Dark academia is hitting hard with this brilliant read, M.L. Wang’s Blood Over Bright Haven. Fans of R.F. Kuang’s Babel will love this intense, intriguing, insightful fantasy dark academia novel and all the elements of critique and social commentary it brings with it.

Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling. An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fuelled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant. What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power. Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

Content warning – Blood Over Bright Haven contains gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation. Please read at your own discretion and stop if and when you need to.

The fantasy elements of this world are a masterful blend of technology, science, and magic, creating a unique magic system with many layers to it, of which we learn more and more about as the novel progresses, even when we want to stop doing so. It is a vivid and engaging aspect of this novel, and it works so well to highlight many areas of critique and the deeper themes in the book. The way in which this magic system is integrated into this story world is fascinating, because you can see the different mindsets at play and how they mirror and differ from each other.

Another thing I loved about Blood Over Bright Haven was the fact that Sciona, our main character, goes through a trendendous character arc. She may be irritating, narrow-minded, and naive to some at the start of the novel (myself included) but she changes in such a confronting and astounding way that I honestly couldn’t help but appreciate her flaws and the parts that I didn’t like about her. How she learns, questions, believes in things and people, and what happens when she has a point to prove make her so interesting and it is nearly impossible to take your eyes off her when the action picks up. I loved how she isn’t afraid to meet the contradicitons and differing opinions of others face-on, especially like the ones Thomil brings to the table. Seeing her be confronted with such truths, and especially given that their city and the lives of the people in it are built on a motto of truth, makes for such painful yet perfect interactions. It is this kind of conversation and understanding that I want to see brought into the world – the fact that there are more perpsectives than just the one, and that more often than not said perspectives are demonised for being savage or wrong because those a different set of principles, views, beliefs, etc. believe that their way of seeing things is right and better than any other, and therefore they can dictate how others must be because there way is the “only way”.

I love a good novel that critiques social, gendered, racial, political, historical, and religious norms that follow a supremist mindset. I like seeing that traditional view be brought under a microscope, questioned, prodding until the truth emerges, and I love seeing how that was addressed in Blood Over Bight Haven. The way in which these extremist, supremist views get dismantled, broken down, and turned on their heads in fiction gives me hope that the same views can be addressed in our real world, and it is novels like Blood Over Bright Haven, Babel, and more that make me believe that the generations of children and young adults finding their voices and making a stand can do so not only successfully, but knowing that what they are fighting for – equality, freedom, acknowledgment, support – is something to fight for.

I can see how so many people would see this as their favourite read of the year, and I highly agree that it is an exceptional read. If you haven’t picked it up already – and I mean a physical copy from the library, a friend, or a copy on your shelf you bought – then you need to get that lined up immediately. Blood Over Bright Haven is a stellar read, a must-read, and a book you will not stop talking about once you have read it.