A Gathering of Shadows - SFBA Book Club

No cover — V. E. Schwab: A Gathering of Shadows (Paperback, 2017, Tor Books)

Paperback, 512 pages

English language

Published Jan. 17, 2017 by Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-7648-0

(2 reviews)

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell's possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland's dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

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, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games-an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries-a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills …

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell's possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland's dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

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, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games-an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries-a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again-and so to keep magic's balance, another London must fall...in V.E. Schwab's A Gathering of Shadows.

7 editions

Flauschbuch reviewed A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

Somewhat disappointing

3 stars

Unfortunately, this book suffers from "second book in the trilogy" syndrome in that it is mostly set-up for the third one. It also ends in a cliffhanger. I found Lila's plot really annoying and unbelievable. I understand what the author was going for but I think that could have been achieved in a better way. The new relationship between Kell and Rhy due to events in the first book is explored only in a very shallow manner. It takes quite a while before the book gets going and then we really spend almost all of the second half on a tournament of wizards while the book hardly explores the much more interesting goings-on in White London. I did burn through the audiobook regardless but the book is a clear let-down compared to the first. But because of the cliffhanger, I'll read the third book, too.

Marek reviewed A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab (Shades of Magic, #2)

A decent bit of light fantasy adventure.

3 stars

On a par with the first. A mostly fun romp. Drags a little in the middle, and is marred for me by the occasional use of very modern turns of phrase which I find very distracting (e.g. someone in a regency-ish era London claiming they're good at "multi-tasking").