Dark academia books to read, including The Secret History, Ninth House and The Cloisters.

Reading lists

The best dark academia books

Buried Deep and Other Stories

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SCHOLOMANCE TRILOGY 
 
------ 
 
A thrilling anthology of short stories from the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Scholomance Trilogy and Uprooted, spanning each of her realms and including a sneak peak into the world of her next series. 
 
From the gothic, magical halls of the Scholomance trilogy, through the realms next door to Spinning Silver and Uprooted, and the dragon-filled Temeraire series, this stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik’s most beloved stories. Here, among many others, we encounter:<ul><li>A mushroom witch who learns that sometimes the worst thing in the Scholomance can be your roommate.</li><li>The start of the Dragon Corps in ancient Rome, after Mark Antony hatches a dragon’s egg and bonds with the hatchling.</li><li>A young bride in the middle ages who finds herself gambling with Death, for the highest of stakes.</li><li>A delightful reimagining of Pride & Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennet captains a Longwing dragon.</li><li>The first glimpse at the world of Abandon, the setting of Novik’s upcoming epic fantasy series—a deserted continent populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural mysteries.</li></ul> 
Though the stories are vastly different, there is a unifying theme: wrestling with destiny, and the lengths some will go to find their own and fulfill its promise.

Naomi Novik is the Sunday 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.

A thrilling anthology of short stories from the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Scholomance Trilogy and Uprooted, spanning each of her realms and including a sneak peak into the world of her next series. 
 
From the gothic, magical halls of the Scholomance trilogy, through the realms next door to Spinning Silver and Uprooted, and the dragon-filled Temeraire series, this stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik’s most beloved stories. Here, among many others, we encounter:<ul><li>A mushroom witch who learns that sometimes the worst thing in the Scholomance can be your roommate.</li><li>The start of the Dragon Corps in ancient Rome, after Mark Antony hatches a dragon’s egg and bonds with the hatchling.</li><li>A young bride in the middle ages who finds herself gambling with Death, for the highest of stakes.</li><li>A delightful reimagining of Pride & Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennet captains a Longwing dragon.</li><li>The first glimpse at the world of Abandon, the setting of Novik’s upcoming epic fantasy series—a deserted continent populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural mysteries.</li></ul> 
Though the stories are vastly different, there is a unifying theme: wrestling with destiny, and the lengths some will go to find their own and fulfill its promise.

The triumphant conclusion to the Sunday Times bestselling dark academia fantasy trilogy

The Golden Enclaves

The exciting conclusion to THE SCHOLOMANCE Trilogy, from the bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver

Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the Sunday Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate. 
 
The one thing you never talk about while you're in the Scholomance is what you'll do when you get out - not even the richest enclaver would tempt fate that way. 
 
But that impossible dream has somehow come true for El and her classmates. And what's more, she didn't even have to become the monstrous dark witch she's prophesised to become to make it happen. Instead of killing enclavers, she saved them, and now the world is safe for all wizards. Peace and harmony have enveloped all the enclaves of the world. 
 
Just kidding. 
 
Instead, someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in El's stead, and everyone she saved is at risk again with a full-scale enclave war on the horizon. And so, the first thing El needs to do after miraculously escaping the Scholomance, is to turn straight around and find a way back in. 
 
 
A Deadly Education, Sunday Times bestseller - October 2020

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.

Truly one of the best fantasy series out there right now, and it's not close.

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.

A dark, smart, delicious tale, set to redefine everything you think you know about schools for magic. A Deadly Education is dangerously addictive.

Naomi Novik skilfully combines sharp humour with layers of imagination to build a fantasy that delights on every level. I adored this brilliant book.

A nightmare from which I never wished to wake: savage, inventive, and soulful.

Constant peril, a fresh magic system, and a deeper discussion of how educational inequality currently functions than I ever expected to see in fantasy.

Novik dazzles in her brilliant and compulsively readable final Scholomance fantasy.

A rich, fully satisfying conclusion that makes the whole trilogy stronger and more meaningful.

The Sunday Times bestselling dark academia fantasy and sequel to A Deadly Education

The Last Graduate

The exciting follow up to the Sunday Times bestselling A Deadly Education. Once you enter the Scholomance there are only two way out: you graduate or you die.

Sequel to the Sunday Times bestselling and Lodestar award-nominated A Deadly Education 
 
'The dark school of magic I have been waiting for' Katherine Arden, author of The Bear and the Nightingale 
 
'Fantasy that delights on every level' Stephanie Garber, author of Caraval 
____________ 
 
Return to the Scholomance - and face an even deadlier graduation - in the stunning sequel to the ground-breaking, Sunday Times bestselling A Deadly Education. 
 
The dark school of magic has always done its best to devour its students, but now that El has reached her final year -- and somehow won herself a handful of allies along the way -- it's suddenly developed a very particular craving . . . 
 
For her. 
 
As the savagery of the school ramps up, El is determined that she will not give in; not to the mals, not to fate, and especially not to the Scholomance. But as the spectre of graduation looms -- the deadly final ritual that leaves few students alive -- if she and her allies are to make it out, El will need to realise that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules. 
_______________________________ 
 
Wry, witty, endlessly inventive, and mordantly funny -- yet with a true depth and fierce justice at its heart -- this enchanting novel reminds us that there are far more important things than mere survival. 
 
A Deadly Education, Sunday Times bestseller - October 2020

The pulsating sequel to A Deadly Education finds El in even more danger from the dark school of magic as graduation looms and few will make it out alive.

A TikTok sensation and Sunday Times bestselling dark academia fantasy

A Deadly Education

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. 
____________ 
 
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. 
____________ 
 
'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 
 
 
A Deadly Education, Sunday Times bestseller - October 2020

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.

Sharp as a fang, funny and ruthless, this still manages to conjure up powerful observations about friendship, exclusion and privilege.

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.

Eyeball-meltingly brilliant. Novik is, quite simply, a genius.

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.

A dark, smart, delicious tale, set to redefine everything you think you know about schools for magic. A Deadly Education is dangerously addictive.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Novik is a master at setting up a plot to unfurl in a series of staggeringly well-thought out bursts of action, weaving together into an imaginative climax.

A Deadly Education is a book that lives up to its gob smacker 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

Fresh, smart, and delightfully unique. It's Hogwarts with higher stakes and sharper claws, and I absolutely loved it.

The author's most entertaining novel to date

Fun and beautifully written

A story that never stops moving while always remaining focused on developing the characters of both the people and the school itself

'For all fans of Harry Potter, Wednesday or even Fourth Wing, Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education trilogy is a must-read.' STYLIST 
 
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. 
____________ 
 
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. 
____________ 
 
'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 
 
 
A Deadly Education, Sunday Times bestseller - October 2020

Naomi Novik

In this enchanting, poignant novella from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Spinning Silver and the Scholomance trilogy, a young witch who has inadvertently cursed her brother to live a life without love must find a way to undo her spell. 
 
Celia discovers her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother Argent leaves home. Furious at being left behind, she lashes out, not realising her childish, angry words will suddenly become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love. 
 
While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse. Yet she cannot find the solution – until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her people and the summerlings, the immortal beings holding a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbours. 
 
With the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to undo her eldest brother’s curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War. But what price will she have to pay?

The Summer War

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