Description

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The Sunday Times bestseller!

FINALIST FOR THE LODESTAR AWARD

In the start of an all-new trilogy, the bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver introduces you to a dangerous school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death — until one girl begins to rewrite its rules.
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Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.

There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. Once you’re inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.

El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school’s many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions – never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.

Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it . . . that is, unless she has no other choice.

With flawless mastery, Naomi Novik creates 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.
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‘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, three-time Hugo Award winner and author of The Fifth Season

‘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

‘The Scholomance is the dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for, and its wise, witty, and monstrous heroine is one I’d happily follow anywhere-even into a school full of monsters.’
Katherine Arden, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

‘The wonderful cast of characters will grab a hold of your heart and you’ll never want to leave this deadly school … a fantasy that delights on every level. I loved this brilliant book.’
Stephanie Garber, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Caraval series

‘Eyeball-meltingly brilliant. Novik is, quite simply, a genius.’
Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

‘Sharp, witty, and darkly effervescent, A Deadly Education is Naomi Novik’s fresh take on the concept of the magic school. One of my favorite reads of the year.’
Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls

‘Fresh, smart, and delightfully unique. It’s Hogwarts with higher stakes and sharper claws, and I absolutely loved it.’
Alix E. Harrow

‘A nightmare from which I never wished to wake. Savage, inventive, and soulful, Novik grasps the totems of childhood that linger in your mind-schools of magic, curses, cutthroat classmates, monsters-only to twist them into a grand new tale that’ll make you believe in magic again.’
Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Age

Publisher Review

Naomi Novik reinvents the magical school story by working a strange, funny, wild, dark magic all her own. This is not just your next great read - it's your new obsession. * GWENDA BOND * A Deadly Education plunges into the delightfully brutal world of the Scholomance, a magic school unlike anything you've ever seen before, and introduces El, a practical, ruthless heroine with the guts and wits to survive it. Naomi Novik has crafted a transcendent academic fantasy that pulls no punches. * EMILY SKRUTSKIE * Sharp, witty, and darkly effervescent, A Deadly Education is Naomi Novik's fresh take on the concept of the magic school. One of my favorite reads of the year. -- RORY POWER 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 At Scholomance, monsters are everywhere and the breakfast might kill you, but the wonderful cast of characters will grab a hold of your heart and you'll never want to leave this deadly school. Naomi Novik skillfully combines sharp humor with layers of imagination to build a fantasy that delights on every level. I loved this brilliant book. -- STEPHANIE GARBER A dark, smart, delicious tale, set to redefine everything you think you know about schools for magic. A Deadly Education is dangerously addictive. * KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE * A Deadly Education is a nightmare from which I never wished to wake. Savage, inventive, and soulful, Novik grasps the totems of childhood that linger in your mind-schools of magic, curses, cutthroat classmates, monsters-only to twist them into a grand new tale that'll make you believe in magic again. Eyeball-meltingly brilliant. Novik is, quite simply, a genius. -- KIERSTEN WHITE From the author of Spinning Silver comes a story set in an austere school for the magically gifted which houses unfathomable secrets and dark challenges for its students. Weaving together suspicion, danger, sorcery, monsters and humour, A Deadly Education is a magnificent return to form from Naomi Novik. * WATERSTONES * The Scholomance is the dark school of magic I've been waiting for, and its wise, witty, and monstrous heroine is one I'd happily follow anywhere-even into a school full of monsters. -- KATHERINE ARDEN