Episode 11.1: ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ by ML Wang
Welcome to Season 11 of The Dark Academicals! We’ve got a heck of a season coming up for you this summer and our first title of the season is a book that has received a whole lot of love since it was traditionally published earlier this year, and the author is already beloved after only two releases.
We’ll be tackling ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ by ML Wang.
There’s a lot of excitement at The Dark Academicals to finally read an ML Wang novel and get a juicy high fantasy novel on the podcast - it’s been a while!
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.
We love a standalone fantasy novel, we love novels that tackle gender and sexism, and we love magic and dangerous secrets so it’s all looking good for ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’. But will it meet our requirements for dark academia?
In this episode we discuss:
How much more we wanted from the wider world-building
The parallels between Sciona and Thomil, and between capitalism and magic
The rage-inducing levels of sexism and racism in this book
You can listen to it here:
TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ by ML Wang
‘The Sword of Kaigen’ by ML Wang
‘The Scholomance’ series by Naomi Novik
‘Discworld’ by Terry Pratchett
‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ by Matt Dinniman
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