Launching V. E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic was, in a word, a blast. We had a popular and energetic writer who was getting a great response for her previous standalone book (Vicious), plus an intriguing premise for the new novel with an awesome cover by Will Staehle. Titan Books, the UK publisher of A Darker Shade of Magic, has an equally great cover by Julia Lloyd. (The two publishing houses even created double-sided posters so fans could switch back and forth.)

So, when it came time to work on the the follow-up, A Gathering of Shadows, we were excited and primed to have a good time with it and see what both deisgners had in store.

Without further ado, it is a pleasure to reveal Tor Books’ US cover by Will Staehle…

And Titan’s UK cover by Julia Lloyd….

A Gathering of Shadows will be out February 2016 in the US and the UK. Tor editor, Miriam Weinberg, says book two is:

“everything I could have hoped to see from Schwab—the danger, magic, and style all dialed up to the highest setting. I was a huge fan of the cover for A Darker Shade of Magic—the sartorial sharpness reflected into cartographic intrigue, the intensity of the stark color palette, and, of course, a lone figure inviting attention. We wanted to keep this general concept, but recast it, as the world is not what it seemed at the end of ADSOM. In A Gathering of Shadows, there is (of course) an ominous cloud on the horizon—and Delilah Bard (my personal favorite character of the world) is ready to fight.”

Tor’s catalog copy has this to say about the book:

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London. In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games—an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries—a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port. But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again—meaning that another London must fall.

And for all the pretty in one place….