Do you remember the first fantasy book that really made you feel magic? We might not remember a specific book, but our TBR pile has been full of fantasy ever since. We're constantly in search of books that give us a hint of that same feeling. Some books might be just as good as those we first read, but without a fresh take, the thrill of discovering a new magical world remains elusive. And the more books we read the harder it is to find that feeling again.
All that to say that Blood Over Bright Haven is one of those books that made us feel that hard to find glimmer. First self published by M.L. Wang, in 2023, it will be re-released by Del Rey on Oct 29, 2024. It’s a stand alone fantasy, which we think works for the story. While we love a great series, we don’t love when authors push a needless sequel (or trilogy) on us, drawing things out because they know we’ll stick around just to see how the darn thing ends.
For us the best part about Blood over Bright Haven is the world building/magic system. Bright Haven is a community protected by a magical barrier from both the weather and a horrifying occurrence called “Blight,” which is basically when your body unwinds itself into strips. The founders who put this barrier in place long ago are revered, almost as gods. This is magical dark academia, and the academics here influence politics and religion, and consequently have most of the power.
The magicians in this academic community use a form of typewriter to help them cast spells, and they write these spells in a very coding-like way. It's obvious that M.L Wang spent a great deal of time making sure the magical rules were consistent and interesting. We've seen another reviewer of this book say that the descriptions of magic made them feel like they were in school. They meant this as a negative, but for us it was a positive. It made the magic feel more real, and also, we'd love to be in a magic school.
Unsurprisingly this system of politics, religion and academia, is male dominated. One of the main characters, Sciona, is trying to go farther up the ladder of academia than any woman before her. Sciona herself isn’t a completely likable character. She’s got flaws. But we like when a character isn’t sickenly sweet, who have to navigate grey areas, who might make the wrong choices.
One of the few issues we have with the novel is that, in a few instances, it was hard for us to tell if the narrator had a specific feeling/viewpoint or if the viewpoint was meant to be attributed to Sciona. One example of this that really rubbed us the wrong way when it was said that Sciona "threw like a girl," and the implication being that she threw poorly. We're going to give the author the benefit of the doubt because she herself is a martial artist, so probably can throw a pretty good pitch.
The other main character, Thomil, is a newcomer to this protected Kingdom. And outsiders are treated as lower class, less than human. Through Thomil we see the ways in which magic helps the upper class while the lower class is relied upon to do the dirty work. While working as a janitor Thomil is assigned to be Sciona’s assistant in a hazing “joke.” When the pair end up being a good team they are able to uncover some secrets about this boys club of academia.
For us Blood Over Bright Haven is a solid 4 out of 5 (that's high for us, we're very picky). The combination of academia and magical world building felt fresh, not just another story riding Harry Potter’s coat tails. If you're looking for a book to make you feel like you stepped into a world where magic is real, you should give this a shot.
TW: Sexual assault and violence
Thank you to Del Ray for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are our own.