A Deadly Education

A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 1)

By: Naomi Novik

Narrated by: Anisha Dadia

Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times Best Seller

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, making 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.

“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)

©2020 Naomi Novik (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“I loved this book. It’s such a nail-biter, it’s funny, it’s thought-provoking, and it’s such a good read.”—BuzzFeed

“Novik deliciously undoes expectations about magic schools, destined heroes, and family legacies. A gorgeous book about monsters and monstrousness, chockablock with action, cleverness, and wit.”—Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Hilarious and wild! Take any fictional magic school, make it as over-the-top dangerous as possible, and populate it with a bunch of snarky teenagers; the result is pure batshit fun.”—N. K. Jemisin, New York Times bestselling author of The City We Became

Strangely Addicting

A Deadly Education does something really unique: it gives you an extremely unlikable protagonist and makes you actually like her and want her to succeed. Our feisty little ball of bitterness and vitriol spends most of the book hating on everyone around her - all the while fighting off all manners of scary creatures (including nasty humans). But the book is strangely catching and once you start reading, it is hard to put it down.

Story: El joins the deadly school for mages knowing it is likely a one-way ticket to the grave. Many students don't survive the creatures that infest the halls and the ones that do survive tend to be from wealthy guilds who stick together. A lone straggler like El is a waving red flag to every supernatural creature that prowls the grounds. But it should be no surprise that a girl whose every spell is destructive and who has been prophesized to destroy the mages might have a few aces up her sleeve. But it won't be easy to survive, especially alone.

The story revolves around El meeting other students and slowly earning respect and friends among the other stragglers. Along the way, she'll also have to work with the guild elites - many of whom have no qualms about killing her. One of those, a 'white knight' but incredibly dense young man named Orion, will become fixated on her, sure she is the one sucking souls and killing fellow students. As expected, El treats him (Orion) with disdain. But they are among the strongest in the school and each with different skillsets that might just be needed to learn exactly what is happening to the school. If they don't kill each other first.

The mystery is the school itself: it is in its own dimension and wasn't created to be deadly. But something has clearly gone wrong over the centuries and it is becoming more and more dangerous. The elders are unable to remove the dangers but at the same time want only the best mages and so force their children to attend. The school is a crucible to test skill and mettle and the guilds write off the student deaths as being from students who could not survive in the magical world anyway.

Of note: those expecting a Harry Potter should look elsewhere. El is a hard, bitter character (but incredibly funny in her own snarky way) and this is not a 'feel good' type of book. As well, some think the 'mance" in Scholomance means romance and don't realize it means magic. There isn't much romance here at all in this first book.

In all, I listened to the Audible version and had mixed feelings on the narration. Some was very good but other accents and voices were joltingly odd or felt inappropriate for the character. She did an excellent job with El, though.

This was an addictive read that had me invested right from the beginning. I never wanted the story to end and greatly look forward to the next book in the series.

what an interesting world build!

I was initially skeptical of how I would like this book, but I've enjoyed other things written by the author. The main character is almost insufferably mean spirited right out the gate. However, in-world reasoning for her moody skepticism and caution is quickly established, and by the end of the book the very personality traits I initially didn't appreciate became some of my favorite things about the main character. I'm looking forward to more in this series.

Such a fun book!

This book scratched an itch for me I didn't know I had. Witty, Fascinating and quickly paced. The only regret I have reading this book is that I will have to wait a few months for the next one to come out!

I loved it

I found this to be a really great new take on being a young wizard. Growing up fighting for survival makes the main character the angstiest of teens, but the story and writing were great and touching overall

So great

Novik has written another wonderful yarn. Fun, sad but none-the-less joyous, and redemptive. Genius

took awhile but it was worth it

honestly it took me awhile to get into this book, but a long drive and nothing else downloaded caused me to listen anyway. ended up an interesting listen.

excellent. as usual for N.Novik

loved it. so sad it's done. can't wait for the next one. maybe next time I won't listen nonstop so it lasts longer

harry potter meets the walking dead

I really enjoyed this story. It was captivating and intense. never have I been more invested in an audiobook.

Intense new series from a great author

Well narrated and very exciting. Main character is a young woman that no one likes, because she won't let them. Since the book is from her point of view, you get a unique way of seeing a magic school story.

Hold on to your hats, you're about to get pounded

A himbo teams up with a possibly evil witch for fun, profit, and survival?? And friendship. That too. But seriously the relationship between the two main characters was fun, flirty, and reeks of dumbassery. Like????? Y'all cute af, but also I like how Novik paced out their relationship bc this is a girl who hasn't had any other positive relationships with her peers. Like she's all "wow I can sit at a table without people trying to kill me????" Ostracism is really a stellar way to keep people from being evil mhm. Also there's the almost omnipresent threat of imminent death around the corner. Think Harry Potter, but really not, and if the kids were literally slitting each other's ankles in order to fight for their survival half the time. Fantasy Lord of the flies where your survival might just count on your grades. Also, it deals with the problem of inherent privilege beautifully. Brilliant world building over here y'all. I'm going to go pre-order the next book, then cry a shit ton from my book hangover ok thx byeeeeeeeee.
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