Tag Archives: london

Deborah Hewitt’s debut novel 'The Nightjar' imagines “another London, a magical world hidden behind the bustling modern city we know.” This world draws on the folkloric tradition of the “soul-bird” that carries the souls of the dead to the Underworld. But I struggled throughout to connect the book’s real-world setting and characters with the mythological elements that form the foundation of this otherwise entertaining fantasy novel.

V.E. Schwab returns to form in the third book of her Shades of Magic series. A Conjuring of Light picks up at the cliffhanger ending of A Gathering of Shadows (2016). I was a little let down by the slow pace, light tone and abrupt end to Gathering, but Conjuring recaptures the, ahem, magic from series debut, A Darker Shade of Magic (2015).

The pace of 'A Gathering of Shadows' is slow up until the final pages when we get, in V.E. Schwab’s words, “the dreaded cliffhanger.” This makes it difficult to assess 'A Gathering of Shadows' for we won't know whether Schwab succeeded or failed until (at least) the third book in the series. But I’m certainly going to read it to find out.

'A Darker Shade of Magic' is a great adventure story with fully-realized characters in an intriguing world—or, more accurately, in intriguing worlds.

The Severed Streets is extremely well-drawn and full of skillfully crafted twists and turns. If you enjoy mysteries, put these books on your reading list. You won’t be disappointed.