The Incandescent [B1318]

2025 HCDJ 1st edition in excellent condition. Naomi Novik's Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

"Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us." Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions. Walden is good at her job-no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It's her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it's possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from-is herself.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Lovely adult fantasy about life at a magical boarding school. The characters are lovingly written by Ms Tesh. Much (a lot!) of the text describes the minutiae of life at a posh private school set in the United Kingdom. There's a tremendous amount of UK shorthand and detail that might confuse readers from across the pond (like me!) but just let this "flow through your head" and enjoy the story. The nature of demons is interesting although I think the notion that demons love technology does not bode well for humanity."; "The Incandescent by Emily Tesh is easily one of my top reads of the year. It's everything you want to read in a dark academia book that takes place at a magic school, but told from the perspective of a 38 year old teacher, Dr. Wagner. Paired with Emily Tesh's signature lush writing and rich world building, we have a winner! Simply put, it's a beautiful read."; "A fascinating academic magic system + diverse characters + queerness - yes, please. I really enjoyed this story with the flawed but loveable characters!"; "Overall, I found this a delightful book - not without its flaws, but certainly trying to do something different than other books in this dark academia/fantasy genre (and doing it well). The writing itself was thick and smart, which was nice too. I found myself enjoying the lines, word choice, and the witty humor. I enjoyed Saffy, the main character. I would recommend the book if you're looking for something different, slower, and surprising."