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Blood Over Bright Haven
Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.
An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.
What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.
Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?
A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)
An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.
What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.
Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?
A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)
448 pages, Hardcover
First published July 25, 2023
About the author
M.L. Wang
8 books3,408 followersHi, I'm M. L. Wang, writer of sci-fi & fantasy, winner of Mark Lawrence's 5th Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO).
I'm rarely on Goodreads, so if you need to get in touch, please see the contact page of my website: https://mlwangbooks.com/contact/
I'm rarely on Goodreads, so if you need to get in touch, please see the contact page of my website: https://mlwangbooks.com/contact/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,087 reviews
July 13, 2024
This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on Blood Over Bright Haven.
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Unbelievable... She did it again. Blood Over Bright Haven is proof that no one writes standalone fantasy books as good as M.L. Wang. Full stop.
Here we are. A new adult fantasy book by M.L. Wang is finally here. Whether you knew about my book reviews from Goodreads, Twitter, or BookTube, you might have known that I have been a diehard fan of The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang for years. I read and reviewed The Sword of Kaigen all the way back in January 2019. So four and a half years ago. Since then, it has been an utter delight seeing readers continuously loving The Sword of Kaigen. I have received many kind messages of gratitude for my book recommendation I will always treasure. For the past four and a half years, I told myself to always uphold my patience in waiting for Wang’s newest book. And now that I have read Blood Over Bright Haven, I am glad to say this patience has been rewarded. The Sword of Kaigen was not a fluke. Blood Over Bright Haven may be a different kind of fantasy novel compared to The Sword of Kaigen, but is another standalone masterwork. M.L. Wang's storytelling is a blessing to the genre, and we readers are lucky to live in the same era as her. And we should do the job of bestowing her books to future fantasy readers.
Blood Over Bright Haven takes place in the industrial utopia of Tiran, and it follows the story of two main characters. The first one is Sciona. An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic for more than twenty years. Her goal is to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. But when she finally claws her way up to the ranks to become a highmage, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will do everything they can to make sure she knows she is unwelcome, and one of the ways they do this is to provide her with a Kwen janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant. This janitor, however, is the second main character: Thomil. Sciona and Thomil will have to work together to advance Sciona's status and unravel the mysteries of magic.
This is the premise of the book. It is a dark academia fantasy novel brimming with mystery, tragedy, morality, and echoes of the past. As you can probably tell, the pursuit of truth is a big motivator of the character’s motivations. And believe me on this, Blood Over Bright Haven is a relatively small fantasy book. But at 120,000 words long, this standalone novel packed many emotional themes to explore, and the characterizations and development were insanely well-written. As you can imagine from Wang's storytelling if you have read The Sword of Kaigen.
Blood Over Blight Haven circulates around many themes like legacy, family, vengeance, love, sacrifice, and intense faith and prejudice. As I said, it is a 120,000 words long novel, but if I discuss how each theme was magnificently implemented into the narrative, we will be here longer than it would be. So I will narrow it down to two main themes. And to explain my first point, I need to compare this novel to a recently released and recent favorite dark academia novel: Babel by R.F. Kuang. In Babel, the two main themes tackled in that book were colonialism and racism. Whether they were too on the nose or not, and whether you (as a reader) prefer it to be more subtle, I will leave that for you to decide on your own. But here’s the thing. One of the main themes in Blood Over Bright Haven is gender injustice or misogyny. I know some readers are usually annoyed by this. But look at it this way. If you liked reading the theme of gender conflicts and injustice portrayed in The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, but prefer it to be much more efficient and less repetitive, then Blood Over Bright Haven will be suitable for you. This theme is profoundly utilized in the first half of the novel, and it remains strongly evident in the second half for many good reasons I cannot mention due to spoilers. I personally found it to be so extraordinarily well done. Social status, justice, ambition, faith, and racism are some of the other key themes of Blood Over Bright Haven. And it was unforgettable how Wang integrated all of these into topics of extreme bigotry, selfishness, and delusion. This novel depicts a quest for knowledge and truth at all costs, no matter how bloody it gets.
It is said if you stand up for nothing, you will fall for anything. However, what if the beliefs you stood up for have been the wrong thing? And then there is the matter of intentions versus the result of actions. What if your intentions were good, but the result is disastrous? Is it better when an intention of an individual is bad, but the result turns out great? Faced with this situation, which one is more benevolent and virtuous? Will guilt or grief be enough to cancel harmful actions brought out of good intentions? These are a few questions raised in Blood Over Bright Haven. It is true that Blood Over Bright Haven, as I said, is a different kind of book from The Sword of Kaigen. I mean, even the subgenre itself is different. The Sword of Kaigen is an Asian-inspired military epic fantasy, Blood Over Bright Haven is a dark academia or gaslamp fantasy novel. But there is no doubt that quite similar themes in this novel brought forth the emotional impact of immense proportions as The Sword of Kaigen did. And, of course, comparable to The Sword of Kaigen, this review is incomplete without talking about the characters and excellent characterizations.
It is practically unanimous that those, myself included, who loved The Sword of Kaigen treated Wang’s characterizations, arc, and development as masterful. And rest assured. You will get those again here. The 27 years old Sciona Freynan started off moderately, and I’m assuming intentionally, unlikeable. She was an egomaniac, self-centered, and single-mindedly driven toward her ambition. But remember that this leaves room for rewarding character development. Through her encounter and budding relationship with Thomil, a kind-hearted melancholic character with a harsh past, Wang achieved fruitful characterizations and growth. For both of them, not just Sciona. And I cannot help but wish more authors and storytellers were as capable as the way Wang portrayed characters’ emotions and relationships as deeply as possible. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that some revelations in this book changed everything for the characters, and when that happened, I almost literally felt the devastating damage it did to the characters. Yes, not just Sciona and Thomil, but also Alba, Carra, and the other supporting characters. The way M.L. Wang writes characters and palpable emotional turmoils through actions, inner thoughts, and dialogues can be reflected only by the best kind of authors. And Wang is definitely one of them. By the end of the book, Sciona Freynan belongs in my list of favorite characters. To do everything M.L. Wang achieved here in a one-off standalone book (a relatively short one) feels almost impossible. And yet, she succeeded. This book will bring many thought-provoking discussions on principles and morality, and I haven’t even talked about the complex magic system.
