I held off on writing this review because it meant I'd have to admit the book was really over. Fans of V.E. Schwab's original Shades of Magic trilogy, buckle up, this one's a banger. Introducing new characters and enriching our understanding of an already expansive world with a full-bodied system of magic, 'The Fragile Threads of Power' had me hooked from page one.

Seven years after the events that concluded in 'A Conjuring of Light,' King Rhy and his family in Red London face a new threat from the Hand, a shadowy organization determined to dethrone Rhy at any cost. Magicians Kell, Lila, and Alucard come together to help locate and neutralize the threat, while a scrappy and resourceful teen with an unusual power is recruited to repair a weapon that could change the the worlds and who can travel between them. The narratives begin separately, advancing the characters we know and texturizing the ones we're meeting for the first time. When the plots begin to weave together, the momentum is unstoppable. Written with an exquisite balance between tenderness and ferocity, 'The Fragile Threads of Power' is an thrilling new chapter of a beloved series, and hopefully promises more stories in the (near) future (pretty please).

Many thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

dnf. I loved [book:The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue|50623864], so I was excited to see this new book by the author. Despite the series title and "#1" attached to this book, it takes place in an established universe (which already has an original trilogy and a spin-off trilogy). The parallel realities and general magic universe set-up weren't explained at all; combined with the number of characters, I couldn't figure out what was even going on.

eARC from NetGalley. Although I couldn't get into the book, I still appreciate the opportunity!

In the continuity of her first trilogy, that book took me back to the worlds of Red London and White London to my utter delight.
We follow characters both old and new, discover new threats and old ennemies, with a world building that hooked me back into it within the first chapter. I warmly recommend it.

A great return to the various Londons! I enjoyed that it's a mix of old characters with new characters and the melding of the two. It allows the first trilogy to be wrapped up nicely, keep things in the same world, and introduce new characters and storylines. I am really looking forward to the rest of the series to see where Schwab takes things!

The Fragile Threads of Power covers a lot of ground, and made me feel like I knew the new characters intimately and was reunited with old friends from the Darker Shade of Magic series. The plot was intriguing, and I felt like I could see the chess board being set. It did take some time for the plot to unravel and for the stakes to be raised, which made me personally care about the new characters a bit less, but once the plot got going it was worth it. I imagine the sequel and following books in the series won't have the same issue though, as there won't be the seven year gap and the present moment in four worlds to contend with. I think this is a great world for new and returning fans to fall in love with. I can't wait for the sequel; V.E. Schwab is an auto-buy author for me.

I'm not normally much of a reader of fantasy, but V.E. Schwab is an exception. The fact that I wanted to return to the world of A Darker Shade of Magic speaks volumes, and The Fragile Threads of Power didn't disappoint.

It did take me a few chapters to be completely engaged, but that's probably because I needed time to acclimate to reading fantasy once again. Rich characters, engrossing plot, and lots to think about - what more could you want? Definitely recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.

VE Schwab returns to the Shades of Magic universe with The Fragile Threads of Power, the first book in a new series set seven years after the original trilogy. Pretty much everything is back in Fragile Threads, including most of the (surviving) characters like Kell, Rhys, Lila, and Alucard, as well as a bevy of new characters to round out Schwab's world.

The book also "feels" like the original trilogy, and Schwab has seamlessly returned to the world that personally made me fall in love with her books.

What keeps me coming back to this series are the characters, because I absolutely love them all. They are the perfect kinds of "noble" fantasy characters - trying to do their best but being deeply, and believably flawed, humans. As we pick up the main narrative of Fragile Threads, the main characters are still dealing with the new positions they have been thrust into. Rhys is now king of Red London, a position that hangs heavy as he deals with political unrest in his nation...as well as dealing with the stress of his life being magically linked to Kell's. Kell is still coming to terms with his lack of Antari magic, and what he actually offers the world without it. Alucard must grapple with being consort to a king, but sharing Rhys with a queen through and arranged marriage. And Lila is still figuring out what her new Antari means for her and her potential.

