Library Staff Recommendation
Set in an English boarding school, Dr Saffy Walden is the head of the magic department and teaching A-Level Invocation. It is an old school where things are always break down, imps are constantly possessing technology, and overconfident students try magic they are not ready for, by Dr Walden has seen it all before and is ready for the task. Things begin to shift, however, after her brightest student attempts to summon a powerful demon.
A thoroughly enjoyable Dark Academia Fantasy novel that is currently shortlisted for Best Novel in the Hugo Award. I quite enjoyed the character of Dr Walden, who is initially extremely confident due to her years of experience and advanced study, but as the book goes on, even she is brought into unchartered territory and becomes unnerved. The supporting cast were all suitably impressive, horrible, or sympathetic, depending on the role assigned them.
I was thoroughly immersed in the Urban Fantasy setting, which was basically the UK with magic. The social elite have the greatest concentration of trained magic users (of course) and there is a dedicated police force focused on managing magical problems. I found the setting extremely believable, and the rules of magic presented by Tesh were interesting and internally consistent, without getting into the depth of a Brandon Sanderson novel.
The plot was engaging. There was a good mix of clear, defined facts, and mysteries that the characters are seeing answers for. I always felt like I could attempt to predict what was happening, but the plot was not completely predictable. There was a clear Chekhov’s Gun introduced early on that you always knew was going to fire in the climax, and it fired dramatically. I found this book hard to put down and devoured it in no time.
5/5 Stars
Reviewed by Rebecca