I have made it crystal clear that I am a lifelong fan of manga and anime, and Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa, or the anime adaptation Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, is one of my top favorite stories of all time out of all storytelling mediums. You can probably imagine my uncontrollable excitement to witness that Blood Over Bright Haven is, intentionally or not, inspired by it. I’m going to assume some part of it is true because the official synopsis of Blood Over Bright Haven did mention the novel is suitable for those who love Fullmetal Alchemist. I think this is accurate. And whether in Fullmetal Alchemist or not, one of the irrefutable laws of alchemy is the law of equivalent exchange. It is impossible to conjure something out of nothing. The magic of mapping and siphoning through a spellograph in Blood Over Bright Haven is one of the most initially complex magic systems I have ever encountered. If you have difficulty understanding or visualizing the magic here, do not worry, I felt the same, too, at first. But everything will be clearer near the second half of the book.
But for those who feel confused and want to understand the magic sooner, I will try to explain them to you now as simply as possible. I will leave out all the author's in-text explanations and visualization for you to read yourself. So treat it this way. Spellograph is a map, or a graph, of the Otherrealm, a realm where the mages draw energy from. Mapping is choosing the precise and correct location in the Otherrealm. After that, siphoning is the act of drawing out the energy from the designated coordinates in the Spellograph. That energy is then used for a myriad of usages like powering the industrial utopia of Tiran, unleashed elemental magic, and more. This is as simple of an explanation as it gets. The in-text magic system is more elaborate and intricate. And I cannot help but applaud M.L. Wang for this display of creativity. The magic was brilliantly created, and every plotline and tribulation resulting from it was totally engaging.
With the satisfying character arc, the immersive setting, and the seamless blend of magic and science, M.L. Wang gets what I love to read in my SFF books. She gave literal meaning to the "dark" in dark academia. Blood Over Bright Haven is an apt title for the book. As you can probably expect from her adult fantasy books, this is a violent novel with merciless actions. The character's wrath and sorrow will peak. Self-serving and malicious characters will try to aggravate you. Gory scenes are included, and my god, the action scenes... Blood Over Bright Haven don't contain as many battle scenes as The Sword of Kaigen did. But do not take this to mean the book was ever lacking in high-stakes conflict and pulse-pounding tensions. Once the revelations kicked into the narrative, the book was ridiculously unputdownable. I finished this book in two days, and it was worth neglecting every book in my TBR pile for it. I love reading fantasy books where every action has irreplaceable repercussions, and as the intensity keeps ramping up, the climax sequences accomplish one of the most memorable crimson scenes of chaos I have ever read. I cannot help but wish there better be a special edition of Blood Over Bright Haven one day. So many scenes in the book, not just the ending sequences, would benefit from having interior illustrations. I will keep my fingers crossed that day will come.
There is not much else to say here. Any more beyond this is just redundant. Order and read this book as soon as possible. The character's story arcs were amazing, the threats felt real, the world-building was well-polished, and there were many beautifully written passages. M.L. Wang accomplished so much in this relatively short one-off standalone novel. It is astounding. Bloody brutal, creative, and intelligently crafted with powerfully heavy-hitting themes on morality and intentions, M.L. Wang's return to the adult fantasy scene signified her skills as an absolutely incredible storyteller. Blood Over Bright Haven is indisputably another standalone masterpiece from M.L. Wang. It is a dark academia fantasy novel at its best. It overtops Babel by R.F. Kuang for me. The fantasy genre is dominated by series. And it is true a terrific one-off standalone fantasy novel is relatively difficult to find. But the greatest kind of standalone fantasy book exists, and it can deliver the high emotions, intensity, and intricacies of a series efficiently and effectively. Blood Over Bright Haven is that kind of standalone book. So bravo, M.L. Wang. For crafting another masterpiece.
You can pre-order this book from: Amazon
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Aliysa, Anastasia, Andrew, Andrew W, Annabeth, Arliss, Barbara, Biskit, Brad, Cade, Casey, Chris, Diana, Donna, Dylan, Edward, Elias, Ellen, Frank, Gary, Gregory, Hamad, Helen, Hunter, Jenn, Jesse, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Justin, Kristina, Luis, Lufi, Melinda, Michael, Michael, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas, Norbert, Radiah, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Shawn, Tori, Tracy, Wendy, Wick, Xero, Yuri, Zoe.
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Unbelievable... She did it again. Blood Over Bright Haven is proof that no one writes standalone fantasy books as good as M.L. Wang. Full stop.
“Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort. God over all.
Here we are. A new adult fantasy book by M.L. Wang is finally here. Whether you knew about my book reviews from Goodreads, Twitter, or BookTube, you might have known that I have been a diehard fan of The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang for years. I read and reviewed The Sword of Kaigen all the way back in January 2019. So four and a half years ago. Since then, it has been an utter delight seeing readers continuously loving The Sword of Kaigen. I have received many kind messages of gratitude for my book recommendation I will always treasure. For the past four and a half years, I told myself to always uphold my patience in waiting for Wang’s newest book. And now that I have read Blood Over Bright Haven, I am glad to say this patience has been rewarded. The Sword of Kaigen was not a fluke. Blood Over Bright Haven may be a different kind of fantasy novel compared to The Sword of Kaigen, but is another standalone masterwork. M.L. Wang's storytelling is a blessing to the genre, and we readers are lucky to live in the same era as her. And we should do the job of bestowing her books to future fantasy readers.
“It matters because you’re a child. The future ultimately isn’t mine or Sciona’s. It’s yours.”
Blood Over Bright Haven takes place in the industrial utopia of Tiran, and it follows the story of two main characters. The first one is Sciona. An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic for more than twenty years. Her goal is to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. But when she finally claws her way up to the ranks to become a highmage, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will do everything they can to make sure she knows she is unwelcome, and one of the ways they do this is to provide her with a Kwen janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant. This janitor, however, is the second main character: Thomil. Sciona and Thomil will have to work together to advance Sciona's status and unravel the mysteries of magic.
