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A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)

Naomi Novik

Start date: May 1, 2022

Finish date: May 31, 2022

Discussion: 2022 Fantasy Tournament

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May 16, 2022 Christopher rated it really liked it

Shelves: 21st-century, fiction, american, fantasy

Read for the 2022 Roundtable Fantasy Books Tournament.

It's Harry Potter but deadly in every single way. Magical children get put in this school called the Scholomance that's filled with horrible monsters and you either graduate and live or you die in any number of horrible ways. Every interaction with another student is a Machiavellian negotiation. It's barely a school; I mean, there are no teachers, there are no adults at all. It's a magical construct within a void that's connected to the real Read for the 2022 Roundtable Fantasy Books Tournament.

It's Harry Potter but deadly in every single way. Magical children get put in this school called the Scholomance that's filled with horrible monsters and you either graduate and live or you die in any number of horrible ways. Every interaction with another student is a Machiavellian negotiation. It's barely a school; I mean, there are no teachers, there are no adults at all. It's a magical construct within a void that's connected to the real world only through some plumbing and air vents, through which a horde of malicious magical creatures (mals) are constantly trying to squeeze through to suck the mana from (i.e. murder) the delicious young students.

Some of the students are prepared for this experience, because they grew up in enclaves, communities of wizards that are able to seal themselves off from the many evil forces in the world. These students are the luckiest of the bunch. Others, like our protagonist/narrator El, have grown up in the greater world, but they've got wizard parents who are able to provide some modicum of protection until they get sucked up into this school. The unluckiest of the bunch are the students that don't realize they have magical powers, who've lived their lives raised by non-magical parents (mundanes), and they instantly find themselves inside the Scholomance; they don't usually last long.

There's a mix of a hard and soft magic system. Mana is the fuel for any magical action. It can be raised by any magical user doing something that takes a lot of effort, like exercise or crochet, and it works better if you hate it. And mana goes fast in this world. Students are constantly trying to store up enough to survive the next attack that may be lurking under their pillow or just outside their door or in the toilet. Which is why some of them turn to malia, which is the evil kind of magic, which is much easier to get ahold of: you can pull it from other living creatures (i.e. murder them). And it feels good, until it doesn't. The soft magic system comes in with the seemingly unlimited number of spells and monsters that inhabit this world. Mana and malia can be used for just about any type of utility you could imagine.

I find the world really imaginative and intriguing. And it's not nearly as depressing as I've made it sound, because the students (the ones who survive, at least) have a black humor that lightens the mood a bit. Their ability to cope is not realistic, but it makes the story work.

I don't think the concept holds up under intense scrutiny: if the school is so dangerous, why would anyone send their children there? Yes, some of them have no choice (the ones raised by mundanes just get teleported, basically) and the world at large is more dangerous for non-enclave kids, supposedly, but why would any enclave kids ever go there? It sounds like being inside an enclave is much safer; one of the characters says that there are very few mals inside the enclaves. Oh well. It's probably best not to think too hard about it, because I really enjoy it. ...more

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Feb 03, 2022 Petra rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this story. It does read a bit young (being YA) but the characters are engaging and interesting, the story lures one in and the world that is portrayed is interesting, dangerous and enticing. I got sucked right into this book.
I will be looking for the next in the series. I like how the characters were portrayed and their situations & circumstances explained. It's a scary, unsure world for these teenagers.
...more

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Jan 27, 2022 Dawn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy, series-finished

I liked this book far more than I thought I would. I typically avoid YA, but this was a really good book. I liked the world and the characters and the potential of the story.

1 like · Like · see review