The Shades of Magic trilogy is quite a ride and A Conjuring of Light is no exception.  For a book that has to do with multiple Londons, magic and power this is book isn’t really about any of those things.  It’s about where do people really belong.  Kell is an Antari, a very powerful magician that can travel between worlds. He is raised as a Prince, treated as the brother and son of the Royal family in Red London but never truly feeling that he is one of them because he knows he can’t leave.  Rhy is the crown prince of Arnes in Red London and for all his privilege and charm he has no magic. There are no rules or reason as to why some people have magic and while others don’t.  Rhy is the heir to the throne but feels unworthy because he doesn’t have any magic and in this world is seen as a weakness.  Lila is talented thief from Grey London struggling to get by.  She ran away from home when she was young and has been running ever since.  She had no friends as she sees any kind of attachments as a weakness she cannot afford because she has big dreams of seeing the world. Holland grew up an White London, a hard world that Magic has been slowly going away thanks to it’s nearness to Black London. In his London magic is a gift and curse those who have it have power and those who don’t will do anything to get it.  Holland is an Antari like Kell and for that reason he is both feared and targeted.  He grew up with stories of a King that will bring back magic to his world and he dreams of being that King but he suffers greatly from those who loved and cared for. Alucard was born to the aristocracy but was cast out of his family because of who he loved and now travels the seas a Privateer for the Crown. All of them are powerful in their own rights and all of them are searching for their place in their world or worlds.  Their stories is what makes this series so compelling.  As they all struggle to overcome a power far greater then them individually it was their discovering of themselves and overcoming their own fears that allowed them to overcome the darkness and save their world and themselves.  One of the themes throughout the book is that magic needs a balance.  Just like the Force for there to be peace the Light must balance the Dark.  Magic needs to be balanced with non-magic because even Magic has it’s limits. Black London was destroyed before the action of the trilogy because Magic had no counterbalance and burned it down.  For Kell, Lila, Rhy, Holland and Alucard, they are all looking for that counterbalance in their lives and until they found it they couldn’t defeat Osaron who was pure magic.  I feel like I’m getting real deep here but I think this is true in all of our lives.   The Shades of Magic is truly entertaining series.  It did have few bumps along the way.  I said of the second book about how it started off slow and a little harder to get into and this book I felt had a little unnecessary side trip to a mysterious black market, in the end these are minor missteps to a enjoyable trilogy.  A trilogy that I wonder if may become more one day because I think she left things open to a return to Grey London in the future.  I kinda hope so because I would love to visit Kell, Rhy, Lila and Alucard again.