This is the premise of the book. It is a dark academia fantasy novel brimming with mystery, tragedy, morality, and echoes of the past. As you can probably tell, the pursuit of truth is a big motivator of the character’s motivations. And believe me on this, Blood Over Bright Haven is a relatively small fantasy book. But at 120,000 words long, this standalone novel packed many emotional themes to explore, and the characterizations and development were insanely well-written. As you can imagine from Wang's storytelling if you have read The Sword of Kaigen.
“All those jobs involve people, and I’m terrible with people. Magic is the one area where I can shut myself in a room with my books and my thoughts and come out more powerful than I went in. It doesn’t matter how big, or strong, or pretty you are in magic. It doesn’t matter how much people like you. With my fingers on the keys of a spellograph, if I can just think hard enough, I’m the most powerful person in the world.”
Blood Over Blight Haven circulates around many themes like legacy, family, vengeance, love, sacrifice, and intense faith and prejudice. As I said, it is a 120,000 words long novel, but if I discuss how each theme was magnificently implemented into the narrative, we will be here longer than it would be. So I will narrow it down to two main themes. And to explain my first point, I need to compare this novel to a recently released and recent favorite dark academia novel: Babel by R.F. Kuang. In Babel, the two main themes tackled in that book were colonialism and racism. Whether they were too on the nose or not, and whether you (as a reader) prefer it to be more subtle, I will leave that for you to decide on your own. But here’s the thing. One of the main themes in Blood Over Bright Haven is gender injustice or misogyny. I know some readers are usually annoyed by this. But look at it this way. If you liked reading the theme of gender conflicts and injustice portrayed in The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, but prefer it to be much more efficient and less repetitive, then Blood Over Bright Haven will be suitable for you. This theme is profoundly utilized in the first half of the novel, and it remains strongly evident in the second half for many good reasons I cannot mention due to spoilers. I personally found it to be so extraordinarily well done. Social status, justice, ambition, faith, and racism are some of the other key themes of Blood Over Bright Haven. And it was unforgettable how Wang integrated all of these into topics of extreme bigotry, selfishness, and delusion. This novel depicts a quest for knowledge and truth at all costs, no matter how bloody it gets.
“You’re the worst kind of murderer, I think… The kind who won’t even acknowledge her crime. You’ve never worshipped a god of truth… You worship a delusion.”
It is said if you stand up for nothing, you will fall for anything. However, what if the beliefs you stood up for have been the wrong thing? And then there is the matter of intentions versus the result of actions. What if your intentions were good, but the result is disastrous? Is it better when an intention of an individual is bad, but the result turns out great? Faced with this situation, which one is more benevolent and virtuous? Will guilt or grief be enough to cancel harmful actions brought out of good intentions? These are a few questions raised in Blood Over Bright Haven. It is true that Blood Over Bright Haven, as I said, is a different kind of book from The Sword of Kaigen. I mean, even the subgenre itself is different. The Sword of Kaigen is an Asian-inspired military epic fantasy, Blood Over Bright Haven is a dark academia or gaslamp fantasy novel. But there is no doubt that quite similar themes in this novel brought forth the emotional impact of immense proportions as The Sword of Kaigen did. And, of course, comparable to The Sword of Kaigen, this review is incomplete without talking about the characters and excellent characterizations.
“The Caldonnae and most peoples beyond the barrier weigh a person by their actions and the effect they have on the world. It’s not enough to have meant to do good in the world; if you don’t do good, most gods—those of rivers, the hunt, and the fields—don’t care for your motivations. Why should they?”
It is practically unanimous that those, myself included, who loved The Sword of Kaigen treated Wang’s characterizations, arc, and development as masterful. And rest assured. You will get those again here. The 27 years old Sciona Freynan started off moderately, and I’m assuming intentionally, unlikeable. She was an egomaniac, self-centered, and single-mindedly driven toward her ambition. But remember that this leaves room for rewarding character development. Through her encounter and budding relationship with Thomil, a kind-hearted melancholic character with a harsh past, Wang achieved fruitful characterizations and growth. For both of them, not just Sciona. And I cannot help but wish more authors and storytellers were as capable as the way Wang portrayed characters’ emotions and relationships as deeply as possible. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that some revelations in this book changed everything for the characters, and when that happened, I almost literally felt the devastating damage it did to the characters. Yes, not just Sciona and Thomil, but also Alba, Carra, and the other supporting characters. The way M.L. Wang writes characters and palpable emotional turmoils through actions, inner thoughts, and dialogues can be reflected only by the best kind of authors. And Wang is definitely one of them. By the end of the book, Sciona Freynan belongs in my list of favorite characters. To do everything M.L. Wang achieved here in a one-off standalone book (a relatively short one) feels almost impossible. And yet, she succeeded. This book will bring many thought-provoking discussions on principles and morality, and I haven’t even talked about the complex magic system.
“Thomil said that a woman was weighed at the gates of Heaven by her actions and their impact. Well, Sciona was going to leave an impact. Whatever happened next, whether it led to Hell or Heaven, she was going to have a hand in directing it. Sick or sound, good or evil, she was still Sciona Freynan. And Sciona Freynan didn’t slow down. Sciona Freynan would be remembered.”
I have made it crystal clear that I am a lifelong fan of manga and anime, and Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa, or the anime adaptation Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, is one of my top favorite stories of all time out of all storytelling mediums. You can probably imagine my uncontrollable excitement to witness that Blood Over Bright Haven is, intentionally or not, inspired by it. I’m going to assume some part of it is true because the official synopsis of Blood Over Bright Haven did mention the novel is suitable for those who love Fullmetal Alchemist. I think this is accurate. And whether in Fullmetal Alchemist or not, one of the irrefutable laws of alchemy is the law of equivalent exchange. It is impossible to conjure something out of nothing. The magic of mapping and siphoning through a spellograph in Blood Over Bright Haven is one of the most initially complex magic systems I have ever encountered. If you have difficulty understanding or visualizing the magic here, do not worry, I felt the same, too, at first. But everything will be clearer near the second half of the book.
“Men, love your progeny as God loves his Tiranish children. For, as the Tiranish are made in the image of Feryn, your children are your mirror. He of good character will rule his children well and their quality will speak to his. Govern your children for they are your truest reflection. They are your legacy, and a man’s legacy is as close as he may reach to godhood.”
