Books of 2022 #2 - The Last Graduate

I was only a few pages into Naomi Novik’s first book in the Scholomance series (A Deadly Education) when I knew for sure - this author has written fanfiction.

It’s something you can just tell. And not in a bad way! I find that authors who have really been immersed in fanfiction as a writing practice have a a kind of breathless flow to their writing style that no one else can quite mimic without large amounts of exposure to AO3. And the plot for A Deadly Education even sounded like someone had taken the wizard books by She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named as a jumping off point.

“What if…there was a wizarding school…but with real stakes and real care given to the world-building? And there was an examination of class, power, and race in magical society?”

I was excited to pick up the second book, and I was not let down. The book builds effectively off the story that’s presented in book one, and races towards the showdown that has been building for two volumes. The payoff is spectacular, and Novik managed to convince me that everything was going to be ok before devastating me on the last page. It was a long wait until September to read book 3. Naomi Novik’s other books are much more grounded in a folktale/mythology aesthetic, but they’re fantastic reads if you find yourself a fan of her character work and worldbuildling.