The Fragile Threads of Power (Threads of Power, #1)
Victoria Schwab
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and set in the world of A Darker Shade of Magic, V. E. Schwab opens a new door into perilous adventure and tangled schemes with 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. Until the magic grew too fast, and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory―Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London. But barely a glimpse of them have been seen in the last seven years―and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland's absence. The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own―but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown them instead. And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one determined to correct the balance of power by razing the throne entirely. Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds. Her name is Tes, and she's the only one who can bring them together―or unravel it all.
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
AHHHHH Kell and Lila and my new bby Tes (plus owl ofc)
This was so good and felt like a good new chapter in this world.
0SO SO GOOD! Opening up this book felt, in a way, like walking into a childhood friend’s home- known and loved and familiar, but new again. This book had a new line of suspense to it, and I remained convinced that (redacted) was actually (redacted), but I suppose we'll still have to see in the next one!! Seeing our favorite kids again (I literally cried when we saw Lila's chapter) was such a gift and I'm so excited we have new books in this universe!
0This felt more like the 4th book in the Shades of Magic trilogy than the start of a new series, which is not a complaint. We are given the opportunity to revisit the lives of Kell, Lila, Rhy, and Alucard. The novel is set 7 years after the first trilogy, and Schwab uses flashbacks to fill readers in on what these characters have been doing, which takes up a large chunk of the book. They have evolved in various ways, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the unique family unit that has developed among Rhy, his wife the queen, Alucard, and their daughter. While I still enjoyed Lila’s sections for her weaponry skill and ability to be almost aggressively herself, her callousness has persisted, which bothered me enough that I began to prefer other characters over her. We are introduced to two new main characters in this ensemble cast: Kosika, the young queen of White London, and Tes, a fixer of magical objects in Red London.
The new characters are intriguing. Kosika is an antari and is installed as a child queen, but she operates with independence. Tes has the ability to see threads of magic (like Alucard) and can manipulate them (unlike Alucard), allowing her to fix magical items. While I liked both of these new characters, I preferred Tes, in part because Kosika’s precociousness (e.g., making strategic decisions about whether to visit the other Londons when she is still a preteen) stretched verisimilitude a little too much for me. Tes felt more grounded in reality. However, spending time with Kosika also means spending time with another old favorite. To say more would be a spoiler, but it was interesting to watch that relationship develop.
As I read, I was quickly reminded of how much I appreciate Schwab’s descriptive prose, such as “She sat like a child and swore like a sailor, and dressed as if no one had ever taught her how” and “The world hadn’t simply opened for her. It had been cleaved, parted like skin beneath her knife.” I love how evocative her language is.
I loved the Shades of Magic trilogy, and I like this one even more. It feels both new and old at the same time, and Schwab has sown some interesting seeds in White London that could lead to excellent opportunities for all these different characters to intersect in new and ongoing ways. I’m eager to see what the next books bring. . . when they eventually come out.
0