But for those who feel confused and want to understand the magic sooner, I will try to explain them to you now as simply as possible. I will leave out all the author's in-text explanations and visualization for you to read yourself. So treat it this way. Spellograph is a map, or a graph, of the Otherrealm, a realm where the mages draw energy from. Mapping is choosing the precise and correct location in the Otherrealm. After that, siphoning is the act of drawing out the energy from the designated coordinates in the Spellograph. That energy is then used for a myriad of usages like powering the industrial utopia of Tiran, unleashed elemental magic, and more. This is as simple of an explanation as it gets. The in-text magic system is more elaborate and intricate. And I cannot help but applaud M.L. Wang for this display of creativity. The magic was brilliantly created, and every plotline and tribulation resulting from it was totally engaging.
“Know your rights, know your spells, and press on past the detractors— or through them, if you must. It’s a skill you’ll need over and over again in the High Magistry.”
With the satisfying character arc, the immersive setting, and the seamless blend of magic and science, M.L. Wang gets what I love to read in my SFF books. She gave literal meaning to the "dark" in dark academia. Blood Over Bright Haven is an apt title for the book. As you can probably expect from her adult fantasy books, this is a violent novel with merciless actions. The character's wrath and sorrow will peak. Self-serving and malicious characters will try to aggravate you. Gory scenes are included, and my god, the action scenes... Blood Over Bright Haven don't contain as many battle scenes as The Sword of Kaigen did. But do not take this to mean the book was ever lacking in high-stakes conflict and pulse-pounding tensions. Once the revelations kicked into the narrative, the book was ridiculously unputdownable. I finished this book in two days, and it was worth neglecting every book in my TBR pile for it. I love reading fantasy books where every action has irreplaceable repercussions, and as the intensity keeps ramping up, the climax sequences accomplish one of the most memorable crimson scenes of chaos I have ever read. I cannot help but wish there better be a special edition of Blood Over Bright Haven one day. So many scenes in the book, not just the ending sequences, would benefit from having interior illustrations. I will keep my fingers crossed that day will come.
“Because good people can turn desperate when the horrors are upon them— especially people whose culture of plenty has left them with no systems to cope with scarcity or cataclysm. Good people will turn monstrous when it’s down to their survival or someone else’s.”
There is not much else to say here. Any more beyond this is just redundant. Order and read this book as soon as possible. The character's story arcs were amazing, the threats felt real, the world-building was well-polished, and there were many beautifully written passages. M.L. Wang accomplished so much in this relatively short one-off standalone novel. It is astounding. Bloody brutal, creative, and intelligently crafted with powerfully heavy-hitting themes on morality and intentions, M.L. Wang's return to the adult fantasy scene signified her skills as an absolutely incredible storyteller. Blood Over Bright Haven is indisputably another standalone masterpiece from M.L. Wang. It is a dark academia fantasy novel at its best. It overtops Babel by R.F. Kuang for me. The fantasy genre is dominated by series. And it is true a terrific one-off standalone fantasy novel is relatively difficult to find. But the greatest kind of standalone fantasy book exists, and it can deliver the high emotions, intensity, and intricacies of a series efficiently and effectively. Blood Over Bright Haven is that kind of standalone book. So bravo, M.L. Wang. For crafting another masterpiece.
“Maybe it would be a hundred generations before the sun rose on a life of dignity for their descendants, but the worthwhile run was not the sprint.”
You can pre-order this book from: Amazon
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Aliysa, Anastasia, Andrew, Andrew W, Annabeth, Arliss, Barbara, Biskit, Brad, Cade, Casey, Chris, Diana, Donna, Dylan, Edward, Elias, Ellen, Frank, Gary, Gregory, Hamad, Helen, Hunter, Jenn, Jesse, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Justin, Kristina, Luis, Lufi, Melinda, Michael, Michael, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas, Norbert, Radiah, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Shawn, Tori, Tracy, Wendy, Wick, Xero, Yuri, Zoe.
January 19, 2024
This is the best book I’ve read in 2023.
Literally: https://youtu.be/sow3PqTblic
Literally: https://youtu.be/sow3PqTblic
August 12, 2024
I finished this on the way back home from Glasgow Worldcon.
It's an excellent read and I think M.L is due to become a much bigger name than she is now (and she's well known now).
The thing (for me) that Wang does best is that she "sees" people and delivers them whole onto the page. She's great at generating strong emotion in a small number of lines, and she understands and uses restraint very well - it works for her rather like the silences in music build the whole. And like, Robin Hobb, she's wonderful when it comes to bringing relationships to life.
Her prose is good, but it's the above, combined with top class story telling that I'd highlight.
These are all highly commercial skills, and the romance in Blood Over Bright Haven is "more traditional" than the one in The Sword of Kaigen. All reasons I think this book will sell its socks off.
For me, The Sword of Kaigen was an even better book, more sophisticated and unexpected, marred by some rough edges at the start and end. This book is far smoother, and it certain does have sophistication - it's far from being on rails. You will almost certainly be surprised by how things turn out, and Wang digs down through different layers of morality and humanity, making us reassess the situtation several times.
It's clever, emotional, exciting ... all the good stuff. I highly recommend you give it a go. I hugely enjoyed it!
She's another of those authors who bulldozes my ego and makes me admit that I need to do better at this writing game.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
.
It's an excellent read and I think M.L is due to become a much bigger name than she is now (and she's well known now).
The thing (for me) that Wang does best is that she "sees" people and delivers them whole onto the page. She's great at generating strong emotion in a small number of lines, and she understands and uses restraint very well - it works for her rather like the silences in music build the whole. And like, Robin Hobb, she's wonderful when it comes to bringing relationships to life.
Her prose is good, but it's the above, combined with top class story telling that I'd highlight.
These are all highly commercial skills, and the romance in Blood Over Bright Haven is "more traditional" than the one in The Sword of Kaigen. All reasons I think this book will sell its socks off.
For me, The Sword of Kaigen was an even better book, more sophisticated and unexpected, marred by some rough edges at the start and end. This book is far smoother, and it certain does have sophistication - it's far from being on rails. You will almost certainly be surprised by how things turn out, and Wang digs down through different layers of morality and humanity, making us reassess the situtation several times.
