What to Read After A Darker Shade of Magic — 7 Books for V.E. Schwab Fans
V.E. Schwab built four Londons — grey, red, white, and black — and filled them with a coat-switching magic carrier and a thief who refuses to be left behind. If you finished A Darker Shade of Magic craving more of that precise plotting, morally complicated protagonists, and worlds that feel genuinely lived-in, these seven books are your next stops. Some are Schwab's own back catalogue; others come from authors who operate in the same register — propulsive, character-first, and built on worlds worth understanding.
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A Gathering of Shadows
by V.E. Schwab
The direct sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic: the Essen Tasch tournament brings magic wielders from across the Maresh Empire to compete in London, while the threat from Black London grows closer. Schwab expands the world, deepens every character, and delivers the Kell-and-Delilah dynamic readers have been craving since the first page.
Tournament ArcParallel WorldsSlow BurnMorally Grey🌶 Cozy - 2
Vicious
by V.E. Schwab
Two college students discover how to create super-powered humans — and ten years later they are each other's most dangerous enemies. Schwab at her sharpest: dual timelines, morally ambiguous protagonists who are neither hero nor villain, and plotting so precise it clicks into place like a lock. Essential for anyone who responded to ADSOM's grey-area ethics.
EnemiesSuperpowersDual TimelineMorally Grey🌶 Cozy - 3
Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
A criminal crew attempts an impossible heist from the world's most fortified prison. Bardugo's ensemble storytelling and morally complex characters sit in the same register as Schwab's best work — propulsive, character-driven, and built on a world with real depth beneath the plot surface.
HeistFound FamilyMorally GreyEnsemble Cast🌶 Cozy - 4
Mistborn: The Final Empire
by Brandon Sanderson
A heist against an immortal god-emperor, powered by one of fantasy's most inventive magic systems. Sanderson's plotting precision will satisfy ADSOM readers who loved how tightly Schwab controls information — and Mistborn delivers the same payoff of a world that turns out to be far stranger than it first appeared.
HeistMagic SystemRebellionChosen OneClean - 5
The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
A legendary wizard tells his own story — including his years at the world's great magical university. Rothfuss shares Schwab's gift for creating protagonists whose intelligence and agency feel genuinely earned, and the literary quality of the prose rewards the same close attention ADSOM does.
Magic AcademyFraming DeviceSlow BurnLiterary Fantasy🌶 Cozy - 6
The Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott Lynch
A master thief in a fantastical Venice-like city runs a long con on the city's most dangerous crime lord — until a bigger threat forces him to improvise. Lynch's plotting has the same controlled chaos Schwab brings to ADSOM: dual timelines, a protagonist who is always the smartest person in the room, and a world that rewards curiosity.
HeistMorally GreyDual TimelinePolitical Intrigue🌶 Cozy - 7
Red Rising
by Pierce Brown
A miner from Mars's lowest caste infiltrates the ruling class to destroy it from within. Brown's propulsive plotting and morally complex protagonist share DNA with Schwab's best work — a hero who does terrible things for understandable reasons, in a world where the rules of power are brutal and fascinating.
UndercoverRebellionPolitical IntrigueMorally Grey🌶 Cozy