The Magicians
Lev Grossman
A bright, cynical student wins a place at a secret college of magic and finds the lessons far darker than expected. Its adult, sardonic voice echoes A Deadly Education's take on the magical boarding school.
11 books to read next
Books Like A Deadly Education
If you loved A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Readers who love A Deadly Education usually come for its sharp, wry narrator, its grim boarding school where every corridor hides a monster, and the slow build of a hard-won friendship and rivalry. The tone is dark but witty, the magic system is clever and rule-bound, and the story moves quickly through survival set pieces. Many also enjoy its adult take on the magical school story and its unflinching look at power and fear.
Magic schools with bite
Ninth House
Leigh Bardugo
A hard-edged heroine with a talent for seeing the dead is pulled into the secret magical societies of an elite university. Its dangerous campus politics and bleak humour will suit fans of Novik's Scholomance.
Same dark academia mood
The Secret History
Donna Tartt
A close-knit group of classics students at an elite college makes a terrible choice and must live with it. Its atmosphere of privilege, dread and moral unease matches the dark academia feel of A Deadly Education.
Babel
R. F. Kuang, Michel Pagel
Students at an Oxford translation college learn that their studies power a system of silver-based magic. The rigorous academic setting and the cost of knowledge will appeal to readers of Novik's school story.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A socialite heroine investigates a decaying family estate and its unsettling secrets in 1950s Mexico. Its eerie, slowly tightening dread and sharp, unsentimental narrator will appeal to fans of Novik's gothic school.
Sharp-tongued antiheroes
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Scott Lynch
A clever, mouthy thief runs elaborate cons in a city of crime and treachery, with violence that has real stakes. Its witty banter and grim humour match the voice that drives A Deadly Education.
Vicious
V. E. Schwab
Two brilliant former students at a college of gifted young men become rivals whose experiments with power go badly wrong. Its morally grey characters and dark campus setting echo Novik's Scholomance.
Gideon the Ninth
Tamsyn Muir
A foul-mouthed, sword-wielding outsider is forced into a deadly academy of necromancers and must survive its tests. Its irreverent, adult voice and nightmarish school setting will suit readers who loved Novik's heroine.
Go deeper into the magic
The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss
A gifted young student struggles to master a university of magic while the mysteries of his past unfold. Its detailed, lyrical account of learning magic will appeal to readers who enjoyed the careful magic system of A Deadly Education.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke
Two rival magicians in Regency England revive English magic with rigorous, scholarly precision. Its meticulous, footnoted world-building and dry wit will reward fans of Novik's detailed, rule-bound magic.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Alix E. Harrow
A restless young woman discovers a book that opens doors between worlds and questions the power structures around her. Its lush, fiercely intelligent take on magic and freedom suits readers who loved Novik's defiant heroine.
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