It's clever, emotional, exciting ... all the good stuff. I highly recommend you give it a go. I hugely enjoyed it!
She's another of those authors who bulldozes my ego and makes me admit that I need to do better at this writing game.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
.
March 23, 2024
M.L. Wang has seemingly done it again. From the start this dark academia story was an emotional roller coaster.
The characters? Top tier
The Magical system? Quite insane, absolutely insane.
M.L. Wang you can’t keep getting away with this but congrats on another 5 star read!
The characters? Top tier
The Magical system? Quite insane, absolutely insane.
M.L. Wang you can’t keep getting away with this but congrats on another 5 star read!
Want to read
July 17, 2024I really thought 'The sword of kaigen' was going to be my first Wang book but then I got an arc of this and it's so beautiful and interesting that this has to be read first!
September 27, 2024
Oh no.
I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm going to mention it again -- once I clear my Del Rey backlog, I will no longer be requesting any of their titles. We do not vibe.
As you may know, I used to be a very snobby high fantasy reader, but lately, I am tired of how white/cishet/male the genre is. As I search for fantasy written by women, preferably BIPOC women, I am continuously disappointed in my East Asian reads.
Green eyes are the rarest in the world. A quick search states they are only 2% of the population. So, why is it that so many fantasy novels, namely Del Rey's, written by Asian women, include them? And terrible representations of colonialism?
Yes, this is a colonizer romance. Granted, it's a little different in that Sciona, the woman, is from the colonizing party. You may ask, "What makes this a colonizer romance?" and "Why does this offend you so much?"
Sciona's people use a form of magic called siphoning. This steals the energy from a different source. This source comes from the natural resources of a neighboring nation, specifically, . This is called Blight, but what it is is a travesty. If you can't "see" colonization, and are from the west, boy, do I have some interesting news for you.
I truly don't go into these books wanting to hate them. I want to be surprised. Sciona is not smart. She is annoying, petulant, and very sheltered, even when she thinks she is the smartest person in the room. Thomil, her Kwen assistant, is seen as less than and other, because he comes from the lands with Blight. Their working dynamic gives me the ick. Their "romance" gives me the ick. Everything gives me the ick.
Colonizer romance is not "just" enemies to lovers. Enemies to lovers must be equal in standing. This is oppressor/oppressed. It's giving Stockholm Syndrome. It's not cute.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey
I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm going to mention it again -- once I clear my Del Rey backlog, I will no longer be requesting any of their titles. We do not vibe.
As you may know, I used to be a very snobby high fantasy reader, but lately, I am tired of how white/cishet/male the genre is. As I search for fantasy written by women, preferably BIPOC women, I am continuously disappointed in my East Asian reads.
Green eyes are the rarest in the world. A quick search states they are only 2% of the population. So, why is it that so many fantasy novels, namely Del Rey's, written by Asian women, include them? And terrible representations of colonialism?
Yes, this is a colonizer romance. Granted, it's a little different in that Sciona, the woman, is from the colonizing party. You may ask, "What makes this a colonizer romance?" and "Why does this offend you so much?"
Sciona's people use a form of magic called siphoning. This steals the energy from a different source. This source comes from the natural resources of a neighboring nation, specifically, . This is called Blight, but what it is is a travesty. If you can't "see" colonization, and are from the west, boy, do I have some interesting news for you.
I truly don't go into these books wanting to hate them. I want to be surprised. Sciona is not smart. She is annoying, petulant, and very sheltered, even when she thinks she is the smartest person in the room. Thomil, her Kwen assistant, is seen as less than and other, because he comes from the lands with Blight. Their working dynamic gives me the ick. Their "romance" gives me the ick. Everything gives me the ick.
Colonizer romance is not "just" enemies to lovers. Enemies to lovers must be equal in standing. This is oppressor/oppressed. It's giving Stockholm Syndrome. It's not cute.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey
July 23, 2024
If I had to describe this book with one word, it would be intense. I wasn’t very “convinced” by it when I first started reading, mostly because the main character isn’t pleasant – but, now, I think that it was very important for her not to be, for she perfectly incarnated the mind and the ideas of every other Tiranish man. Of course, she was intrinsically different from them and she faced unique challenges – and, being a woman myself, that wasn’t pleasant to read as well –, but, deep down, she still wanted what they wanted, she still wanted to be one of them, and she still shared their prejudices. Eventually, she changed and I started appreciating her – not as much as I appreciated Thomil and Carra, but still, her character development was touching. I believe that, even though it doesn’t make for the most pleasant reading experience, her unpleasant personality is quite fundamental to understanding the evil, corrupted mechanisms of the world portrayed, for it perfectly shows the ugliness of said world.
One thing that really got to me was how deeply connected to the character I was, how much I cared for them and their survival and how much I hoped for an happy ending. It’s no surprise, then, how much I cried towards the end. And, even though it wasn’t what I’d have wanted to read, the story really stayed true to itself, it was as brutal as it was honest and that was beautiful: it didn’t feel forced or fake, it was as raw and blunt as it could be. I don’t really know at what point they started meaning so much to me, because I don’t recall any chapter being particularly striking, I think that my affection grew gradually, with every setback and horror we witnessed. Frankly, this book made me very sad, probably because I kept comparing what I was reading to the real world, but, sometimes, this kind of slap in the face is very much needed.
One thing that really got to me was how deeply connected to the character I was, how much I cared for them and their survival and how much I hoped for an happy ending. It’s no surprise, then, how much I cried towards the end. And, even though it wasn’t what I’d have wanted to read, the story really stayed true to itself, it was as brutal as it was honest and that was beautiful: it didn’t feel forced or fake, it was as raw and blunt as it could be. I don’t really know at what point they started meaning so much to me, because I don’t recall any chapter being particularly striking, I think that my affection grew gradually, with every setback and horror we witnessed. Frankly, this book made me very sad, probably because I kept comparing what I was reading to the real world, but, sometimes, this kind of slap in the face is very much needed.
July 18, 2023
4.5/5 but I'll round it up for the bold ending.
