Good “Magic Schools” books?

100 New Books to Discuss
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I asked Azalea about “magic school” books the other night, and I realized there are many, many, many, MANY of these books. And, I just finished reading the very murdery “military magic dragon school” book - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

Without spoiling for those that are interested, it is basically How to Train Your Dragon with adults, random magic, romance, and lots of murdery murder. Now, I like a good romance now and then, but this is not what I was hoping for. Besides PGTS, there are many other better “magic schools” in fantasy fiction. And it feels like I’ve read many.

These are the better ones I’ve read:

Wizard of Earthsea (a particularly good one)
Name of the Wind (my current favorite, but there’s only 2 of 3 books in the trilogy done)
Magician Master (the second book of Riftwar has a brief magic school appearance)
How to Train Your Dragon is actually a military dragon school book (with vikings, and kid friendly)
Academ’s Fury (The second book in Codex Alera has a pretty good military magic school, but the Roman-style slavery annoyed my wife enough I couldn’t get her to read the first chapter of the first book)
Percy Jackson is a military magic boot camp that is a reoccurring location (although not much in the way of education happens there).
The Saga of the Nothing Mage (I doubt many here have heard about it, but its a good epic fantasy, with several magic schools featured)
Pratchett’s Discworld (Sourcery and Equal Rites are fun places to start, but there no classes in the Discworld books)
The Imager Portfolio (there’s an academy for the magic users, and an interesting sort of careful world building - these are great books for adults that aren’t written like a dumb romance novel. People go on dates and talk to each other, you know, like normal people would.)
The Novice (the Summoner Trilogy) (Military magic school in the first book, and a good magic system)

There’s some that are interesting enough that to mention, but . . .

Schooled in Magic - I’m annoyed that his cruel world building, but he’s written a decent main character that basically gets punished whenever she tries to find a kind person. It’s also a summoned to a fantasy world story.
Jaunten - it was fun to read, but had a fair bit of cliche
Knights Magi (in the Spellmonger series; I’m frustrated by his feudal society and cultural bias toward women of in it; but this author writes page-turners)
Remedial Magic (actually has some of the story from teacher’s point of view)
Mushoku Tensei (a good enough Isekai that the Japanese light novel became an anime; but the school doesn’t show up until after the first arc, several volumes in and, at that point it goes more explicit and harem, and I quit reading)
Song of Sorcery (not bad, but not memorable. Another book though about a thief going to magic school)

In fact I have more. What do people like? Let’s compare notes.

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Just to add a few you didn’t mention:

  • The Will of the Many by James Islington is a strong roman-themed magic school book and the start of a series. It’s basically told from the perspective of someone who hates the oppressive system he finds himself in, but also has to wrestle with moral dilemmas about how to oppose it.
  • The Scholomance series by Naomi Novak is another modern take on the magic school in a world where there are basically monsters are drawn to magical children while they’re too weak to fully defend themselves, so they’re sent off to an automated school in an interdimensional pocket to try and keep them alive. I strongly recommend.
  • The Arcane Ascension series by Andrew Rowe are kinda a magic school/tower climber combo with the beginnings of a more techno-magical society and a magic system that people can predict and play within. It’s the best of Rowe’s work set in that universe, but isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. I love it though.
  • The Magicians by Lev Grossman is technically a magic school book that was well received enough to get a TV series. The books have more existential angst than the adaptation, and there’s what feels like a retcon after the first book that I’m not big on, but they’re well written.

Speaking of existential angst it’s kinda what dragged down the Nothing Mage books for me. I don’t think it’s as obscure as you think.

Here’s some other recommendations with more reservations:

  • The Shadowcroft Academy For Dungeons series by James Hunter is… probably kinda niche. It’s a mix of magic school and the whole dungeon core subgenre of litrpg that basically sprung up over night like 5 years ago. I would describe it as good filler content for when I don’t particularly want something to make me think or feel, I just want something with little bits of novelty to listen to and keep me engaged without taking much attention. Codex Alera fit into that category for me too tbh.

  • If we’re allowing manga, then it’s been many years since I read it so I kinda don’t know how well it holds up, but I used to love mx0. I don’t think the anime adaptation did it justice.

  • Technically the Super Powereds series by Drew Hayes is a magic school? But, you know, more super hero themed. It’s enjoyable, but very reliant on some college coming of age tropes that feel dated to me.

I’m sure I’ve got more recs than that, but nothing is coming to mind right now.

Edit:

  • The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson is also a fantastic magic school novel. The sequel doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon, and it hasn’t even started being written yet, but it’s still probably going to happen before Doors of Stone at least.
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The ones you are mentioning include some of the others I’ve read. The Rithmatist by Sanderson is a truly unique magic system that’s definitely designed to be YA (and would have been a seriously good YA series). I can’t believe I forgot the Magicians; great writer and fantastic characters - but to be fair, I’ve only seen the show and read one of his short stories. Superhero academies didn’t make my list, but I’ve been reading Super Supportive, and the setting has moved to superhero school; good writing, and it views superpowers as magic where you know one spell.

