Shades of Magic Books in Order: How to read V.E. Schwab’s series?

Written by Victoria Schwab, an American fantasy author also simply known as V.E. Schwab (all of her books), The Shades of Magic series was originally an adult fantasy, but there are more books to come and even a comic prequel series. 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.

How to read the Shades of Magic Series in Order?

I. The Shades of Magic Trilogy

1. A Darker Shade of Magic – 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.
2. A Gathering of Shadows – Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games, a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port. But another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned…
3. A Conjuring of Light – In the wake of tragedy, Kell-once assumed to be the last surviving Antari-begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. Lila Bard, once a commonplace-but never common-thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry.

II. Threads of Power Trilogy

A sequel series, Threads of Power is set 5-10 years after CONJURING OF LIGHT. There is a favor, an unkillable king, and a girl who can pull on the threads of magic.

1. 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. After a desperate attempt to prevent corruption and ruin in the four Londons, there are only three: Grey London, thriving but barely able to remember its magical heritage; Red London, ruled lately by the Maresh family, flourishing and powerful; White London, left to brutality and decay. Now the worlds are going to collide anew―brought to a dangerous precipice by the discoveries of three remarkable magicians.

II. The Shades of Magic prequel series in order

This is a prequel series to A Darker Shade of Magic. The epic tale of the young and arrogant Prince Maxim Maresh, long before he became the King of Red London and adoptive father to Kell, the lead of A Darker Shade of Magic.

1. Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince – The youthful Maresh is sent to a violent and unmanageable port city on the Blood Coast of Verose, on strict orders from his father, King Nokil Maresh, to cut his military teeth in this lawless landscape. There he encounters an unruly band of soldiers, a lawless landscape, and the intoxicatingly deadly presence of the newly returned pirate queen, Arisa… Collects Shades of Magic #1-4.
2. Shades of Magic: Night of Knives – The young and arrogant prince Maxim Maresh, having faced the terror of the Pirate Queen, now aims to capture the respect of the combative port town of Verose–by taking the impossible challenges of the Night of Knives… and surviving, where none has survived before. Collects Shades of Magic #5-8.
3. Shades of Magic: The Rebel Army – Once just a single ship, now the pirate fleet of the Rebel Army numbers in its thousands. Made up of traitors from each of the three empires, the fleet, who once made the open waters of the Blood Coast their home, have set their sights on establishing their own land-based empire with London as their capital.

If you like our article about the Shades of Magic series in order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also be interested in the Grishaverse, the Invisible Library series.