Dark, disturbing, and utterly addictive, Blood Over Bright Haven is an absolute must-read. I’m not well-versed in the dark academia subgenre, but you can’t go wrong with this page-turner. It delves into topics of imperialism, racism, elitism, and supremacy, but it’s a damn good book above all.
The City of Tiran is impressive. Enclosed within a magical Barrier, it offers its citizens comfort and industrialization made possible by magic. Refugees from the outside, however, can’t expect equal treatment, and they usually scrape by in factories or doing menial jobs. Those who live outside? Dead or soon to be dead through Blight. This lethal light appears from nowhere and strips away layer after layer of human and animal bodies until nothing but blood remains.
Within the confines of the walls, Sciona Freynan has the potential to make history as the first female highmage. She just needs to pass the final exam. Since work, studies, and magic are her sole priorities and she lacks social skills or real interest in other human beings, she feels she can do it. Driven by insatiable ambition and hunger for glory and gifted with a brilliant (if obsessive) mind, she has no equals. There’s just one problem - she’s a woman. And most mages believe women are not destined for greatness.
To avoid revealing any crucial plot points, I’ll keep the synopsis brief. Wang gradually unveils the true origin of magic and sheds light on the mysterious Otherrealm - from which mages draw energy to power the city. Expect the unexpected. It’s dark academia, after all, where appearances are often deceiving.
Blood Over Bright Haven avoids gratuitous violence but contains graphic scenes that may unsettle some readers. It excels at stripping its protagonist from her core beliefs while making her understand the monstrous secrets of Tiran.
There’s, of course, a man and a potential for romance. Sciona faces many obstacles, and it is through the other point of view character, Thomil—a Kwen refugee—that we understand how limited her choices are. Their chemistry and dynamics are great. But here’s the catch - we’re talking about M.L. Wang’s book. In The Sword of Kaigen, she has proven to be unafraid of defying readers’ expectations and making bold, heart-wrenching choices. I have issues with parts of the story and the characterization of one of the bad guys, but the ending left me speechless and deserves all the stars.
A word about the magic. I’m not usually a fan of magic systems, but I loved how similar to coding it was. How logical and elegant it felt. Bravo! The characterization of most players is top-notch, too.
The book itself is relatively short (around 120,000 words) and tells a complete story. It skilfully explores themes of gender injustice, racism, faith, and consequences of intentions. All while providing suspense, action, and personal drama. The second half of the book is driven by anger. A righteous anger that serves as a catalyst for societal change, igniting a fire that propels the characters and their world forward.
To provide a balanced perspective, it is worth mentioning that some readers may take issue with the somewhat simplistic depiction of certain characters and the use of narrative shortcuts to convey the message. Personally, I found myself emotionally engaged, and these aspects did not hinder my overall enjoyment of the story.
In short, Blood Over Bright Haves is excellent. It tells a complete story, provides a satisfying ending, and is an emotional rollercoaster as the narrative takes bold risks and delivers gut-wrenching twists. Go ahead, give it a read.
Dark, disturbing, and utterly addictive, Blood Over Bright Haven is an absolute must-read. I’m not well-versed in the dark academia subgenre, but you can’t go wrong with this page-turner. It delves into topics of imperialism, racism, elitism, and supremacy, but it’s a damn good book above all.
The City of Tiran is impressive. Enclosed within a magical Barrier, it offers its citizens comfort and industrialization made possible by magic. Refugees from the outside, however, can’t expect equal treatment, and they usually scrape by in factories or doing menial jobs. Those who live outside? Dead or soon to be dead through Blight. This lethal light appears from nowhere and strips away layer after layer of human and animal bodies until nothing but blood remains.
Within the confines of the walls, Sciona Freynan has the potential to make history as the first female highmage. She just needs to pass the final exam. Since work, studies, and magic are her sole priorities and she lacks social skills or real interest in other human beings, she feels she can do it. Driven by insatiable ambition and hunger for glory and gifted with a brilliant (if obsessive) mind, she has no equals. There’s just one problem - she’s a woman. And most mages believe women are not destined for greatness.
To avoid revealing any crucial plot points, I’ll keep the synopsis brief. Wang gradually unveils the true origin of magic and sheds light on the mysterious Otherrealm - from which mages draw energy to power the city. Expect the unexpected. It’s dark academia, after all, where appearances are often deceiving.
Blood Over Bright Haven avoids gratuitous violence but contains graphic scenes that may unsettle some readers. It excels at stripping its protagonist from her core beliefs while making her understand the monstrous secrets of Tiran.
There’s, of course, a man and a potential for romance. Sciona faces many obstacles, and it is through the other point of view character, Thomil—a Kwen refugee—that we understand how limited her choices are. Their chemistry and dynamics are great. But here’s the catch - we’re talking about M.L. Wang’s book. In The Sword of Kaigen, she has proven to be unafraid of defying readers’ expectations and making bold, heart-wrenching choices. I have issues with parts of the story and the characterization of one of the bad guys, but the ending left me speechless and deserves all the stars.
A word about the magic. I’m not usually a fan of magic systems, but I loved how similar to coding it was. How logical and elegant it felt. Bravo! The characterization of most players is top-notch, too.
The book itself is relatively short (around 120,000 words) and tells a complete story. It skilfully explores themes of gender injustice, racism, faith, and consequences of intentions. All while providing suspense, action, and personal drama. The second half of the book is driven by anger. A righteous anger that serves as a catalyst for societal change, igniting a fire that propels the characters and their world forward.
To provide a balanced perspective, it is worth mentioning that some readers may take issue with the somewhat simplistic depiction of certain characters and the use of narrative shortcuts to convey the message. Personally, I found myself emotionally engaged, and these aspects did not hinder my overall enjoyment of the story.
In short, Blood Over Bright Haves is excellent. It tells a complete story, provides a satisfying ending, and is an emotional rollercoaster as the narrative takes bold risks and delivers gut-wrenching twists. Go ahead, give it a read.
October 18, 2023
With this novel I completed my 2023 reading challenge 😊
This story deals with many sensitive topics such as: xenophobia, sexism, colonialism.
Hasta dónde puede una persona "vender su alma" para tener o seguir en el poder.