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How does the Scholomance series compare to Naomi Novik’s earlier work in terms of depth and target audience?

I really liked Uprooted but ignored this series assuming it is too YA (admittedly, both Uprooted and Spinning Silver are retellings of fairytales and could be classified as YA too). It’s not that I think the subset of the genre is bad, I just had my fill of it by now.

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I haven’t read Uprooted or Spinning Silver, probably because I found the first few Temeraire books to be unbearably shallow and twee, which put me off her work until A Deadly Education.

As for how heavy the YA impact is, it probably depends upon which elements you mean, since it simultaneously feels very emblematic of that target audience in some ways and not at all in others.

Things YA often does that it does do:

  • There’s a dystopian system that involves setting up a micro-society composed entirely of teenagers, and that sparks the central plot.
  • Very first person limited pov following a character in that age range with a sort of unique potential.
  • A sort of awkward romance subplot sparks a central change that kicks off the main plot.
  • There is a very well-defined social pecking order that plays heavily in the protagonist’s daily life

Things YA often does that it doesn’t do:

  • The protagonist isn’t an undefined aimless everywoman. She has an actual well-defined personality and voice from the very beginning.
  • Few if any of the central conflicts are driven by interpersonal conflicts, most are driven by material interests.
  • Related to the above, people aren’t doing stupid things in life-or-death scenarios because of their emotional turmoil.
  • No part of the world-building feels cartoonish or forced.
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Thank you, that was helpful. I don’t think I’m going to read this series after all.

Temeraire books are definitely meant for children. My 8yo cousin is reading them and she likes them a lot.

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I’m just posting to say the Scholomance books are insanely good. As is Rithmatist, but as mentioned, it’s one book and not likely to be a second for a long time.

Well worth reading the series. They way this convo went this seems like a direct statement made at Lya, but it really isn’t, people can not read things if they want, I just wanted to recommend this series above and beyond any others I’ve read aside from you know, the one this forum is made after, as my favorite magic school book I’ve read recently (which excludes Earthsea another great series, but also it’s been decades since I’ve read them so I can’t be entirely certain of that.)

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Oh, there’s also that other big magic school progression fantasy! The Mage Errant series!

I’m probably going to do a full post just on my affection for that series at some point, but it’s got a very strong magic system, well-developed themes, strong world-building, lots of fun action, and characters that mature and grow throughout.

I probably didn’t really think of it earlier because the majority of the action takes place away from the school itself, but it’s also really good.

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You asked how Uprooted and Spinning Silver compare to Scholamance series. I listened to all of them as audiobooks and Scholamance is my favorite narrator though all three were fantastic.

The series didn’t read YA for me at all. The magic system is interesting and the stakes make it almost like a thriller. It feels faster paced than the fairy tales. It has a romance story that is as compelling as any other of the three and it feels earned. I would recommend it.

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I like the Super Powered series too, though i agree it does get a little trope-y. I prefer his NPCs series, which is a D&D-ish series; the first book is definitely trope-y but the rest of them treat the world much more seriously.

Having just finished it, Mother of Learning (available for free online, just google it) starts out following Zorian, a 15 year old attending his third year at Magic Academy when he ends up getting sucked into a time loop. Even after he’s been in the time loop for relative years, he still goes back to his Academy regularly, and his faculty Mentor is ever harsher and more demanding than Thaddeus Lacer!

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I am astounded that nobody mentioned the Harry Potter series.

@BlueNinja mentioned Mother of Learning. Top rated series on Royal Road. The same author is (slowly) working on Zenith of Sorcery which also features a magic school. Though this time from the perspective of one of the teachers.

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Great new book with fantastical writing and magic -
When The Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker.

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I’m currently enjoying Otherworldly - A Shadowed Awakening. Currently the main character is traveling towards an academy which is basically guaranteed to be horrible. But there is a lot about how she’s trying to learn skills and magic on her own through self-study.

The long-term trajectory involves a grudge against at least some of the gods. But we are very far from that end goal.

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Another series is Elydes [Book 1 stubs on June 11] | Royal Road. But you need to read book 1 in the next few days if you want to find it free online.

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I’ve been reading that one. I don’t think of it as “magic school” so much. Very good book though.

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One that i quite liked was Super Supportive | Royal Road. Though would call it more a super hero school book than a magic school book.

Diary of a Teenaged Mimic | Royal Road, follows a teenager reborn as an OP monster and is definnetly a bit of a powerfntasy, and hence it puts a lot more emphesis on charachter interactions.