I really loved how Schwab allowed her characters to grow and change with the seven year time jump, while still allowing them to feel like the characters we have come to fall in love with. I perhaps would have liked to have seen them all attain a bit more maturity in those intervening years (their moping around in the beginning, as a I discuss below, is one of the biggest drawbacks of the book), but starting this book was like returning to friends you haven't seen in a while. Yes, things aren't exactly how you left them, but they are still the friends you originally fell in love with. Plus, Scwhab spends a significant amount of the first half of the book jumping back in time to fill in the gaps about how we got to this point. For the core four characters that we already know this wasn't 100% necessary (a lot of it is filler that we could have picked up through context), but for some of the new POV characters it really allowed us readers to catch up quickly.

There are two significant new POV characters in Fragile Threads, and I won't say much about them here so you can get to meet them on your own. All I will say is that one of them is from Red London whose arc sets up much of the over-arching plot for this new series, while the other is someone who is closely tied into Holland's presence in this new book. Collectively they contribute a lot to the really awesome stuff going on in Fragile Threads, and my only complaint is that as characters they seem a bit too similar (they are both young teenage women) that were a bit to interchangeable in the long run.

There are also quite a few new supporting characters in the book, like some clumsy villains, an actual threatening villain, and Rhy's wife, that are all well rounded and are people that you'll definitely want to spend more time with.

Characters have always been Swab's strength in this series, and Fragile Threads is no different. It fits nicely in with the OG trilogy, and I think other readers will be as happy as I was to be back with them!

Of course, because Fragile Threads sits right at home with the first three books, what didn't work in the Shades of Magic trilogy also don't tend to work here either. The rest of this review is going to sound a bit critical, but I want to emphasize that I still really enjoyed this book and that these are just things that kept this from being a five star read for me.

I think the biggest issues with this entire series is that Schwab has yet to find a way to use her worldbuilding to its full potential. I absolutely adore the core conceit of these books - the four different Londons all operating in their own worlds is really cool...and yet Scwhab once again doesn't really do cool things with it. There is a distinct lack of interaction between the world, in the sense where it never really feels like the existence of these four worlds really matter. You could easily tell me that the happenings of White London are just in a different continent (rather than universe) than Red London and I would believe you. In other words, Schwab could have easily told this same exact story in a single fantasy world, leaving the multiversal Londons to feel like interesting window dressings rather than a core part of the narrative. I often felt this way while reading the original trilogy, and Schwab has yet to really nail merging her plot arcs with her worldbuilding.

To ensure that I am not coming across as overly critical, of Fragile Threads here, I would say that it is better in terms of its plotting than A Gathering of Shadows, which was a fun and pretty pointless tournament arc, and probably better services its world and characters than A Conjuring of Light (which I seem to have enjoyed much better than most other readers). However, like Gathering and Conjuring, Fragile Threads can't quite reach the sheer amazingness that was A Darker Shade of Magic. That first book in the series was a triumph in modern fantasy, and it seems that Schwab has been trying to return to that same level of quality ever since....and she just missed the mark with Fragile Threads. You can actually feel Schwab working in over-time to make the world and the plot come together, but this results in a lot of macguffins and over-explanations that were a bit reminiscent of mid-to-late Once Upon a Time.

Like with Once Upon a Time, Schwab's biggest mistake seems that she is overly "additive" to her world, rather than having baked-in a lot of the core principles from the start of the series. We first saw this turn back in A Gathering of Shadows, where elemental magic took on primacy where it never had before. Schwab introduces several new elements in Fragile Threads that ultimately work for the plot, but you can definitely see the seams of where you sewed them into the book/world in a way that doesn't feel quite effortless.

This problem is slightly exacerbated by the sheer length of The Fragile Threads of Power. Based on what actually happens in the book there wasn't really a reason that it needed to be this chunky of a book. Many scenes and character actions are redundant, and the pacing suffers a bit from characters spinning in circles and lamenting things that they lamented about 100 pages ago. This particularly plagues the first 25% of the book (which is a bit sloggy, but it definitely improves!) where it just feels like Kell and Rhys endlessly moaning about their problems. If Schwab and her editors had cut down the pages a bit it would have created a more cohesive and energetic narrative. As written, the book is riddled with starts and stops that detract not only from the plot, but the characters as well.

