NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the first book of the Scholomance trilogy, the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.
FINALIST FOR THE LODESTAR AWARD • “The dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for.”—Katherine Arden, author of the Winternight Trilogy
I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.
Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans.
I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world.
At least, that’s what the world expects. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that’s crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school certainly does.
But the Scholomance isn’t getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone’s idea of the shining hero, but I’m going to make it out of this place alive, and I’m not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either.
Although I’m giving serious consideration to just one.
With flawless mastery, Naomi Novik creates a school bursting with magic like you’ve never seen before, and a heroine for the ages—a character so sharply realized and so richly nuanced that she will live on in hearts and minds for generations to come.
The magic of the Scholomance trilogy continues in The Last Graduate and The Golden Enclaves
“The can’t-miss fantasy of fall 2020, a brutal coming-of-power story steeped in the aesthetics of dark academia. . . . A Deadly Education will cement Naomi Novik’s place as one of the greatest and most versatile fantasy writers of our time.”—BookPage (starred review)
“A must-read . . . Novik puts a refreshingly dark, adult spin on the magical boarding school. . . . Readers will delight in the push-and-pull of El and Orion’s relationship, the fantastically detailed world, the clever magic system, and the matter-of-fact diversity of the student body.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Full review on my blog coming soon!
It took me a hot minute to get fully into this book. I don't know why. But all accounts, I should have loved it from page one. Nevertheless, I was fascinated by the premise and ended up reading up on the Scholomance a fair bit. 10/10 would recommend doing that if you enjoyed the book!
I'm not sure if it was the worldbuilding that startled me or if it simply was the protagonist. El is a tad annoying and, to be honest, acted quite bitchy a number of times. I got quite annoyed with her at the beginning but she did grow on me. So, after a rocky start, I soon got sucked into this dark and scary world full of monsters and magic.
Once those initial difficulties were overcome, I was here for it 100%. The world-building is amazing and I am so intrigued by the system of magic. I've read my fair share of books featuring magic, and I can't help but marvel at how unique the approaches to magic are oftentimes. I just love that there will be a sequel just so I can learn more about how magic works here.
Also, the book ended with a pretty significant cliffhanger. I need to know what all that is about, so I hope Naomi Novik is a fast typer and the sequel will be out soon. In A Deadly Education not a lot happens, while at the same time a lot of shit goes down. I feel like I'm unable to capture the specific essence of this book, it just has such a different vibe from everything else I've read recently.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
20 November, 2020:
Finished reading
-
20 November, 2020:
Reviewed