I read A Conjuring of Light

This week's novel is A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab.  This is the final book in the Shades of Magic trilogy, which includes A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows.

When darkness from Black London makes its way into Kell's world, where it possesses the citizens of London and rots away the infrastructure, the team has to join forces to stop it.

I had some trouble starting this one, and I've been thinking about why.

As is the way with trilogies, the first book is a self-contained story that was easily extended, and the second book ended on a cliff hanger.  So while the action of the second book picked up a few months after the events of the first book, the third book picks up only moments after the end of the second.  That means that starting the third book, you're thrown straight into the super-high-stakes, dramatic action.

I wouldn't say that the first two started lighthearted, but the stakes started low and built up as the books went along.  There was a lot of fun world building and showing off wondrous new places.  Most of the second book revolved around a magic tournament, where, although each character was wrestling with internal demons and there were stakes for everyone, the stakes weren't world ending and it was mostly fun fight scenes and big parties.  It was fun, with the over-arching plot of the series only really popping up at the very end. 

In the third book, there was no light-hearted, good times, lookit this magic!  It started off grim, when the parts I remember enjoying about the rest of the series was the fun.

It started grim and then kept going for the most part, but I love all these characters so much that I don't care.  Every single one of them is great, and I was invested in every one of them.  That might be another reason why I wish there was more fun swashbuckling and less EVERYTHING IS AWFUL AND WE'RE SCREWED: I want them to have fun.

It's a great series, and you should check it out.  And the good news is that since the whole thing is out, you can read straight through and the third-book-drama won't be an issue.

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Next week:  A Flame in the Mist, Japanese inspired YA fantasy by Renee Ahdieh.