Shades of Perception [PF - Book 3 Started] | Royal Road, could kinda be called a magic school, but only in the latter parts, and even then,i’ts a stretch. It follows Vern, in a world where objectivity has somewhat shattered. The only magic school about it is the fact that he gets recruited into an organization, along with some other youths (19-22?), but he gets one-on-one lessons, and the only instance of students really getting together is during a duel.

Improvisation and Magic Don't Mix (A Progression Fantasy) | Royal Road, was, also quite a fun read, it is complete at 144 chapters.

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I also have a few recommendations! I’d recommend the Pale Lights series (though the first book is NOT centered on magic schools, it gets there in the second one). Its a great book that has a lot of focus on political maneuvering, espionage, and is surprisingly accurate in the damage taken and recovery times of injuries.

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I am not. Harry Potter is a passably decent series, like twilight, for a lot of the same reason. And like 50 shades of gray it was a gateway that got a lot of people into reading.

There is a video not that long ago that was saying something along the lines of HP is about as original game of thrones, and actually able to source just about every single concept of the story from somewhere else. A lot of books did what hp did, but better honestly, and those books came long before hp

Because at the end of the HP series, at the end of the great war, everything is back to how it was in the beginning, nothing really changed, the government is exactly the same, just…

There is so much wrong with the story…

It was brilliantly written to catch the media’s eye when it did

But really, it’s just someone taking bits a pieces from everybody else and got lucky.

There is much better magic school books out there.

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I should think the reason was obvious: probably everyone knows that one, and since I was the one asking (and the original post showed I am more than slightly familiar with the magic school trope) people didn’t think I’d be unaware of it.

I also left it out. I liked Harry Potter ok, but I’m not recommending it anymore. Among my reasons, I am mad at the author, not only for the stuff she’s said recently, but also because of her later books and media.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child fundamentally changes several characters (including Cedric) and the first of the three Scamander movies researched New York in 1926 so badly (where are the black people? the horse drawn cabs? the trolley cars? the massive crowds? the music? the culture?) that I’m genuinely soured on the entire Wizarding World.

/rant I’m really angry Rowling’s depiction of New York. You realize that in 1925-26 Fletcher Henderson is in Hell’s Kitchen with Louis Armstrong as the lead trumpeter, and Andy Preer is midway through (e.g. https://youtu.be/a7D5cJnS99E?si=ajbWML2vfvZ2oFA7) his time at the Cotton Club in Harlem? Gershwin’s piano concerto premiered in 1925, and Arron Copland is traipsing around this City writing his early pieces. I don’t need to see this on camera, but they could have done a lot better job understanding how important 1926 New York is to American culture. It’s not called the roaring 20s for nothing. That particular retcon of American History really soured me on Rowling. /end rant

I was recommending good magic school books and Harry Potter fell off my list awhile ago.

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Yeah, so I think you’d agree how isn’t really a “good” book series.

And I find it a just little amusing that everybody who has commented all agree that it’s the series that must not be put on the list.

And there is so many reasons, that could be it’s own thread, but I’ll pass. I’d rather not put that much energy into her, there is other places for that.

As far as her not understanding how important the 20’s was to America, she has to first understand that the British Empire wasn’t the bestest thing ever and important things happened outside of her “country”.

I came here to make sure blue added the mother of learning series, but as I didn’t start reading fantasy until I was practically an adult, I haven’t read much magic school stuff.

Something’s had a magic class/mentor. Like David Eddings series about Spearhawk, that the 4 religious orders each had a god of the [minority] race sponsor their ability to cast spells. But it’s barely spoken of, though I love the mechanics of and it’s amusing how in the second trilogy when you meet someone who does it differently, the reaction is understandable.

The wheel of time series also has a very short list of schools. The white tower is obvious, and a new spring prob gives you the greatest insight on how it works, while the later books let you glimpse at the “black towers” inner working. The sea folk seem to be an apprentice system based off the boats they are assigned to, the Aiel is definitely an apprentice system that you get to catch glimpses of. The seachan is just pets on a leash, the shanarian [sp?], people beyond the wall, I have no idea because they are only shown by tattoos, and outside of a few scenes, we don’t really see them.

Though with the countless times I have read all of those books, I believe I have a semi fair understanding of how magic is taught, and why magic works the way it does.

Btw, in the David Eddings books, it seems the knights are taught the other language until they are fluent, able to think in it, then to do the spells there is some added hand gestures, though I don’t know exactly why except it might be a subtle way to make sure whoever is noticed by said god, make noise and wave your hands about… Also, if you mis pronounce something, the hand gestures prob clarify it.

But outside of those two series, not a lot of books I read have magic, or focused around a school… That I would recommend. I just finished reading a series and I believe it was free and my daughter added it to my account.