Book Round-up: Dark Academia Edition

 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark: The original Dark Academia, although not actually that dark. Spark's tale of a female teacher in 1930s Scotland who has a tendency to collect students she considers special in some way has spare prose, piercing insight, and all-too-human characters.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz: a thriller (and satire of the publishing world) about a failed writer who uses his dead student's plot idea to make the bestseller list, only to have someone threaten to reveal everything. There was a huge clue that hinged on having read a certain literary novel, but figuring out the twist early on didn't lessen my enjoyment of watching it all unfold.

The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik: Novik's trilogy is set at a ludicrously dangerous wizarding school where only a quarter of the students actually survive through graduation. Galadriel is a prickly, overly verbose, but endearing character; "fated" to be the greatest maleficer ever, she is shunned by everyone, even as she steadfastly and grumpily refuses to take advantage of her dark powers or fellow students. I really appreciated how Novik does not just depict the casual cruelty of the Scholomance system while engineering a happy ending for a few characters, but instead shows those characters committing to righting wrongs for all students, present and future, and not giving up until they find a way to do so. In this way, it contrasts with The Absolute Book that was clear-eyed about the horrors of the Tithe but ultimately punted the issue. 

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl: Another re-read. Having now read Spark's novel, I can see the similarities -- a charismatic teacher encourages an almost cult-like devotion from the students she singles out. The difference -- the hidden connection between the teacher and the narrator -- provides an added complexity that ultimately results in murder. I love this book, and I find myself wanting a sequel just to reassure myself that Blue finds herself surrounded by good, honest people who care for her.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

I didn't think it was possible, but Novik's Spinning Silver was just as brilliant as Uprooted -- maybe even better in some ways. Her latest novel is a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, set in a country a lot like late-medieval Lithuania and plagued by ice-cold Staryk who are keeping spring from arriving and a fiery demon who has possessed the tsar.

The main protagonist is Miryem, the daughter of a Jewish moneylender who's too kind-hearted to do his job; fed up with starving, she takes over collections, hardening her heart to do so (cold, both literal and metaphorical, drive the plot). She soon discovers she has a talent for turning nothing into silver, and silver into gold, which attracts the eye of the Staryk king. But the story is not just about her; Wanda is a young Christian woman who begins working for Miryem as a way to avoid grinding poverty and her abusive father, and Irina is a nobleman's daughter forced to marry the terrifying tsar. Seeing these three characters find ways to survive and then thrive as they take hold of their lives was the very best part of the book.

This is a deeply moral story, teasing out the ways faith, prejudice, fear, love, duty, and gratitude color actions both ordinary and grand. Novik has a knack for starting out with fairy tale cliches and then gradually complicating everything as her characters struggle to do what is necessary and what is right. And it's thrilling! So much happens in this novel I had difficulty putting it down every night.

I can't wait to see what Novik writes next.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Novik's Uprootedis a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable fantasy novel set in a world inspired by the Kingdom of Poland.  Novik takes a number of fantasy and fairy tale tropes -- the beautiful maiden, the unconventional girl with hidden powers, the dangerous wizard, the arrogant royal, the woodland horror -- and twists them slightly, creating a story that while not exactly unpredictable is nonetheless different from what one expects. She also adds depths to fantasy conventions, giving the characters credible motives without undermining notions of right and wrong and convincingly mixing the practical with the fantastical.

Novik makes good use of the concept of roots, both literal and metaphorical.  The Wood is quite literally taking root in the valley, swallowing up village after village and entangling the people who get caught; the magic used to fend off the Wood similarly depends on a deep connection to the land.  But Novik also plays with the way people are rooted to their past, their families, their hometowns, and what happens when those roots are severed -- or when one refuses to become rooted in the first place. Watching Agnieszka recognize her roots, and the Dragon allow himself to form roots, was quite satisfying.  I know Novik has said this is a stand-alone novel, but I'd love to have more of these characters and this world.