A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1)
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) von V. E. Schwab
Zusammenfassung:
Kell is one of the last travelers – magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city.
There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad King – George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered – and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London – a place where people fight to control magic and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is the Red traveler, ambassador of the Maresh empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
Rezension:
"Death comes for everyone," she said simply. "I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here." She swept her hand over the room, the tavern, the city. "I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still."
Deutsch:
Kennt ihr dieses Gefühl, wenn ihr so viele tolle Bücher hintereinander lest, dass einige davon einfach ein wenig verblassen? Eine merkwürdige Situation, aber leider passiert mir das momentan ein wenig. You Will Know Me hat leider seinen Schatten auf die letzten paar Bücher geworfen, unter anderem auch A Darker Shade of Magic. Das sage ich jetzt nicht, um an der Tollheit von Shades of Magic Abstand zu nehmen, sondern primär, um damit klar zu machen, weshalb folgende Rezension vielleicht etwas hinkend wirken könnte (ich habe ausserdem etwas zu wenig Schlaf abbekommen die letzten Tage). Denn, und das kann ich guten Gewissens sagen: Dieses Buch war sehr schön und toll und ich freue mich auf den nächsten Teil (Den ich zum Glück schon hier rumliegen habe, aber zuerst werde ich wohl ein anderes Buch lesen - hier liegen so viele Bücher rum und ich habe endlich wieder Zeit!).
Kennt ihr dieses Gefühl, wenn ihr so viele tolle Bücher hintereinander lest, dass einige davon einfach ein wenig verblassen? Eine merkwürdige Situation, aber leider passiert mir das momentan ein wenig. You Will Know Me hat leider seinen Schatten auf die letzten paar Bücher geworfen, unter anderem auch A Darker Shade of Magic. Das sage ich jetzt nicht, um an der Tollheit von Shades of Magic Abstand zu nehmen, sondern primär, um damit klar zu machen, weshalb folgende Rezension vielleicht etwas hinkend wirken könnte (ich habe ausserdem etwas zu wenig Schlaf abbekommen die letzten Tage). Denn, und das kann ich guten Gewissens sagen: Dieses Buch war sehr schön und toll und ich freue mich auf den nächsten Teil (Den ich zum Glück schon hier rumliegen habe, aber zuerst werde ich wohl ein anderes Buch lesen - hier liegen so viele Bücher rum und ich habe endlich wieder Zeit!).
Eines kann man einfach nicht leugnen: Schwab versteht einiges von Storytelling. Sie hat den Leser nicht vorsichtig, dafür ziemlich gründlich in die Welt eingeführt, ohne das es in irgendeiner Weise langweilig wird. Ich stelle mir das so vor: Immer, wenn man über ein neues Thema unterrichtet wird, gibt es eine Periode - die länge dieser kann sehr stark schwanken, je nach Thema, Person, Erzähler etc. - in welcher der Zuhörer alle Informationen wie ein Schwamm aufsaugt - und genau diese Periode hat sie vollkommen ausgenutzt. Noch bevor es zu einer Sättigung des metaphorischen Gedanken-Schwamms kommt, ist man nämlich schon kopfüber in das eigentliche Abenteuer gefallen.
Was für dein Abenteuer das auch ist! Ich meine, magische Magie-Steine der Magie? (Was ein einzelnes Beispiel für ein Storyelement ist, welches ominös genug klingt, um kein Spoiler zu sein.) Wer horcht da nicht sofort auf? Nun ja, zugegeben, ich habe das vielleicht sehr grässlich in Worte gepackt, aber glaub mir, dass es in Wirklichkeit, beziehungsweise in der Buch-Wirklichkeit (Buchlichkeit? Burklichkeit? Birklichkeit? Oder klingt das jetzt zu sehr nach einem Baum-Monarchen?), tatsächlich sehr spannend zu und her geht.
Aber mal im Ernst, es ist sehr schwer, diese Geschichte adäquat und ohne Spoiler - weil die Handlung erst in der zweiten Hälfte so richtig los geht, dafür ist ist (pardon my language) die Kacke dann auch so richtig am Dampfen - zusammenzufassen. Weshalb ich wohl nur auf etwas leblos wirkende Adjektive wie: spannend, interessant, fesselnd und innovativ, zurückgreifen kann. Eine klare Empfehlung ist es trotzdem, auch wenn ich nicht genau erklären kann, wieso.
Der Vollständigkeit halber möchte ich auch noch Lila positiv erwähnen, weil sie wohl mein absoluter Lieblings-Charakter in dieser Geschichte war. Ich schätze, ich habe einfach eine Schwäche für grossmäulige möchtegern-Piraten Diebe mit vielen Messern.
