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Narrator
Anisha Dadia
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Length
10 hours 58 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“Galadriel Higgins has known the rules of the Scholamance were cruel, but if the deadly monsters don't get to Orion Lake first, then she will. He has saved her an embarrassingly number of times even when she was perfectly capable of doing it on her own. Her mind is made up, only one of them is surviving until graduation, even if the current seniors have their own plans. From the second I started listening to the ALC of A Deadly Education, I was hooked. I enjoyed Naomi Novak's other stories, but this one takes my heart completely. Novak takes the magical boarding school trope to the next level and honestly surpasses anything else in the genre. El and Orion are hilarious and I love how snarky and angry El is. It's nice to see someone allowed to get mad in a YA novel. I cannot wait for the next installment to be released! ”
— Katlin • Story on the Square
Bookseller recommendation
“Schools of magic are often dangerous, but few narratives really explore the potential of those hazards. Novik’s take on the fantasy trope displays a school that isn’t just dangerous, but seemingly malevolent.”
— Samantha • University Book Store
Bookseller recommendation
“This is no ordinary school and you'd be lucky if you make it out alive. This book is rich with interesting lore and fun characters that I can't wait to see more of in the rest of the series. ”
— Lana • E. Shaver, bookseller
Bookseller recommendation
“A school for wizards! The Chosen One! But imagine if the Chosen One was just a sweet, dumb jock with a penchant for slaying monsters who had a hard time saying ‘no.’ And if the bright, often-relegated Lady Sidekick was just as intelligent, rude, and ruthless as she wanted to be. If she was the so-called hero of the story. And one more small thing - if the magical school they attended was actively trying to kill them, morning, noon, and night while they were just trying to study. Self-aware, witty, and brutal, A Deadly Education is your new favorite magical read. You’ll fall in love (or possibly terror) with El from the very first line when she declares her intent to kill Orion after he saves her life for the (gasp) second time.”
— Cassie • Wellesley Books
Bookseller recommendation
“A Deadly Education takes a fresh stab at the magical boarding school setting in this inventive and compelling new novel from Naomi Novik. Galadriel Higgins is a student at Scholomance, a dangerous institution full of things that don’t just go bump in the night, they tend to maim and murder the students. In such a perilous place, it’s important to have friends. Unfortunately, Galadriel is a sarcastic misanthrope with a potent affinity toward mass destruction and death, but she might have to start relying on her non-magical charms to get out of this school alive. With a wink to all your favorite series, A Deadly Education is guaranteed to enthrall!”
— Heather • Mitzi's Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Magic school like you have never seen or imagine it before. A seemingly unlikeable yet much appreciated heroine and oh, that last line of the book....I LOVED it! The audiobook was engaging, the narrator a pleasure, and I am still thinking about it. ”
— Rebecca • Rediscovered Books
Bookseller recommendation
“This book is a dark, feminist Harry Potter but in this one, Hogwarts is trying to kill the students and terrifying Lovecraftian monsters are sprinkled for extra chaos. How could you not love the premise? This book is terrific fun and the sequel cannot come soon enough!”
— Samantha • Rediscovered Books
Bookseller recommendation
“What an amazingly fun book to listen to. I loved El and her snarky attitude. I loved that she had all this power but refused to give in to the dark side to use it. I loved the world building, both the specific details of the school and the mals that haunted it, and the glimpse of the larger world where magic users have to band together to survive. Anisha Dadia does such a fantastic job narrating I couldn’t wait to plug back in.”
— Kristine • Buttonwood Books and Toys
Bookseller recommendation
“At the Scholomance - think Hogwarts in Hell - graduation is survival, and survival depends on the deaths of your fellow students. El, short for Galadriel, was born with an innate talent for extraordinary evil that she’s doing her best to avoid, along with Orion Lake, the school’s resident golden boy, saving lives whether they like it or not - and El does not. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets Harry Potter meets Hunger Games, with a spellbinding, unputdownable humor, horror, and magic all its own! ”
— Megan • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“I loved this so much that I listened to the audiobook twice, back-to-back, the second time to share it with my mother so that we could talk about it. This is the magic school, hella-powered main character, high stakes series we all deserve and I am anxiously awaiting the next book to answer my many questions and give me all new ones!!! ”
— Jane • Avid Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“K. First up. A HUGE shout out to the narrator of the audiobooks. Anisha Dadia BROUGHT El and this story to life for me in such vivid color. She perfectly captured the prickly, smart, and sarcastic El in all her awkward outcast glory. And this is important because El is telling us the story...I have loved how El changed and developed over the first two books in the series and the cliffhanger at the end of the second one has given me such a book hangover and leaves me counting down the months until the final book in this trilogy is released.”
— Cori • Bright Side Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“If I could rate this more than 10, I would! The narrator in this book, El or Galadriel, is irritable, snarky, a giant grump, and prophesied to be a terrifying and destructive villain to humanity. She is also one of the most loveable characters I've had the pleasure of meeting in a novel, and I can't wait to learn more about her and her fellow classmates in the Scholomance, the highly dangerous magical academy they attend. The audiobook was a pure delight to listen to, and I was utterly transfixed by Anisha Dadia's narration. ”
— Kalli • Rediscovered Books
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)
Naomi Novik is the New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves, the award-winning novels Uprooted and Spinning Silver, and the Temeraire series. She is a founder of the Organization for Transformative Works and the Archive of Our Own. She lives in New York City with her family and six computers.
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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
“At the Scholomance, monsters are everywhere and the breakfast might kill you, but the wonderful cast of characters will grab ahold 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, #1 New York 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
“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
“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.”—Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Age
“A Deadly Education is a book that lives up to its gobsmacker of an opening sentence and follows right through to its shocker of an ending that promises more to come. Naomi Novik is relentlessly innovative and entertaining.”—Terry Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Druid
“Friendship in spite of itself; danger that doesn’t quit—what a wildly magical ride!”—Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Tempests and Slaughter
“The magic and mystery of this chillingly lovely novel will appeal to both YA and adult fans of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. . . . An unresolved ending leaves readers eager for the next installment.”—Library Journal (starred review)
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