#delreybooks

Author: Naomi Novik

Published by: Del Rey Books

Pages: 320

Format: Hardback

My Rating ★★★★★

From the New York Times bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.

Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered. There are no teachers, no holidays, no teachers, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival and never equal. Once you’re inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or 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 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.

My thoughts:

“We’re not meant to all survive, anyway. The school has to be fed somehow.”

A Deadly Education is a nightmare from which I never wished to wake. Savage, inventive, and soulful, A Deadly Education is part one of the latest fantasy series from Naomi Novik.

First of all, the world building is so original and incredibly detailed. It's clear Novik put an insane amount of thought into this series, and it really shows. The setting itself is fascinating. The school is a self-regulating living organism which provides the students with a strange experience of education. It is a cross between a prison and a deadly boarding school. If you attend, your life is literally on the line.

“Most of the time less than a quarter of the class makes it all the way through graduation.”

The Scholomance is an isolated magical boarding school in the Void that you enter at fourteen and - maybe, possibly, if you are one of the very lucky ones - get to leave four years later.

There are no teachers, but the students still study hard - it’s the only thing to do when your choices are learn enough useful skills and maybe live or fall prey to the multitude of monsters living there (and occasionally to your own classmates).

It’s undoubtedly a pretty dark concept: every person inside is basically just a child trying to survive. It’s excellent at showing very plausible struggles and anxieties of a young person in a strange fictional world full of gruesome situations. It’s a magic school story with sharp menacing teeth, and I loved that. I was so fascinated by this whole concept that I absorbed all of it greedily.

In this book, Novik has created a heroin for the ages – a character so sharply realised and so richly nuanced that reading her narration is glorious. As you follow her story and hear her points of view throughout the book, you see the various ways she has to defend herself in a (most-likely) un-survivable situation.

She's ostracised for the weird vibes people get off her, and her abrasive personality, but she manages to keep a tight lid on her self-control to not use her powers.  Her personality is her armour to help her survive.  She's prickly and snarky, because she's been hurt so much, but she's also loyal, smart, and incredibly relatable. Her development over the course of the book - from furious loner to someone who lets Orion in, and realises that maybe she's garnering real friends too - is so wonderful. Oh, and also, she's genuinely very funny.

It starts very much as a YA read but throughout the story moves into more adult territory so organically that you notice it more after thinking back on the whole story. I honestly think all ages can enjoy a dark fantasy like this. It’s a beautiful blend of dark academia, magic, action and monsters. What’s not to love? I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

Overall reaction:

As we inch close to the release date of our latest and most amazing Artbook release to date, We wanted to post a list of all of the included artists in the project. I am including their Social media @nametags  for Instagram (if they have an account there) so you can follow up on their amazing works outside of our new book.

Remember you can pre-order the book here:

Charles Adi @blackoutbrother

Brian Aldridge @aerosoulpro

Nick Allsop @nick_alsopp_art

Rafael Alvarez @alvarez_studio

Kwasi Amankwah @kwasi81

Stephen Andrade @stephen.andrade.7 (Facebook)

Orlando Arocena @mexifunk

Edgar Ascensao @edgar_asc

Dane Ault @monkeyminionpress

Noah Bailey @boyishdeathtribe

Giuseppe Balestra @artbygb

Mark Bell @markbellillustration

Angelina Benedetti @angelinabenedetti

Freya Betts @freyabettsart

Rick "dienzo" Blanco @dienzoart

Alejandro Blasi @alejandroblasi.art (Facebook)

Aaron Bolduc @alphaazieru

Alex Boniwell @erodingdesigns

Mark Borgions @handmade_monster

Bonnie Bozell @bbozellart

Michael Vincent Bramley @mvbramleyart

Matthew Brazier @matthew_brazier

Rio Burton @rioburton

Lin-Zy Busch @withlovelinzy

Matt Busch @matt_busch_instagram

Butcher Billy @thebutcherbilly

Sheila  C @studiosheila

Carlos  Cabaleiro @cabaleiroart

Chris Callahan @rgb_alpha

Josh Campbell @paybackpenguin

Daniel  Campos @stalk_danielcampos

Kate Carleton @keelhaulkate

Simon  Carpenter @simcarpe

Ryan Caskey @ryancaskeyillustration

Christa Cassano @christacassano

Justin Castaneda @whenuwerelittle

Victor Castro @victoroil

Lon Chan @lonchanillustrates

Alexander Cherepanov @cherepanov_inkart

Chogrin @chogrin

GMB Chomichuk @gmbchomichuk

Chris Chuckry @chrischuckry

Darren Coburn-James @asylumartz

Adam Cockerton @adamcockertonart

Joe Corroney @joecorroney

Carolyn Craggs @carriejc1983

Paul Cremin @paul_cremin_art

Ryan Crosby @rcillustration

Ronnie Crowther @ronniecrowtherart

Justin Currie @chasingartwork

Bob Dahlstrom @bobdahlstrom

Ted Dastick @teddastickjr (Twitter)

Jason Davies @jasondaviesart_

Neil Davies @neildaviesillustration1

Rich Davies @turksworks

Simon  Delart @s2lart

Mike Diaz

Garrett Dix @garrett_dix_artist

Rodney Dollah @rodneydollah

Dug Nation @sketchymonsters

Matt Dunn @matthewdunnart

Roberto Duque @rad_pencils

Damian Edwardson @damianedwardsonart

Sarah Elkins @NeilaK20 (Twitter)

Don England @donaldengland_art

Nicole Falk @legendsofthefalk

Bastian Faulk @bastianfaulk

Jaimie Filer @jaimie_filer

Malcolm Fisher @mal_made

Francisco Flores @artofmetalhand

Jared Flores (Circusbear) @jaredcircusbear

Julie Fordham @juliefordham

Luke Francis @twistedabnormality

Devin Francisco @devin_francisco_art

Bryan Fyffe @bryanfyffe

Anthony Galatis @anthonygalatis

Paul Gates @pickle.vision

Bruce Gerlach @bruce_gerlach (Twitter)

Sam Gilbey @samgilbey

Donny Gillies @dirtydonnyart

Dustin  Goebel @dgoebel00

Jason Goungor @jasongoungor

Art Grafunkel @artgrafunkel

Joshua Green @lvciferx

Justin Harder @clausstudioss

Paul Harrison-Davies @paulmhd

Matthew Harrower @hpmatt1984

Jordan Hart @jordyjordith

Simon  Heard @sinagedesign

Tomas Hijo @tomashijo

John J Hill @johnjhill

Michelle Hiraishi @_mhiraishi

Matthew Hirons @saintworksart

Chris Hitchman @chris_hitchman

James Hobson @jamesjamesjamescreative

Tony Hodgkinson @epictonedogg

Josh Howard @josh_howard

Rian Hughes @rianhughes

Faryn Hughes @farynh

Jon Hunt @huntillustration

Ian Jepson @ian_jepson

Bernard Jezowski @berniedave

Robert Jimenez @zerostreet

JoeJr @joejrberrelleza

Adem Kaan @ademkaanillustration

Ana Kahana @kahanita

Sandra Kamenz @sandrakamenz

Chris Kay @chris_kay_art

Michael Kelleher @michaelkelleherillustrator (Facebook)

Josh Kelly @jmonsterart

Tom Kelly @tomkellyart

Jemma Klein @jemmaklein

Heather Landry @sandpaperdaisy

Doug Larocca @douglaslaroccaart

Mark Levy @marklevyart

Alice Meichi Li @alicemeichi

Matthew Lineham @mlinehamart

Chelsea Lowe @cmloweart

Jerry Ma @epicprops

Ian MacDougall @ianmacart

Mike Mahle @mikemahleart

Tomasz Majewski @tomasz.majewski

Chris Malbon @melbs74

Matthew Manlove @mattmanlove

Christopher Maul @christopher_maul

Sam Mayle @sammaylearts

Kristopher McClanahan @deeplydapper

Bill McConkey @bill_mcconkey

John McCrea (w/ Dee Cunniffe) @mccreaman1 w/ @deezoid

Scott McKay @thescottmckay

Axel Medellin @axelmedellinmachain

Kelly Migliori @heyghoulhey

Jason Miller @jasonmillerart

Peach  Momoko @peachmomoko60

Akane  Morinishi @akaneschibiart

Micah Mowbray @curiousartglass

Murugiah @_murugiah

Christian Nannipieri @christian.nannipieri

Matt Needle @needledesign

William O'Neill @william.oneill.792

NOS4A2 Design @nos4a2lives

Angel Onofre @angelonofre

Rey Paez @reypaezart

Luke Parker @artofparker

John Pearson @johnjpearson

Xurxo Penalta @xurxopenalta

Jerry Pesce @pesceffects

Pestmeester @thepestmeester

Lucas Peverill @lucas_peverill_art

Michelle Prebich @batinyourbelfry

Dave Pryor @davepryor72

Gary Pullin @ghoulishgary

L.Jason Queen @ljasonqueen

Aldo Requena @aldorequenavalgorth

Joey Rex @iamjoeyrex

Rodolfo Reyes @rodolforever

Aleksey Rico @alekseyrico

Julien Rico jr @julienricojr

Dylan Riley @dylandraw

Matt Riste @mattristeillustration

Rafal Rola @rolsrafal

Stephanie Rosales @rosalesart1 (Twitter)

Stephen Sampson @thedarkinker

Scott Saslow @scottsaslow

Valerie Savarie @valeriesavarie

SCAR Studios @antoinette.rydyr (Facebook)

James Schneider @boardinker

Markee Shadows @markeeshadows

Jerry Shirts @artisticaerosol

Liza Shumskaya @kino_maniac

Bill Sienkiewicz @therealthatpolishguy

Randy Siplon @randysiplon

John Sloboda @sloboart

Brian Soriano @wrathcomics

Rob Stanley @robstanleyart

Guy Stauber @guystauber

Eileen Steinbach @sg_posters

Blake Stevenson @jetpacksandrollerskates

R.H. Stewart @rhsillustratorgmailcom

Justin Stewart @justin3000stewart

Matthew Stewart @stewartillustrations

Glen Stone @glenstoneillustration

Adam Stothard @ad_illustrator

Laura Streit @laurastreit_art

Mark Stroud @markblackblue (Twitter)

Andrew Swainson @andrew_swainson

Nick Taylor @nickillustratesthings

Theoretical Part @theoreticalpart

Steve Thomas @stevethomasart

Kevin Tiernan @jurassickevin

Felix Tindall @f_tindall

Angel Trancon @angeltranconstudio

Wayne Tully @waynetully

Cody Vrosh @codyvrosh

Jonny Wellman @jonnys_pixels

Bryan West @bryanwestart

Trent Westbrook @2023comics

Chris Willdig @rebelart1984

Matthew Woods @hallowwoods

Scott Woolston @scottwool

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