Honor & Heresy
While his country wages a relentless war, scholar Roy Dawnseve is offered an alternative to enlisting as a soldier: Alongside the irritating but talented Percival Atherton, he must research Northgard’s ancient enemies in a mystical and harrowing library. Max Francis’ debut, Honor & Heresy, throws readers into its vast and detailed world from the first few pages, as Northgard’s atmosphere of war and rebellion and Percival and Roy’s contentious dynamic are firmly established. At the same time, Roy is forced to combat the complicated memories and abusive relationships he has with his mother and older brother. Lovers of a more fantastical brand of dark academia will appreciate the well-drawn world and high stakes of this novel while embracing its very human protagonist and the gradual, authentic love he builds with Percival.
An Arcane Study of Stars
Claudia Jolicoeur is willing to do whatever it takes to get into Cygnus University, even if that means making a deal with a treacherous, trapped immortal. Claudia’s aspirations are challenged, though, as she must dodge allegations about being involved in the death of the student she replaced, while also keeping up with Cygnus’ rigorous classes and cutthroat students. In An Arcane Study of Stars, Sydney J. Shields (The Honey Witch) offers the typical well-loved elements of the genre (an elite university for magic and an old, mystical bookshop, for example) while creating engaging metaphors, intricate descriptions of the setting and roadblocks that reveal Claudia’s unwavering determination. Claudia’s ambition makes her exceptionally easy to root for, and readers become as invested in her future as she is. Dorian Ship, her dangerous patron, adds another layer of intrigue to the plot, keeping readers constantly guessing where his tenuous loyalties lie and what fallout their strange alliance might have for our heroine.
The Arcane Arts
In the world of The Arcane Arts, magic is a respected academic field referred to as “arcane mechanics,” and Newlyn University is the place to study it. After a personal tragedy led her to fail her entrance exams, Ellsbeth Storer lost all hope of admission to the program. However, her talents and drive attract the attention of Professor Thaddeus Rawlins, and love and danger are quick to follow. The prologue will snatch readers’ attention with a hook so wonderfully horrific that it is impossible to tear one’s eyes away. Though that first scene haunts everything that follows, the novel’s darker tone is balanced by the tenderness of the relationship between Ellsbeth and her recently deceased sister. After being pulled in by the strong emotional core of the beginning, readers will be charmed by the way author S.D. Coverly seamlessly grounds their magic system in the real world through science, strong prose and academic bureaucracy, all without sacrificing its mystic allure.
The Loom Tree
Sharon has never shared the truth about her fantastical college experience at Alvsdahl with her teenage daughter, V—until now. The Loom Tree explores the parallels between these two women as Sharon’s disclosure reveals that the two have more in common than genetics and being raised in the California suburbs. Switching back and forth between V’s present coming-of-age and Sharon’s strange stories from university, The Loom Tree will appeal to readers of many genres thanks to its engrossing multigenerational relationships, as V’s relationship with Sharon is juxtaposed with Sharon’s relationship with her own mother. Author Angela Mi Young Hur refreshingly subverts dark academia tropes through V’s casual teen vernacular and the inclusion of Korean American characters and folklore in a typically Eurocentric subgenre.