Books like A Darker Shade of Magic
What should you read after V.E. Schwab’s novel? It depends on what you loved most about it.
- V.E. Schwab
- 2015
- Fantasy
What did you love about it?
Choosing one reorders everything below.
Best books to read after A Darker Shade of Magic
Ranked overall. Pick what you loved above to re-rank them.
Best overall matchCity of Stairs
Jackson Bennett
A city stitched together from the wreckage of dead gods, with a spy walking through what's left. Same fascination with worlds layered on top of each other, sharper writing.
- Four parallel Londons
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Blood magic with a price
- Adult spy-thriller register
Great matchThe Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern
Two magicians bound to a contest inside a travelling attraction of black and white tents. Slower than Schwab, and the atmosphere is unmatched.
- A magician who smuggles
- A coat with many sides
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Very little plot momentum
Best for the partnershipSix of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
A crew of criminals pulling an impossible job, with the best banter in fantasy. If Kell and Lila's dynamic was the reason you kept reading, start here.
- Partnership, not romance
- A thief who wants adventure
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Six narrators to track
Worth a look — with a warningThe Magicians
Lev Grossman
Magic learned properly and then used badly, with doors into a world that isn't what the books promised. Schwab's premise handled with far more cynicism.
- Four parallel Londons
- Blood magic with a price
- Deeply unlikeable protagonist
Great matchVicious
V.E. Schwab
Schwab's own adult novel: two university friends who give themselves powers and spend a decade destroying each other. Faster, meaner and better constructed.
- Blood magic with a price
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Partnership, not romance
- No portal fantasy
Great matchMistborn: The Final Empire
Brandon Sanderson
A street thief recruited into a crew with a hard-edged magic system and an empire to rob. Sanderson's rules are stricter than Schwab's, and the heist is glorious.
- Blood magic with a price
- A thief who wants adventure
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Long, with heavy exposition
Great matchAn Ember in the Ashes
Sabaa Tahir
Two people from opposite sides of a brutal empire, alternating chapters, moving fast. Shares the propulsion rather than the multiverse.
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Partnership, not romance
- Considerably more violent
Great matchThe Invisible Library
Genevieve Cogman
A spy-librarian stealing books across alternate worlds, each with its own rules. It is almost the same job description as Kell's, played for fun.
- Four parallel Londons
- A magician who smuggles
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Breezier, less atmospheric
Great matchThe Lies of Locke Lamora
Scott Lynch
Con artists working a gorgeously realised city, with a friendship at the centre and a plot that keeps folding. The best-written heist novel in fantasy.
- A thief who wants adventure
- Partnership, not romance
- A coat with many sides
- Adult, very sweary
Great matchThe Paper Magician
Charlie N. Holmberg
A magician bound to one material and an apprenticeship that turns dangerous. Slight, charming, and a quick fix if you want the magic-with-rules part.
- Blood magic with a price
- A magician who smuggles
- Slighter and less ambitious
Best for the parallel LondonsNeverwhere
Neil Gaiman
London Below, reached by falling through the city you already know. Gaiman got there first, and the geography jokes alone justify it.
- Four parallel Londons
- A coat with many sides
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Comic tone throughout
Great matchShadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
The gateway into the world Six of Crows belongs to, with a magic system built on the same one-power-per-person logic Schwab likes.
- Blood magic with a price
- Brisk, cinematic plotting
- Weakest book of its universe
Great matchSabriel
Garth Nix
A wall between a modern country and a kingdom of working magic, and a young woman crossing it with a bandolier of bells. Older, stranger, quietly excellent.
- Blood magic with a price
- Four parallel Londons
- A coat with many sides
- Necromancy and undead throughout
What should you read after A Darker Shade of Magic?
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab works on several levels at once, and which book you should read next depends on which of those levels got you. For most readers the closest match is City of Stairs by Jackson Bennett — a city stitched together from the wreckage of dead gods, with a spy walking through what's left. Same fascination with worlds layered on top of each other, sharper writing.
If what stayed with you was a magician who smuggles, read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern instead: two magicians bound to a contest inside a travelling attraction of black and white tents. Slower than Schwab, and the atmosphere is unmatched. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is the other strong option — a crew of criminals pulling an impossible job, with the best banter in fantasy. If Kell and Lila's dynamic was the reason you kept reading, start here.
Common questions
- What should you read after A Darker Shade of Magic?
- City of Stairs by Jackson Bennett, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo are the closest matches. Which fits best depends on what you loved about A Darker Shade of Magic: four parallel londons, a magician who smuggles, a thief who wants adventure, a coat with many sides.
- What is the best book like A Darker Shade of Magic?
- City of Stairs by Jackson Bennett is the strongest overall match. A city stitched together from the wreckage of dead gods, with a spy walking through what's left. Same fascination with worlds layered on top of each other, sharper writing.
- What are books similar to A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab?
- City of Stairs by Jackson Bennett, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, Vicious by V.E. Schwab, Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Sabriel by Garth Nix. Each one matches a different part of A Darker Shade of Magic rather than just its genre.
- Is City of Stairs worth reading after A Darker Shade of Magic?
- Yes — readers who loved A Darker Shade of Magic tend to land well with it: worlds stacked on one city; magic with historical debts; excellent, brisk plotting. One thing to know going in: adult spy-thriller register.
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