In A Deadly Education, we're put into a high school situation on the fringes of the void. All the students have magic, and if they can survive through graduation, they can go out into the world and use it. The problem is the whole pantheon of Mals who want to eat them. We're talking serious monsters of every shape and size. There are pinchers, tentacles, webs, and blobby goo. Breaking into what should be a protected space, the Mals are doing their best to create a student feast. Students expect something bad at every turn, never go anywhere alone, and use enchantments and shields just to get from their dorm room to the cafeteria.
There's also the graduation hall. It's full of hungry creatures just waiting for the end of the year.
The school has no teachers, just a self-motivated, magically-guided curriculum, where books find you. They appear on the library shelves when they want to, or come flying out of the void if you ask right. Students focus on a specialty, spending time in language classes to learn spells and the workshop to construct magical objects.
It's the junior class that stands out the most in this book, thanks to two specific students. Orion is a real hero. He can't help but attack, and successfully bring down, any Mal who threatens a student. What's more, the monsters seem to avoid him. El, short for Galadriel, is an outcast harboring a prophecy and a strong magical ability. She's never had friends, has a bad attitude, and is someone people usually avoid. Orion has the opposite problem. He can never get a moment alone, away from adoring fans.
Suddenly, these two are seen together. In fact, Orion begins picking El over his established group of friends. El isn't thrilled by this change, but it forces her into the realization that she needs friends. She'll need them to survive the school and graduation itself. Then something unexpected happens, and she must learn to trust others more than she ever thought.
This book is full of magic and the threat of death, but it's more complex than that. You're stuck in the middle of fragile teenage relationships while exploring human nature and the tendency we have to judge books by their cover (ha, ha). The book also explores intelligence -- academic vs ability vs natural intuition.
The best parts of the book flow through the action, which increases in intensity as you read on. It's a fun and exciting read and an interesting new world to explore. Just prepare yourself to hit small roadblocks of over explanation -- it's the author's style.
Other reviewed books by Naomi Novik
No comments:
Post a Comment