Hi all! How are you all doing during this year? Six months ago we all thought that at the end of 2020 we’d laugh at what a mess it was in the beginning, but here we are, nearing the end of 2020 and currently, my country is in some kind of half-lockdown (again), meaning that we are by no means done with this yet.
However, staying home all the time means essentially that I have more time to have no concentration whatsoever on my schoolwork, which I recently started turning into reading ARC’s again. When I had to cycle to school and back for an hour two times each day, very little time was left to do that, and the way I see it is I basically have 10 free hours each week! Of course it doesn’t work exactly like that, but I did work my way into finding a schedule that kinda works for me so there’s that.
On to the actual post though, I was VERY surprised when I found that EdelWeiss approved my request to read the Shades of Magic graphic novels. I started reading Schwab’s books with that series, and I fell in love immediately. I read all three books within a month, and this year I read the The Monsters of Verity duology. I had seen the graphic novels of the Shades of Magic before, but I’m also hesitant to buy graphic novels. Mostly because they don’t fit on my shelves, but also because they seem flimsy and usually, there’s a novel coming out that combines the previous novels. As with this one, which was available to request and I jumped on it immediately.
The graphic novels are divided into three parts: The Steel Prince (#1-4), Night of Knives (#5-8) and The Rebel Army (#9-12).
The Shades of Magic series is about Maxim Maresh when he was just the prince then. In The Steel Prince, he is sent to Verose in the beginning of these novels, where he meets Isra and the Pirate Queen. The way he is written and shown is a lot different than in the book series where he’s the king, which made me wonder what he had to go through to get there. This first novel has a lot of story, and made me anticipate the next one even more. The only thing I missed was the part where the four different London’s are explained, because I really liked that part in the original book series.
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The Night of Knives is the second part and this is where the story gets quite dark. Maxim has to go through the Night of Knives, which is explained a little by Isra but not too much. This Night of Knives is a challenge to fight whatever’s behind each door. Maxim has to promise Isra he won’t go through the fourth door, but will his own pride listen to his promise?
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The third novel, The Rebel Army follows Maxim preparing for the fleet of The Rebel Army. The Rebel Army is full of traitors of the empire, led by a few characters, one of which familiar from previous novels. They’re claiming the open waters as their territory and are getting further and further. But before they reach their goal and claim London, they will have to pass Verose where Maxim and his army are waiting for them.
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These graphic novels were really nice to read. I liked them all, but the second was definitely my favourite. I hope to explore the upcoming graphic novels as well! Have you read the Shades of Magic novels? Are you planning to? Let me know in the comments down below!
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-Luci
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