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  • A Deadly Education

  • A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 1)
  • Written by: Naomi Novik
  • Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
  • Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (320 ratings)

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A Deadly Education

Written by: Naomi Novik
Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
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Publisher's Summary

New York Times Best Seller

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, making 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.

“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)

©2020 Naomi Novik (P)2020 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“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

“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

What listeners say about A Deadly Education

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best wizard school story!!

Loved the survival focus in this. Class 1, how not to go mad from the view from your room,lol. Great world building. Nice depth of character Off to get book two!!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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very well done

loved it !!
well written 👏
instantly book the next book . :) :)

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    5 out of 5 stars
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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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wicked

wicked awesome book worth the time little slow to start but picks up great throughout 👍 👌

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I hate my friends!

This book was brilliant! So much so, I hate my friends who told me how amazing it was. They told me not to read it yet because the 2nd book wasn’t coming out until the fall…but that made me want to read it even more! So of course I binge listened to this book and loved it a ton. 5 Stars and now I too am left to lament the long wait for book 2 :). I regret nothing! LOL

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Awesome world-weaving!

This is a fantasy book that sets out to create a unique magical world and it goes into every detail about it. I personally love well defined magic systems like these and the setting was just so well described, really laying the groundwork for a great series. Characters were a little cliche but they had complex backstories for how they got to that point, which broke the cliches for me and made them feel unique. Add onto the narrator, who did a great job breathing that last bit of life into the characters, and you have an excellent audiobook.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • 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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    5 out of 5 stars
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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.

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  • Jey
  • 2020-11-22

Snarky magic school

This book is fantastic. I was gripped right from the start, and couldn’t stop listening until I was done. Even though the students are teenagers, I believe this book would be enjoyed by everyone. Galadriel is so resourceful and pessimistic, that you can't help wanting to root for her. Lots of spooky scenes (or maybe that's just me haha) and attitude!! One of my most favourite books now.

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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.

While Anisha Dadia doesn’t quite have the range of other voices that some other narrators do, her petulant performance of El is perfect.

Overall, I highly recommend if you wanted the Hunger Games version of Hogwarts - which surprisingly I didn’t know I did!

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