of the Shades of Magic trilogy, and I loved the introduction of Tes as a new character with new powers. I should have reread A Conjuring of Light to refresh my memory on the details of how the first trilogy ended (I couldn't remember if Kell was dead or alive), but there was enough background in the new book to catch me up. Now I'm excited for the next one!
Series
1 primary bookThreads of Power is a 1-book series first released in 2022 with contributions by V. E. Schwab.
Series
1 primary book2 released booksThe Shades of Magic Universe is a 9-book series with 1 primary work first released in 2015 with contributions by V. E. Schwab and Jaime Valero Martínez.