English:
I feel like I'm currently at a point where I've read so many overwhelmingly great books back to back that some of them appear to fade in comparison? Well, strange situation but I'm afraid that's what's happening to me at the moment. You Will Know Me has thrown a shadow on my reading and, sadly, it has affected my view of A Darker Shade of Magic. However, I'm not trying to take away from the awesomeness that is Shades of Magic, I mostly want to warn you that I might not be as enthusiastic about this book as I could be (the lack of sleep doesn't help, either). Because, I can say, without a doubt ("Doubt" is an amazing movie, btw. Feels like a short story but as a movie and has a lot of great, great acting and... well, I'm getting off topic.) that this was a beautiful and terrific book and I'm excited to read the second book in the series (which I, luckily, already have lying around here so I'll get to that soon)!
One just can't deny that Schwab knows her storytelling. Although she doesn't "carefully introduce" the reader to the world, she introduces one thoroughly to the world she has created without it ever slowing down the story or becoming boring. I picture the acquisition of knowledge a little big like a sponge: Whenever you are told of something you don't know about yet there is a certain period in which you readily absorb every piece of information. Schwab tells the story of the three (or four) Londons in a way that long before the metaphorical knowledge-sponge is saturated the reader (or rather Kell and Lila) is already head over heels in the midst of an exciting adventure.
English:
I feel like I'm currently at a point where I've read so many overwhelmingly great books back to back that some of them appear to fade in comparison? Well, strange situation but I'm afraid that's what's happening to me at the moment. You Will Know Me has thrown a shadow on my reading and, sadly, it has affected my view of A Darker Shade of Magic. However, I'm not trying to take away from the awesomeness that is Shades of Magic, I mostly want to warn you that I might not be as enthusiastic about this book as I could be (the lack of sleep doesn't help, either). Because, I can say, without a doubt ("Doubt" is an amazing movie, btw. Feels like a short story but as a movie and has a lot of great, great acting and... well, I'm getting off topic.) that this was a beautiful and terrific book and I'm excited to read the second book in the series (which I, luckily, already have lying around here so I'll get to that soon)!
One just can't deny that Schwab knows her storytelling. Although she doesn't "carefully introduce" the reader to the world, she introduces one thoroughly to the world she has created without it ever slowing down the story or becoming boring. I picture the acquisition of knowledge a little big like a sponge: Whenever you are told of something you don't know about yet there is a certain period in which you readily absorb every piece of information. Schwab tells the story of the three (or four) Londons in a way that long before the metaphorical knowledge-sponge is saturated the reader (or rather Kell and Lila) is already head over heels in the midst of an exciting adventure.
And what an adventure that is! Like, magical magic-stones of magic? (Which is an isolated and intentionally cryptic sounding example of elements in the story in order not to give anything important away.) Who wouldn't be interested in that? Well, granted, I'm really not doing it justice at the moment but, trust me, in reality (well book-reality) the adventure is fascinating and you will totally want to sign up for it.
Frankly, it's quite hard to sum up the story without including any spoilers (Made difficult by my own reluctance to give anything away. "You should experience every story for yourself." I personally often know almost nothing about books before I start reading them but if you should want to know more about this one you can probably easily read up on it so.) - the important plot only starts in the second half of the book but everything is so intricate and connected and... well saturated that I rather stay away from actually explaining anything. Which is why I'll have to call upon (kinda lifeless sounding but used with honest and pure intention) adjectives such as: marvellous, interesting, compelling, and innovative. I honestly recommend this book, even if I'm not able to distinctly explain why.
As a final point I also have to mention Lila because she's probably my favorite character in this story (sorry Kell). I guess I just have proclivity for bigmouthed would-be-pirate thief with a lot of knives.
Frankly, it's quite hard to sum up the story without including any spoilers (Made difficult by my own reluctance to give anything away. "You should experience every story for yourself." I personally often know almost nothing about books before I start reading them but if you should want to know more about this one you can probably easily read up on it so.) - the important plot only starts in the second half of the book but everything is so intricate and connected and... well saturated that I rather stay away from actually explaining anything. Which is why I'll have to call upon (kinda lifeless sounding but used with honest and pure intention) adjectives such as: marvellous, interesting, compelling, and innovative. I honestly recommend this book, even if I'm not able to distinctly explain why.
As a final point I also have to mention Lila because she's probably my favorite character in this story (sorry Kell). I guess I just have proclivity for bigmouthed would-be-pirate thief with a lot of knives.
Bewertung:
4/5 Sterne. Ich mag das Buch.
Details:
Deutscher Titel: Vier Farben der Magie
Original: A Darker Shade of Magic
Reihe: Shades of Magic
Autor: V. E. Schwab
Verlag: Titan Books
Seitenanzahl: 400
Wo?: Amazon
P.S.: Post Nummer 100! Yey!
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