I don't have much to say about the story itself. It's okay, I just didn't love it.
This story deals with many sensitive topics such as: xenophobia, sexism, colonialism.
Hasta dónde puede una persona "vender su alma" para tener o seguir en el poder.
I don't have much to say about the story itself. It's okay, I just didn't love it.
July 15, 2023
5 stars
if i could, i would have rated it 134340 stars, because 5 do not do this book justice.
by my nature, i am bound to enjoy any book that delves into imperialism & exploitation of power and critiques them, so it was no wonder i enjoyed blood over haven so much (the novel, in some ways, reminded me of babel by rf kuang, which i loved).
as for the book itself, ml wang has this inexplicable ability to keep my attention glued to every page of hers and this novel was not an exception, seeing as i have read it in under 24 hours. i literally cannot find a single flaw here, even if i wanted to. every word was used purposefully and was telling a story, character development was done beautifully, the plot was incredible, the ending was perfect, and i *loved* reading about the topics explored here (and the conversations various characters had about them), seeing as it is something my country has experienced, too.
overall, irrefutable 5 stars and i recommend this book to anyone and everyone !! it is a work of art.
if i could, i would have rated it 134340 stars, because 5 do not do this book justice.
by my nature, i am bound to enjoy any book that delves into imperialism & exploitation of power and critiques them, so it was no wonder i enjoyed blood over haven so much (the novel, in some ways, reminded me of babel by rf kuang, which i loved).
as for the book itself, ml wang has this inexplicable ability to keep my attention glued to every page of hers and this novel was not an exception, seeing as i have read it in under 24 hours. i literally cannot find a single flaw here, even if i wanted to. every word was used purposefully and was telling a story, character development was done beautifully, the plot was incredible, the ending was perfect, and i *loved* reading about the topics explored here (and the conversations various characters had about them), seeing as it is something my country has experienced, too.
overall, irrefutable 5 stars and i recommend this book to anyone and everyone !! it is a work of art.
May 26, 2024
*deep breath* This was compulsively excellent.
If there is one book, one author really, that booktok is not lying to you about. That really lives up to the praise you hear. It’s this one. Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang.
The Sword of Kaigen made my top reads of 2023 and I’m confident this will make my top of 2024. Some people say that The Sword of Kaigen, for all it’s splendor, starts off a little slow and I don’t know… but I feel like Wang heard that take and rubbed her little hands together and said fine, FINE. You want to see what an insane start looks like? I’ll show you. So the opening of this book? Had me floored. An immediately gripping launch with bursts of context and world building woven into a bloody and anxiety inducing sprint of a chapter one. Iykyk
We first get introduced to this world through Thomil, a nomadic hunter who lives in a region plagued by “Blight”, as he attempts to seek shelter in the gloriously urban and sophisticated city of Tiran. In Tiran we step into Sciona’s shoes, a brilliant student and researcher who is trying to become the first female highmage ever. When Sciona succeeds and receives her first highmage task (to work on expansion plans for the magical boarder of Tiran) the other highmages play a cruel joke on her and give her Thomil, a current janitor, as her lab assistant. What happens when you put this unlikely pair together? Well they’re going to uncover some sinister magical secrets aren’t they.
Explanation time is over let’s talk about everything else that I want to: characters, world building and themes. Wang is a master at all three and she does it with my favorite nebulous term: NUANCE.
I think it’s something quite special to create characters that are not only fascinating and complex, but who’s characterization and development serves a narrative purpose. Sciona is selfish, egotistical and single minded in her pursuit of truth, advancement and recognition. She is also incredibly prejudiced while being oppressed herself. Watching her discover and grapple with atrocity moved the plot forward in compelling ways that would have been lost if a perfect Mary Sue hero character had been given the reins. Can Sciona grow to understand someone else’s oppression through her own? Or will inequality only concern her if it directly affects her goals. Importantly, can she overcome her ignorance when faced with disturbing truth?
The supporting cast was just as moving - the quiet resilience of Thomil, the deep rage of Carra, the simple love of Alba. And the villains? You don’t even want to get me started on their brainwashed, sadistic, misogynistic, and oppressive behavior. I WILL start yelling.
The world building/ magic system… think Babel x Harry Potter with a magic system which is basically coding? This also managed to have a lot of the themes of dark academia with a cyberpunk/ technological overlay. I pictured the city of Tiran to be a kind of carnivorous gaping maw - the spires of the buildings being the teeth that chew up its residents for the sake of societal progress. I feel like… I shouldn’t say any more. Know that it’s EXCELLENT stuff.
Now for the THEMES~ my favorite part.
Sciona’s insatiable curiosity creates a manic propensity for finding the truth at all costs. This brings her and us as readers to some truly hideous revelations… and having a character both privileged and oppressed is the perfect slate for the kind of moral conversations Wang is trying to have.
Early on, Thomil and Sciona have a philosophical/ moral debate which essentially boils down to what is more important: having good intentions but accidentally causing harm or unintentionally creating a better world while not having any thought towards doing so. Aka - Do our intentions matter as much as the results of our actions? I found myself constantly going back to this question while observing the characters in this story. Sometimes these characters create good while meaning evil, sometimes they aim for kindness and instead wreak havoc, and sometimes they both wish and enact cruelty. Some don’t think at all. Most alternate between all options. None are perfect. Who’s going to “Heaven” then?
These questions are particularly fascinating in a world that seems rotten to its core - a city where blind fanaticism can be used to control historical narratives and serve the desires of the elite. BUT this is also a world that houses humans with that pesky little inclination for hope despite it all. How do we as people have the capacity to dehumanize an entire population while also retain the ability to love, to seek connection, to hope for better? Do our intentions matter here? Our actions? Or both? What legacy do we want to leave behind… and does that even matter in the slightest?
Somewhere along the way of all these questions, this book became a 6 star read. READ THIS.
___________________
pre review
you all are NOT ready for my thoughts on this one. review to come. (threatening) (in awe) (slightly drunk)
If there is one book, one author really, that booktok is not lying to you about. That really lives up to the praise you hear. It’s this one. Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang.
