 First US edition cover | |
| Author | V. E. Schwab |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Will Staehle [1] |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | February 24, 2015 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | 0-765-376458 |
| Followed by | A Gathering of Shadows |
A Darker Shade of Magic is an adult fantasy novel by American author V.E. Schwab published by Tor Books in 2015. It is the first installment of the Shades of Magic trilogy.
As 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.
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. However, Kell has a secret life as a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of magic. It's a risky pastime with dangerous consequences.
After a smuggling job goes wrong, Kell escapes to Grey London where he finds Delilah Bard (who goes by Lila), a young thief looking for a taste of adventure and a chance at something more. Lila first saves Kell, then captures him and talks him into letting her go with him. In a world with magic, it's of course unavoidable that things go horribly wrong along the way.
The Guardian called A Darker Shade of Magic "a compelling, swashbuckling read reminiscent of Tim Powers’ more gung-ho fantasies". [2] It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. [3]
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. [4]
However, a year later, on February 24, 2017, it was reported that a movie would be produced instead, [5] and that Sony Pictures won the movie rights, beating Fox 2000, eOne, and Lionsgate. [6] With the format change, Schwab has become one of the producers of the movie alongside Robinson, Alan Siegel, and Neal Moritz. Toby Ascher from Original Productions is the executive producer, and Executive Matthew Milam and Sanford Panitch, the president of Sony Pictures, are set to oversee production. [7]
On October 3, 2019, the movie's screenwriter was announced: Derek Kolstad, the creator of the John Wick franchise. [8]
The second installment of the Shades of Magic series, titled A Gathering of Shadows , was released on February 23, 2016. [9] The third book in the series, A Conjuring of Light , was released February 21, 2017. [10]
The Wheel of Time is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three installments. Originally planned as a six-book series with the publication of The Eye of the World in 1990, The Wheel of Time came to span 14 volumes, in addition to a prequel novel and three companion books. Jordan died in 2007 while working on what was planned to be the twelfth and final volume in the series. He prepared extensive notes, which enabled fellow fantasy author Sanderson to complete the final book, which grew into three volumes: The Gathering Storm (2009), Towers of Midnight (2010), and A Memory of Light (2013).
Magician is a fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist. It is the first book of the Riftwar Saga and of the wider Riftwar Cycle. Magician was originally published in 1982. The book is set in a Dungeons & Dragons–style fantasy world called Midkemia, originally invented by Feist and his friends during college. The story follows the early life of friends Pug and Tomas as their world is overtaken by war against alien invaders who appear via portals.
Jonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986.
Laird Samuel Barron is an American author and poet, much of whose work falls within the horror, noir, or horror noir and dark fantasy genres. He has also been the managing editor of the online literary magazine Melic Review. He lives in Upstate New York.
Martha Wells is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology.
Kelly Marcel is an English screenwriter, film director, and former actress.
Warcraft is a 2016 American action fantasy film based on the video game series of the same name. Directed by Duncan Jones, who co-wrote with Charles Leavitt, it stars Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Robert Kazinsky, and Daniel Wu. The film follows Anduin Lothar of Stormwind and Durotan of the Frostwolf clan as heroes set on opposite sides of a growing war, as the warlock Gul'dan leads the Horde to invade Azeroth using a magic portal. Together, a few human heroes and dissenting Orcs must attempt to stop the true evil behind this war and restore peace.
Olivia Taylor Dudley is an American actress. She is known for her horror film roles such as Chernobyl Diaries (2012), The Vatican Tapes (2015) and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015), for her television roles such as the Syfy fantasy series The Magicians, and for her work in the internet sketch group 5-Second Films.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a seven-part British historical fantasy TV miniseries adapted by Peter Harness from Susanna Clarke's best-selling 2004 novel of the same name. It premiered on BBC One on 17 May 2015 and ended on 28 June 2015. It was nominated for four BAFTA awards and recognised by the British Film Institute as one of the top ten most important television programmes of 2015.