And I think, ultimately, this is where Fragile Threads missed the mark the most. While, as I have hopefully made clear, I really enjoyed my time with this book, the characters felt too distant from each other (physically, not emotionally). Despite most of our main characters being in the same place for the duration of the book, they didn't interact enough for my liking. I think this was a direct result of the book's sheer length; Schwab's wheel-spinning separated the meaningful character moments, diluting their appearances and emotional impacts. There are some really interesting scenes between characters going on here, especially between Rhy/Kell and Kell/Lila, but the amount of "nothingness" that separates them really deadened their emotional impact.

Ultimately, these are characters and a world that I very much care about, and so I am of course going to love anything Schwab writes in this universe. I was immensely satisfied (and highly appreciative) with being able to return to the world of Shades of Magic, but this wasn't the home-run book that I was hoping for. I'm hoping that future sequels are a bit tighter and are better able to utlize the worldbuilding to its full potential (and yes, there are definitely hints of bigger and better things to come!).

Concluding Thoughts: The Fragile Threads of Power fits nicely with the original Shades of Magic series, for both good and ill. Schwab's characters continue to pop and feel like your closes friends, but she still struggles to utilize the full potential of her multiversal worldbuilding. Fragile Threads has great characters, new and old, but the pacing needed work and the entire book needs to be tightened. Fans will be sure to enjoy this return, but it's not the perfect homecoming.

This book was positively spellbinding. And, if you're wondering if it will make sense to someone who hasn't read the first 3 books set in this world, the answer is YES! The storytelling was marvelous. There was so much to appreciate about the world building, complex characters with complex relationships, and excellent snappy dialogue. I will be waiting impatiently to see what happens next to Kosika, Lila, Tes, and the boys.
In the meantime, I guess I had better get busy ready the first series!

The Fragile Threads of Power

Imagine reading a book in a perfect environment for myself it looks like a stormy day, there is rain, I’m sitting next to a window with the heat blowing on my feet and a drink next to me and I’m so fulfilled and content.

That was this book. It was coming home from a long grueling day of the mundane and grey world we lived in and oh how I missed Red London.

This book was wonderful. I love all of Schwab’s adult work, it’s like being wrapped in a blanket.

I loved going back to all the Londons and I loved all characters new and old.

Tes and Kosika were the only characters I didn’t know ahead of time and I loved the addition they added to this story. Especially Tes, she is honestly the best MVP to any story. Kosika, the child queen, was the best choice for White London. She exhibits everything that turns someone into a villain. I’m not sure if she will become a villain but being in white London I will just assume villain or crazy.

I missed Kell and I missed Lila but I have to say I LOVE the new Kell and Lila who are clearly together and still each other.

Rhy and Alucard and their little family warmed my heart so much seeing how perfect and quaint their own family was.

I loved how even though this story wrapped up perfectly it left just enough to see where it was going and now have a burning need for a the next book without a name and without a date.

this book felt so nostalgic yet brand new at the same time. v.e. schwab really knows how to write a book/series that, no matter how much time has passed it's like you never left that world. 'the fragile of threads of power' was one big recap of time spent away from some of my favorite characters and the world they live in, but it was also an introduction into a totally new world with a totally new set of character's I've grown to love. I don't know how v.e. schwab does it, but this book was so worth the wait. I can't wait to see what other fans of this series think once it's finally released!

This book is what it feels like to visit old friends. They tell you all about the amazing things they did and you are so proud of them and happy for them and just thankful that they shared their story with you even though you can't actually be there with them through their adventures,

This book is also what it feels like when your old friends thrust you into a brand new beautiful world and you get to explore it together.

Another fantastic installment from the fantastic V.E. Schwab

After reading Addie (and re-reading Addie), I was ready for more from Victoria Schwab. The four worlds inside of London captured my imagination, and I stayed up way too late reading!

Schwab made me feel welcome back into the Shades of Magic world. I love the different perspectives and the characters.

