#Shades Of Magic

[callalyst]

everyone knows that the best romances begin by robbing a magician, tying him to your bed, and abusing his evil mystery rock 🙄🪨

[tampire]

#Shooting their shot

[n-jostcn]

the song of achilles — madeline miller

night shift — stephen king

euripedes — anne carson

circe — madeline miller

a conjuring of light — v.e. schwab

west wind — mary oliver

the song of achilles — madeline miller

the fragile threads of power — v.e. schwab

[typingwithmyhandstied]

Me when a V.E. Schwab character exists: Now that's a character. That's a CHARACTER. THAT'S A CHARACTER.

[torpublishinggroup]

#1 NYT bestselling author V.E. Schwab returns to the dazzling worlds of Shades of Magic with a fantastical, perilous, and intrigue-tangled new series-starter: The Fragile Threads of Power,with commissioned artwork of Kell and Lila by lasq.draws.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Once, the four worlds sat nestled like pages in a book, connected with fantastical power to a single city: London. But the magic pulsed. It grew too fast, and the doors between worlds were sealed in a desperate gamble at protection.

The few magicians able to open these doors grew rarer as time passed, and now only three are known in recent memory. Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk of White London have hardly been glimpsed for the last seven years. A new magician rises to claim the throne of White London: She is Kosika, who burns with religious fervor and will feed her city with blood, including her own.

And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one that promises to correct the power by razing the throne entirely.

These two royals from very different empires face mirror struggles: Keep their crowns. Keep their heads. And amidst a tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with unusual magic comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds.

Her name is Tes, and she will bring the worlds together, or unravel it all.

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Characters, book, and author names under the cut

Damianos (“Damen”) of Akielos/Laurent of Vere - Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Rhy Maresh/Alucard Emery - Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Addam Saint Nicholas/Rune Saint John - The Tarot Sequence by K. D. Edwards

Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard - All For The Game by Nora Sakavic

[masked-manticore]

Historically accurate Kell and Lila! ✨

[derangedthoughtssideblog]

the struggle between wanting a tv show of your favourite books so you can watch edits of your favourite characters and the knowledge that if the actors don't look exactly like the characters in your mind you're going to kill everyone in that show and yourself

[clockworkbee]

not character A making a grand gesture and character B either asking ‘why’ or realizing ‘oh. oh,’ like, please, you don’t know them. My beloved characters feel so love-deprived that they can’t even seem to process or believe when anyone actually tries to show them love.

[shrews-art]

I really love how separately Lila, Kell and Holland are literally the most powerful people between all worlds and also smart and resourceful and skilled but. You leave them together in a room for TEN MINUTES and disaster follows

[thelightfluxtastic]

No one gets nemesis and hate-based relationships like V. E. Schwab. Nobody.

It's about the intimacy. It's about the knowing one another even if you don't like one another. It's about how respect doesn't necessarily soften into affection or friendliness. Or conversely, how the deeper the friendship, the more twisted the hate once it's corrupted. It's about your reflection being the most like you but also your polar opposite. It's about having someone who fits the negative space in your life like you fit theirs.

[purplebass]

2023 books a darker shade of magic by v.e. schwab (reread)

Magic was a living thing---that, everyone knew---but to Kell it felt like more, like a friend, like family. It was, after all, a part of him (much more than it was a part of most) and he couldn't help feeling like it knew what he was saying, what he was feeling, not only when he summoned it, but always, in every heartbeat and every breath. He was, after all, Antari.

[orions-garden]

Shades of Magic Dashboard Simulator

🌊thatwatermage Follow

rhy maresh was 19??? he should’ve been at the club

✨themagic-ofmagic Follow

2,435 notes

🤔celebrity-smash-or-pass Follow

1,752 notes

🏰low-royal Follow

i’m going on vacation during the essen tasch but someone tells me how it goes

⛰️icanmovemountains Follow

THE DARKNESS

🏰low-royal Follow

huh?

🗺️mapmaker-mapmaker Follow

the darkness

🏰low-royal Follow

oh ok.

12,478 notes

🏴‍☠️piracy-enthusiast Follow

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE SAROWS IS COMING IS COMING IS COMING IS COMING ABOARD WHEN THE WIND DIES AWAY BUT STILL SINGS IN YOUR EARS IN YOUR EARS IN YOUR HEAD IN YOUR BLOOD IN YOUR BONES

10,297 notes

⛵️faro-away Follow

arnesian sailors will be like i know a place and take you aboard their ship where their first mate (?) only speaks high royal and can use blood magic 🙄

724 notes

🦴no-bones-about-it Follow

what everyone thinks bone magic is:

what it actually is:

15,860 notes

[typingwithmyhandstied]

When Kell Maresh said, "Why am I the only one in this fucking world to be held accountable for my actions?" I felt that.

[torpublishinggroup]

#1 NYT bestselling author V.E. Schwab returns to the dazzling worlds of Shades of Magic with a fantastical, perilous, and intrigue-tangled new series-starter: The Fragile Threads of Power, with commissioned artwork by lasq.draws.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Once, the four worlds sat nestled like pages in a book, connected with fantastical power to a single city: London. But the magic pulsed. It grew too fast, and the doors between worlds were sealed in a desperate gamble at protection.

The few magicians able to open these doors grew rarer as time passed, and now only three are known in recent memory. Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk of White London have hardly been glimpsed for the last seven years. A new magician rises to claim the throne of White London: She is Kosika, who burns with religious fervor and will feed her city with blood, including her own.

And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one that promises to correct the power by razing the throne entirely.

These two royals from very different empires face mirror struggles: Keep their crowns. Keep their heads. And amidst a tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with unusual magic comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds.

Her name is Tes, and she will bring the worlds together, or unravel it all.

[book--brackets]

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (2012-2016)

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab (2015-2017)

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.

The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski (1992-2013)

For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf. 

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as the Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world -- for good, or for evil. 

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt's responsibility to protect them all. And the Witcher never accepts defeat. 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986-2008)

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle.

To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl--and herself--than first meets the eye.

In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (2000-2020)

As a professional wizard, Harry Dresden knows firsthand that the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most of them don’t play well with humans. And those that do enjoy playing with humans far too much. He also knows he’s the best at what he does. Technically, he’s the only at what he does. But even though Harry is the only game in town, business—to put it mildly—stinks.

So when the Chicago P.D. bring him in to consult on a double homicide committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name…

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (1911)

Peter Pan, the book based on J. M. Barrie's famous play, is filled with unforgettable characters: Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up; the fairy, Tinker Bell; the evil pirate, Captain Hook; and the three children-Wendy, John, and Michael-who fly off with Peter Pan to Neverland, where they meet Indians and pirates and a crocodile that ticks.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (1966)

One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for him. What ensues is a novel of in exhaustible energy, humor, and philosophical depth.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (2012-present)

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (1995-1997)

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. 

 As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin (1968-2001)

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world.

This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.