A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic is a fantasy novel by the American author V. E. Schwab, published by Tor Books in 2015 and the first instalment of the Shades of Magic trilogy.

Kell is an Antari, a rare kind of magician whose innate power distinguishes him from others who must study to master magic, and his ability allows him to travel between parallel versions of London, which he calls Red, Grey, White and Black. He was adopted at a young age by the king and queen of the Maresh Empire in Red London.

That adoption gives him a public role and a private one. Officially he is the Red traveller and ambassador, carrying monthly correspondence between the rulers of each London; unofficially he smuggles objects between worlds for people willing to pay for a glimpse of somewhere else. The divided position is what the plot exploits. Grey London is the one without magic, and its king is mad, while Red London is where magic is revered and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh. The four Londons are versions of the same city, so what he smuggles is a trade in difference rather than in objects.