A Deadly Education

By Naomi Novik

Book #1 in the The Scholomance series

A dark sorceress defies expectations at a perilous magic school.

6.0/7 Bookroo expert·3.9/5 Goodreads · 230,316 ratings

321 pages

$18.00Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

In a school teeming with danger, El is an unwilling dark sorceress determined to survive without becoming the villain everyone expects. As monsters lurk and magic rules, she must navigate the treacherous halls of Scholomance, where her only ally, Orion, is also her greatest annoyance. Can El rewrite her destiny and escape the school's deadly grip without succumbing to its dark demands? The stakes are high, and the path is fraught with peril, but El is resolved to defy the odds and emerge unscathed, challenging the very essence of what it means to wield power.

From the publisher

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - 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, make 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 and The Golden Enclaves “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)

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