Book Review: ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ by ML Wang (feminist dark academia fantasy)

ML Wang exploded onto the fantasy scene with her previously self-published epic, ‘The Sword of Kaigen’ (I really need to read that asap) and ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ thrusts her into the heralded space of really very special SFF authors currently writing.

We decided to pick up ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ for season 11 of our podcast ‘The Dark Academicals’, hoping it would kick us off with a bang, and it delivered on all fronts. I’ve found myself liking it more and more and I think on it since recording the episode.

The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen.

For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fuelled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to become the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.

When Sciona finally achieves her ambition and becomes a highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome – and, instead of a qualified lab assistant, they give her a janitor.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realise is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago, he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power.

At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together, they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever – if it doesn’t get them killed first.

Come on, that summary was made for a dark academia podcast!

I will say, this novel is intense and there’s a lot of content that could cause an issue for those who need to keep an eye on content warnings so I do suggest you check them out on Storygraph before you dive in.

The incessant sexism and misogyny that Sciona faces is exhausting and infuriating. It’s so easy to cheer for her as she breaks through the barriers put in front of her to succeed even in the face of everyone trying to stop her, and it’s even more brilliant how Wang paints the portraits of the women (mostly Sciona’s aunt and cousin) who have had to sacrifice and play even further up to the expected role of the women in this society to allow Sciona to chase her dreams.

Racism against the tribes that have fled to Tiran for safety as their lands have been stripped bare of the ability to feed its people is also a huge element in the novel, illustrated by Thomil, Sciona’s lab assistant. I love how Sciona’s outrage against how she is treated as a woman comes up against the way that she, at first, mostly accepts the way that the Kwen are treated, as they are fighting similar battles in this society. Though the racism is more extreme and has much more significant consequences to way that people live in Tiran.

I’m not going to spoil the book so I can’t talk much about the magic system, but the way it unfolds and everything comes together as this interconnected web of lies and hatred is genius, though also horrible and hard to read at times. ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ is hard to read because it’s making big, powerful points and commenting on our society in a way that pulls no punches. It’s a must read fantasy novel.

My only complaint with ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ is that I desperately wanted more world-building outside of Tiran. I’m a girl who needs a complete and well-drawn setting and world, and while Tiran was really richly evoked, I wanted more of what lay outside it’s borders. It would have added a lot of extra context and explanation for how the Mages of Tiran were getting away with everything that they were. Is the city completely separate from the rest of the world? Is Tiran the only large city? Is there a wider kingdom, or neighbouring kingdoms or countries? I feel like it’s like the kind of world-building that Wang knows, it’s just not worked into the text and I wanted it to be.

‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ is one of those novels that lingers and grows in the aftermath; I can’t stop thinking about it.

Written by Sophie