I was thrilled to get to read The Fragile Threads of Power and get to return to Red London a little early. I was a little nervous to return to one of my favorite series, but Schwab absolutely drew me back in and soon I liked the new characters just as much as Kell, Lila, Rhy, and Alucard. The Londons remain so distinct and I loved the nods to the earlier books. I will definitely be rereading this one many times in preparation for the next one!

Words really cannot begin to describe what it felt like to be back in this world and seeing all the places and characters I know along with some amazing new ones. Even after just one book the plot is already shaping up to be so much bigger and scarier than the last trilogy. I'm both excited and terrified to read the second book all at the same time.

It's so nice to be back in the world(s) of Grey and White London. Shades of Magic is a personal fave of mine! The length seemed a bit much at first, but I relished the chance to spend so much time immersed in Schwab's Londons, and it was so engrossing that before you knew it it was over and I found myself wishing it was even longer. I am very excited for book two, even though I am a bit grumpy that it is so far out of my reach at the moment.

Not only has she done it again, she's actually raised the bar. The SHADES OF MAGIC trilogy was my introduction to Schwab's writing, and I loved it for its immense imagination and cozy-fall-tea-and-blanket prose -- but Schwab has really outdone herself in her return to the world(s) of London(s). This is a bigger book, slower of pace at times but not in a boring or dragging way; instead, she's diving into these characters, into what it means to be not the upstart or the rebel or the action hero, but what it means to be in power, to have power, to have 'won' the battle only to discover more battles needing to be waged. So much of this book is setting up the power struggles to come, but damned if that's not exactly what I needed to read right now. The possibilities in this world grow with each page Schwab writes, and I'll be there to see where she takes them next.

The "Magic of London" series that precedes "The Fragile Threads of Power" is among my very favorites; I had high hopes and night terrors about returning to this much-cherished world. Schwab manages a tightrope balancing act of introducing new characters and reacquainting us with old ones, and for the most part, she is successful: "The Fragile Threads of Power" is an entertaining, effective novel that sets up new players sufficiently within the old and beloved gang of magicians, pirates, princes, and urchins.

Key word there is "sets up". While reading "The Fragile Threads of Power", I couldn't help but feel that its 670 pages mostly put people in place for future novels. Indeed, I was well into the 40% mark before a character discussed in the summary was even introduced. The beginning is slow, the middle is satisfying, and the climax is exhilarating. As always, the strength lies in Schwab's world building and fascinating characters; even minor villains were interesting. Tes is probably the most important of the new pack; and given the loose threads (pun unintended) of her backstory, she'll likely have much more to do as the series continues.

If I had any criticism, it is that I wonder if Schwab is suffering from the same fate as other wildly successful authors in her bracket: gosh, this novel could have used a fiercer editor. 670 pages was entirely too long for what eventually went down here. An entire side character and plot felt unused and unnecessary at this point, distracting from the building tension every time they popped up. I have no doubt that said character will be important to LATER books, but to this one? It felt like a side novella.

So yes, I enjoyed this book. I suspect my enjoyment of this book in the future will be weighed against future installments in the series - whether or not the slow build here does indeed wind up to be "worth it". At present, I'll give a cautious "yes".

🪐review: the fragile threads of power by v. e. schwab (book 1 of the threads of power trilogy)

let’s start with the timeline: this is set up around 7 years after the end of conjuring of light and yes, we get to know what our favorite characters have been up to in that time, we get all of them, which was surprising for me because i thought the new characters will be more the center of attention but we get a great mix between the old and the new ones in this storyline but since it’s focused on the royal family and the risk they’re going through i think it makes sense everyone comes to defend them.

“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”

i have to say i fell in love with tes since the beginning, she reminds me a lot of lila at the beginning of book 1 of the shades of magic trilogy, she has this amazing power that will be the definition of the salvation of the four worlds, her backstory is a little teased here and it made me appreciate her even more, i really can’t wait what she’s going to do in the next two books, i would love to see her work alongside lila please victoria, make that happen 🙏🏼

this books comes out in september 26th so if you’re a fantasy lover like i am make sure to add it to your tbr immediately! thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for providing me a digital copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

V. E. Schwabs writing is incredibly captivating and enthralling. I believe this is a spin-off or related series? Of a series I haven’t read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn’t have any problems.