A CONJURING OF LIGHT
SUMMARY
As darkness sweeps the Maresh Empire, the once precarious balance of power among the four Londons has reached its breaking point.
In the wake of tragedy, Kell—once assumed to be the last surviving Antari—begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. Lila Bard, once a commonplace—but never common—thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry.
An ancient enemy returns to claim a city while a fallen hero tries to save a kingdom in decay. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.
REVIEW
You know those books that are so good that not only are you sad when they end but you have trouble deciphering just what made it so amazing, well that’s A Conjuring of Light for me (I know, just what you want to hear from the person reviewing the book, that they are having trouble describing what they like about the book, but don’t worry I’ll try my best).
I would say that probably one of the best attributes of A Conjuring of Light, was the impressive juggling that Schwab was able to do in balancing not just the old narrators from the previous books in the series, but also include impressive comprehensive perspectives from not one, not two, but THREE new major narrators in this final book of the series (and that doesn’t even include the other short narrator shifts that were used to detail the ripple effects affecting the other Londons). These new narrators are essential to the story and really help craft the story in a way that builds upon all the previous events. These new narrators allow readers to discover answers to questions in a much softer and more subtle way than what otherwise might be possible. Some of said questions include, how the King and Queen really feel about Kell, why Alucard originally left London, why Alucard took Lila aboard originally, and much more. On top of answering questions, these new perspectives allow for Schwab to seamlessly jump between locations and events without straining, offering a much more comprehensive view of the plans and actions that have taken place, and ultimately creating a much stronger emotional toll for all of the deaths that occur (and believe me, without giving anything away, you WILL want to have some tissues handy while reading this book).
Which, speaking of deaths, yes, there are characters who die in this book. It is well done, and you will feel the emotions come welling up into your throat when they occur, but it’s worth it, so just know it’ll happen and read on.
As for other characters, Lila is still badass and amazing, and Rye is more thoroughly developed as a character and in fact probably has the most emotional growth of any of the characters, and even Holland is thoroughly explored, thus allowing his character to become three dimensional, and allowing readers to see that his actions were caused by the world he grew up in, and that it if he grew up somewhere different he could have just as easily been the hero, instead of the villain .
As for the pace and action, honestly, I had a hard time putting A Conjuring of Light down. I found myself reading late into the night, and pretty much whenever I could find a spare minute. There are loads of action scenes, and even when the action stopped the suspense was enough to keep me pressing on late into the evening.
All in all, not only has V.E. Schwab improved by leaps and bounds between each book in the Shades of Magic series, but she just flat out nails the landing in this final book of The Sahdes of Magic series. A Conjuring of Light provides a true sense of conclusion to a wonderful world, while at the same time leaving the possibilities of spinoffs open in the future. The magic that Schwab is able to weave in this world is nothing short of spectacular, and there really isn’t anything I can say that could be construed as negative about this series. The world building is grand and yet not cumbersome, the characters developed and engaging, and the plot well-paced and full of action. Therefore, there is nothing I can say but go buy this book. It is for your own good. Believe me. And when you love it, make sure to tell your friends.
INFO
Published: February 21, 2017
Publisher: Tor Books
Price: $25.99
Link to Buy: https://www.amazon.com/Conjuring-Light-Novel-Shades-Magic-ebook/dp/B01EROMI2M/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491244162&sr=1-1&keywords=ve+schwab
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