John Wick is a 2014 American action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad. Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick, a legendary hitman who comes out of retirement to seek revenge against the men who killed his dog, a final gift from his recently deceased wife. The film also stars Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe.
Victoria Elizabeth Schwab is an American writer. She is known for the 2013 novel Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which was nominated for the 2020 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. She publishes children's and young adult fiction books under the name Victoria Schwab. She is the creator of the supernatural teen drama series First Kill, based on her short story of the same name originally published in the 2020 anthology Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite.
Fifty Shades Darker is a 2017 American erotic romantic drama film directed by James Foley and written by Niall Leonard, based on E. L. James's 2012 novel of the same name. Produced by Michael De Luca Productions and Trigger Street Productions, and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is the second installment in the Fifty Shades film series and the sequel to the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey. The film stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively, with Eric Johnson, Eloise Mumford, Bella Heathcote, Rita Ora, Luke Grimes, Victor Rasuk, Kim Basinger, and Marcia Gay Harden in supporting roles. It follows Ana and Christian as they must decide to rekindle their relationship, this time with "no rules, no punishments, and no more secrets" terms.
John Wick: Chapter 2 is a 2017 American neo-noir action-thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad. The film is a sequel to John Wick (2014) and the second installment in the John Wick franchise. The film stars Keanu Reeves as the title character, with a supporting cast of Common, Laurence Fishburne, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, Lance Reddick, Peter Stormare, Bridget Moynahan, Franco Nero, John Leguizamo, and Ian McShane. In the film, retired hitman John Wick is forced back into his old life to fulfill a blood oath to crime lord Santino D'Antonio (Scamarcio).
Charles F. Stahelski is an American stuntman and filmmaker. He is considered a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He first achieved prominence as a stunt performer and coordinator, notably as the key stunt double for Keanu Reeves on The Matrix (1999), and as the martial arts stunt coordinator on its first two sequels. He subsequently directed the 2014 film John Wick, starring Reeves, and its three sequels.
Charlie Nicholes Holmberg is an American fantasy writer best known for The Paper Magician series. She is from Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in English in 2010. Her first novel, The Paper Magician, was released in 2014. Holmberg expanded the book into a series, the film rights for which were purchased by Disney in 2016. In addition to her other book series, Holmberg has published seven standalone novels. She is a multi-Whitney Award recipient for The Fifth Doll (2017), The Will and the Wilds (2020), Star Mother (2021), and Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (2022). The Hanging City was a 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist. Many of her other works have been nominated for literary awards as well. In addition to writing, Holmberg cohosts the podcast Your Mom Writes Books.
The Conjuring Universe is an American horror franchise and shared universe centered on a series of supernatural horror films. The franchise is produced by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The films present a dramatization of the supposed real-life adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent yet controversial cases of haunting. The main series follows their attempts to assist people who find themselves harassed by spirits, while the spin-off films focus on the origins of some of the entities the Warrens have encountered.
John Wick is an American neo-noir action film series and media franchise created by Derek Kolstad. It centers on the titular character portrayed by actor Keanu Reeves. Wick is a legendary hitman who is reluctantly drawn back into the criminal underworld after retiring. The franchise began with the release of John Wick in 2014, followed by three sequels: Chapter 2 in 2017, Chapter 3 – Parabellum in 2019, and Chapter 4 in 2023.
Witchmark is a 2018 fantasy novel by Canadian author C. L. Polk. It features a murder mystery set in a secondary world in a country called Aeland, and has been described as gaslamp fantasy. Witchmark won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2019. It was first published by Tor Books.
Mythica is a series of primarily direct-to-video fantasy films. The films are produced by Arrowstorm Entertainment, with first film Mythica: A Quest for Heroes being partly funded by a Kickstarter campaign that collected $94,294. There are six films in the Mythica series, all produced and co-written by Jason Faller and Kynan Griffin. The films star Melanie Stone as Marek, an escaped slave girl and budding magician, and co-star Kevin Sorbo as Gojun Pye the magician who trains her, along with Adam Johnson, Jake Stormoen, and Nicola Posener as those that team up with Marek on various quests together.