I really enjoyed this book. Couldn't read it fast enough. Now I have to wait six months for the sequel. At this point there are only supposed to be two books in the series.
Here is the original idea: it's a school for wizards. But it is so much more.
The world as we know has been divided into enclaves dominated by a single city. There is the New York Enclave. The Boston Enclave. The London Enclave, etc. People live in enclaves to protect themselves from Mals, which are monsters that feed on magic users. Magic users go to school called the scholomance to learn how to use their magic to defeat the mals and to earn placement at the various enclaves.
Part of the training at the Scholomance is of a decidedly practical nature. You have to constantly be on guard of the Mals in the school or be killed. Yes, the school itself is actively trying to kill the students.
Two of the Junior level students are Orion and Galadriel. Orion is an old time cosseted hero who has pick of any enclave he wants because of his super level hero skills. He is a Mal killing machine. Galadriel is going to be an evil princess when she leaves the school, destined for evil. If she had any friends, she would like them to call her El. But she doesn't have any friends.
It's a brilliantly realized world and far different than anything you would get at Hogwarts. There are the school antics of cliques and rivalries, the pressures to perform so you get a good job after graduation. There are the fairytale tropes of heroes and evil doers and the blurred line about which is which.
Novik previously wrote the Temraire series which crossed Dragon Riders with the Napoleanic Wars. She is quite adept at blending genres. It's a really fun book. Can't wait for the next.
Here is the original idea: it's a school for wizards. But it is so much more.
The world as we know has been divided into enclaves dominated by a single city. There is the New York Enclave. The Boston Enclave. The London Enclave, etc. People live in enclaves to protect themselves from Mals, which are monsters that feed on magic users. Magic users go to school called the scholomance to learn how to use their magic to defeat the mals and to earn placement at the various enclaves.
Part of the training at the Scholomance is of a decidedly practical nature. You have to constantly be on guard of the Mals in the school or be killed. Yes, the school itself is actively trying to kill the students.
Two of the Junior level students are Orion and Galadriel. Orion is an old time cosseted hero who has pick of any enclave he wants because of his super level hero skills. He is a Mal killing machine. Galadriel is going to be an evil princess when she leaves the school, destined for evil. If she had any friends, she would like them to call her El. But she doesn't have any friends.
It's a brilliantly realized world and far different than anything you would get at Hogwarts. There are the school antics of cliques and rivalries, the pressures to perform so you get a good job after graduation. There are the fairytale tropes of heroes and evil doers and the blurred line about which is which.
Novik previously wrote the Temraire series which crossed Dragon Riders with the Napoleanic Wars. She is quite adept at blending genres. It's a really fun book. Can't wait for the next.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm