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A Deadly Education
- A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 1)
- Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
- Series: Scholomance, Book 1
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
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.
“The dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for.” (Katherine Arden, author of 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.
Praise for Deadly Education
“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)
“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)
What the critics say
“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, New York Times best-selling author of The Bear and the Nightingale)
“Eyeball-meltingly brilliant...Novik is, quite simply, a genius.” (Kiersten White, New York Times best-selling author of And I Darken)
“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, number one New York Times best-selling author of the Caraval series)
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What listeners say about A Deadly Education
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michelle Johnson
- 2021-02-23
Well I Don’t Want to Go To This Magical School
I honestly loved this book and can’t wait for the next instalment. I’ve read about the controversy around certain passages and the criticism is well founded but I still love the story. I am confident that Novik will avoid such glaring missteps in her future.
Well Anisha Dadia doesn’t quite have the range of other voices that some other narrators do, her petulant performance of El is perfect.
Overall highly recommend if you wanted the Hunger Games version of Hogwarts - which surprisingly I didn’t know I did!
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-01-22
Super creative and great world building
It's like a very violent Harry Potter with one of the most involved magic systems I've ever seen, and a setting that's as much of a character as any of the people. Highly recommend to fantasy readers!
1 person found this helpful
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- Jey
- 2020-11-22
Snarky magic school
This book is fantastic. I was gripped from the start, and couldn’t stop listening untill I was done. There are so many scenes that I found spooky, and the attitude from all the student is so fun.
1 person found this helpful
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- riley mitchell
- 2020-11-05
wicked
wicked awesome book worth the time little slow to start but picks up great throughout 👍 👌
1 person found this helpful
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- Jason L
- 2020-10-01
Naomi Novik hits it out of the park... again
Superficially, this is a 'dark' Harry Potter. Once you get past the similarities of a school of magic, Naomi Novik weaves a dark tale of dark magic, horrifying creatures, and intrigue that puts other books like this to shame. Can't wait for the next book.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-03-30
Everything is out to get you!!!
Loved it! The world building was really interesting (personally I love to know a lot of things about the setup it helps for the imagery), but I do believe there were some plot holes and the physical description of the characters could have been more detailed. Still, can't wait for the second book!
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- Canadian Mom
- 2021-03-23
Unusual and Engaging
Novik takes the idea of a magical boarding school and turns it on its head. This is not a friendly Hogwarts, This is like a nature program - turtle eggs hatching simultaneously to have a frantic dash to the ocean with survival for a few because of the consumption of the rest. I did not enjoy the narrator for this story. Sometimes she sounded too sweet for this sarcastic and furious heroine. It is fun to have a thoroughly powerful and knowledgeable main character, instead of the typical outsider who is learning along with the reader. Unfortunately, the result is a lot of info-dumping as you learn the rules of this unique magical world.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-03-17
a masterpiece from a master
Story was wonderful so sad it's done.
Anisha did a stupendous job with the narration and infused the breath of life into the words
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- hfettig
- 2021-02-08
The good stuff
I mean the story is good, the characters are great, the romance choices are also good and Overall I love it so much I finished it in 3 days with the fact that I have to go to school everyday and I could only listen to it on the bus.
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- sam
- 2021-02-08
Fantastic
This book is so good. I finished it in less then 12hours since purchasing. I am impatiently awaiting the next book.
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- Anna
- 2020-10-02
Conflicted about canceling JK Rowling? No worries, this is better.
Novik is queen of the remake/ upgrade.
In the way her dragon series remade Horatio Hornblower, this book is Hogwarts cleared of all the useless teachers and an extra level of danger added. Boring Harry has been sidelined to make room for a much more interesting heroine with a deeper and funnier inner life.
This is the escape to the high school from hell read we all need in 2020.
23 people found this helpful
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- Rune
- 2020-10-13
Intersting concept, way too much self pity
I was very excited to read another book by Naomi Novik, as I absolutely loved Uprooted and Spinning Silver. However, once I realized I was 2 hours in to this one and nothing had happened beyond a few monster attacks and the main character whining about how hard her life is, my enthusiasm waned. I love stories about underdogs just as much as the next person, but when the underdog is constantly comparing everything they have to everything everyone else has and feeling sorry for themselves *all the time*, it gets old. The main character is also blessed with amazing insights into other people's thought processes, allowing her to look past people's seemingly kind actions to herself and others and see them for the greedy attempts at manipulation that they invariably are. I kept waiting for someone to explain to her that the reason she didn't have any friends wasn't really because she has a bad aura or whatever, but because she's an absolute jerk to everyone. Then she could have slowly realized it was true and changed her ways, though of course keeping much of her snarky nature. But no one did, and she didn't. She is a bit nicer by the end of the book, and will probably improve further with the next one, but the revelation about the way she treats people never came.
After all that it may sound like I hated this book. I didn't, although I found much of it very tiresome. Once things actually start happening and there is a plot to follow I would say it's a decent book, with a lot of really cool concepts and fun ideas. I wanted more when it ended, things were just starting to become really interesting. I just hope in the next book there is more plot and a lot less self pity.
22 people found this helpful
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- BAE
- 2020-10-01
Fully realized, completely engaging, unexpected protagonist
And she’s mixed race, good (but it’s a struggle) and never saccharine. Naomi Novik is a master storyteller and while some of the tropes are familiar, they are made fresh by her characters. The narrator is absolutely pitch perfect.
20 people found this helpful
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- Ray peek
- 2020-10-05
Edgy Teen Girl goes to Magical HighSchool
The story wasn’t my type of thing. A lot of teen drama and cliques, great performance though.
12 people found this helpful
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- Mary
- 2020-10-08
Another home run from Naomi Novik
I found Naomi Novik through her marvellous Temeraire series and was pleased to find she had tried her hand at the well-trodden Magic School genre. But she does something new and fresh with it, and every minute is enjoyable. Novik builds an intriguing world - I am so glad this is a series because I want to know ALL about it and I have so many unanswered questions - and our heroine is smart, cynical, and wrong in all the right ways from moment one. (Those who liked Sarah Rees Brennan’s In Other Lands will definitely want to give A Deadly Education a go.) Going with El as she puzzled through problems, yells at everyone, and tries assiduously to survive school, is a great ride, and Anisha Dadia’s reading brings her to life. I can’t wait for book 2; till then, I am listening to A Deadly Education all over again.
7 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-10-02
All Shall Love this book and Despair!
That this is the only one of the series that is currently available. It is absolutely fantastic.
7 people found this helpful
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- Eric W. Brown
- 2020-09-30
Loved it
I loved it, started a bit slow, but it's worth it.
Harry potter meets forging hephestus meets Dresden Files..
7 people found this helpful
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- Heather
- 2020-11-18
Not your average YA
This series is YA in the same way The Hunger Games is YA: teenage protagonist but deadly stakes. Yes, there’s a focus on cliques and interpersonal drama, but in this world being part of a strong clique means you have a better chance of not getting eaten by monsters, so it’s just not the same as your average petty teenage gossip.
Here’s the thing that will be make or break for a lot of readers: one of the themes of this series is privilege. The school is basically a war zone and all the kids are trying to survive, but the kids with resources and connections have a much better chance at survival. The story is told from the perspective of a Have Not who openly resents the Haves. Some reviewers seem to interpret this as making the main character whiny, but I think this story will resonate with a lot of people.
The narration was pretty good too. There were a few places where I thought the flow was a little off – like a verbal comma in the wrong place – but it really was in only a couple of places and overall the tone of the narration seemed just right for the voice of the main character: acerbic and dryly witty.
I love this book and I am so looking forward to the next in the series. The main character is complex and cynical and intentionally a little hard to like at first, but she reveals herself to be absolutely amazing. There are strong supporting characters and plenty of action. Overall, just a really great listen.
5 people found this helpful
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- April P.
- 2020-10-12
Very enjoyable
I loved the characters and the story. It is new, fun, and interesting. I'm excited that the second book is available for preorder.
4 people found this helpful
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- Gorilla
- 2020-10-08
Novice is a good writer but this story is tiresome
The story revolves around a young female wizard who is mad about everything and everyone. Her attitude is hard to take for the entire book.
The narration doesn't help. There isn't much variability between characters. I would suggest someone different in the followup book.
3 people found this helpful