Annotation #4 - Fantasy

Summary:
Kell is an Antari--a blood magician, one of the last--and thus he possesses the power to open doors and travel to and from three different worlds: Grey London, where magic is unheard of, Red London, which reveres magic, and White London, which threatens to destroy itself, like the fallen Black London, in its attempts to control magic lest it be controlled by magic. Kell carries official correspondence between Kings and Queens, but it is forbidden to bring anything else to a world it doesn't belong to. Unfortunately, Kell has a habit of picking up trinkets and trading them. One night, he is tricked into taking a curious black stone across the border of Grey and Red. Then, he gets his pocket picked by Lila Bard, a petty thief from Grey London who dreams of adventure and gets more than she bargained for. Kell and Lila have to team up to keep the black stone from falling into White hands.


Fantasy Characteristics:

• Detailed settings depict another world, often located on Earth, but almost always set out-of-time, in past times, or invisible to most people. I appreciated the different perspectives, especially when Lila traveled to the other Londons for the first time. Grey London is soggy and dirty, with smokestacks on the horizon and dark alleys where drunks wander to piss. Red London is perfumed and rosy, the sounds of a celebration growing in the distance and stately ships floating on a glittering river. White London is drained of color and smells like ash and metallic blood. The floor of Castle Dane is made of enemy bone. The contrast heightened the tension between worlds.
• Story lines feature good verses evil, as protagonists battle and ultimately conquer malevolent forces. Much like the hobbits must ferry the ring into the fires of Mordor, Kell and Lila have to return the black stone to Black London where it belongs. Forget that the doors to Black London have been sealed for centuries. The stone also compels Kell to hold and use it, like the ring sows division within the fellowship.
• Tone ranges from humorous to dark...a note of melancholy pervades even when victory is achieved. It is kind of hilarious that Kell can literally conjure doors to different world with his own blood, but he gets his pocket picked the one time he actually has something important in it. You'd think he'd be more street-smart. Any slightly humorous scene, however, is followed by a bloody battle. In a final scene, magic itself is embodied and Kell has to fight it back, but is only able to dispel it, not destroy it. Lila gets her adventure but she can't go back home. Kell returns to a castle that is wary of his power and won't be so easily thought of as family.
• Characters, clearly defined as good or bad, often attain special magical gifts. Even good characters will find themselves challenged. While it is clear that the reader should think of Kell and Lila as the good guys and the Danes, the twin monarchs of White London, as the bad guys (they are seen torturing their subjects and have to compel their guards with stolen magic), K&L do a lot of murdering in all three Londons, and Kell has a history with seeking bloody vengeance when someone he loves is threatened. Can he be trusted to ferry the black stone back where it belongs, or will he succumb to its power? Lila's quicker to draw her knife than she is to trust, but she won't often have a choice.
• In general, books start slowly as the author sets the scene, presents the challenge, and introduces the cast--frequently involving a group of diverse characters who are brought together solely to fight a new or resurging evil. Short chapters kept the action and story moving and bouncing between worlds and perspectives, including both major and minor characters. We meet all the major players early on and they are woven into the conflict later.
• Language relates verbal pictures of characters and landscape. My favorite part of this book was learning all of the different Antari commands. It's fairly impressive that Schwab gave each London its own language, even if the main characters speak mostly English. Language fell short for me in action scenes. People are constantly being thrown backwards and cracking their heads on walls, passing out while the world fades to black, or getting put in chains or handcuffs. Seriously I think I can remember a good 6-7 handcuffings. In addition, an unrealistic amount of of people are stabbed directly in the chest, and the knives are invariably wrenched right into their hearts. It got a little tedious after awhile.

Read-a-likes:

• Was the darkness fully snuffed out in A Darker Shade of Magic? Probably not, because there are two more books, the second being A Gathering of Shadows
• V. E. Schwab has written a few other books. If you liked this series, try Vicious, which was a Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2013 and the ALA's Top Pick for 2014
• Get attached to Lila's thieving ways? Try another fantasy story starring a "criminal prodigy:" Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows duology
  

My Review:
Due to the pandemic, I don't think it's fair for me to give this one a personal review. I'm having a hard time focusing, as I'm sure many of you are, too, while trying to do well at work and not lose sight of schoolwork on top of managing my mental and physical health while trapped in my small apartment in a city recently categorized as a COVID-19 Hot Spot. Some may find the retreat of a different world comforting at this time, but I'm too distracted. I can't say anything bad about this book, but I struggled to finish it. I wish you and your loved ones safety and health during this strange time.