The Sword of Kaigen made my top reads of 2023 and I’m confident this will make my top of 2024. Some people say that The Sword of Kaigen, for all it’s splendor, starts off a little slow and I don’t know… but I feel like Wang heard that take and rubbed her little hands together and said fine, FINE. You want to see what an insane start looks like? I’ll show you. So the opening of this book? Had me floored. An immediately gripping launch with bursts of context and world building woven into a bloody and anxiety inducing sprint of a chapter one. Iykyk
We first get introduced to this world through Thomil, a nomadic hunter who lives in a region plagued by “Blight”, as he attempts to seek shelter in the gloriously urban and sophisticated city of Tiran. In Tiran we step into Sciona’s shoes, a brilliant student and researcher who is trying to become the first female highmage ever. When Sciona succeeds and receives her first highmage task (to work on expansion plans for the magical boarder of Tiran) the other highmages play a cruel joke on her and give her Thomil, a current janitor, as her lab assistant. What happens when you put this unlikely pair together? Well they’re going to uncover some sinister magical secrets aren’t they.
Explanation time is over let’s talk about everything else that I want to: characters, world building and themes. Wang is a master at all three and she does it with my favorite nebulous term: NUANCE.
I think it’s something quite special to create characters that are not only fascinating and complex, but who’s characterization and development serves a narrative purpose. Sciona is selfish, egotistical and single minded in her pursuit of truth, advancement and recognition. She is also incredibly prejudiced while being oppressed herself. Watching her discover and grapple with atrocity moved the plot forward in compelling ways that would have been lost if a perfect Mary Sue hero character had been given the reins. Can Sciona grow to understand someone else’s oppression through her own? Or will inequality only concern her if it directly affects her goals. Importantly, can she overcome her ignorance when faced with disturbing truth?
The supporting cast was just as moving - the quiet resilience of Thomil, the deep rage of Carra, the simple love of Alba. And the villains? You don’t even want to get me started on their brainwashed, sadistic, misogynistic, and oppressive behavior. I WILL start yelling.
The world building/ magic system… think Babel x Harry Potter with a magic system which is basically coding? This also managed to have a lot of the themes of dark academia with a cyberpunk/ technological overlay. I pictured the city of Tiran to be a kind of carnivorous gaping maw - the spires of the buildings being the teeth that chew up its residents for the sake of societal progress. I feel like… I shouldn’t say any more. Know that it’s EXCELLENT stuff.
Now for the THEMES~ my favorite part.
Sciona’s insatiable curiosity creates a manic propensity for finding the truth at all costs. This brings her and us as readers to some truly hideous revelations… and having a character both privileged and oppressed is the perfect slate for the kind of moral conversations Wang is trying to have.
Early on, Thomil and Sciona have a philosophical/ moral debate which essentially boils down to what is more important: having good intentions but accidentally causing harm or unintentionally creating a better world while not having any thought towards doing so. Aka - Do our intentions matter as much as the results of our actions? I found myself constantly going back to this question while observing the characters in this story. Sometimes these characters create good while meaning evil, sometimes they aim for kindness and instead wreak havoc, and sometimes they both wish and enact cruelty. Some don’t think at all. Most alternate between all options. None are perfect. Who’s going to “Heaven” then?
These questions are particularly fascinating in a world that seems rotten to its core - a city where blind fanaticism can be used to control historical narratives and serve the desires of the elite. BUT this is also a world that houses humans with that pesky little inclination for hope despite it all. How do we as people have the capacity to dehumanize an entire population while also retain the ability to love, to seek connection, to hope for better? Do our intentions matter here? Our actions? Or both? What legacy do we want to leave behind… and does that even matter in the slightest?
Somewhere along the way of all these questions, this book became a 6 star read. READ THIS.
___________________
pre review
you all are NOT ready for my thoughts on this one. review to come. (threatening) (in awe) (slightly drunk)
September 21, 2024
This book made me weep. I just finished it and I am a mess. I can feel the reading slump entering my body.
June 4, 2024
If you're going to tackle writing about oppression and supremacy, this is how you do it. M.L. Wang continues to weave themes into her stories without oversimplification or trite solutions. She manages to deliver hopeful narratives, even when the material is bleak. Here, she takes on sexism, capitalism, colonialism, racism, and classism with her brilliant tact. And for good measure, she also drops in an ethics conversation that still has me thinking.
Just from a story-telling perspective, Blood Over Bright Haven has a unique and interesting setting; one of, if not the, best magic systems I've ever read; and compelling characters wrapped up in a plot that keeps you turning pages. I love the coding-like typewriters that are magic conduits! The academic setting was scrumptious. And the unlikable FMC who grows has got to be one of my favorite character arc structures.
I'm still reeling about the ethical weight of intentions vs. consequences when people take action. This question is dropped in the middle of the narrative and beautifully develops Thomil and Sciona's characters by showing what they believe on a theoretical level. It gives the reader something to analyze as their beliefs are tested in small and large ways throughout the story.
Finally, I am so pleased that in a story where there is no right answer, the message is that maybe someone else has a better answer than you do. Healing can come through surrender, trust, and hope. There is a letting go that can have profound impact.
My only note is that this story did not pack the emotional punch that The Sword of Kaigen did. For that reason, it isn't my favorite book she's written, but I cannot find fault with it. It is a clean and satisfying story about a corrupt system and the unsustainability of it. It illustrates how the average citizen can be both ignorant and complicit, and how one can be part of the problem and the solution. Love can change the game. Ego is its own kind of evil magic, casting the most unreasonable delusions. I could go on. There are so many takeaways because this woman understands NUANCE.
If you like Dark Academia, and fiction that offers insight into the complexity of the issues we face, I highly recommend this!
Just from a story-telling perspective, Blood Over Bright Haven has a unique and interesting setting; one of, if not the, best magic systems I've ever read; and compelling characters wrapped up in a plot that keeps you turning pages. I love the coding-like typewriters that are magic conduits! The academic setting was scrumptious. And the unlikable FMC who grows has got to be one of my favorite character arc structures.
I'm still reeling about the ethical weight of intentions vs. consequences when people take action. This question is dropped in the middle of the narrative and beautifully develops Thomil and Sciona's characters by showing what they believe on a theoretical level. It gives the reader something to analyze as their beliefs are tested in small and large ways throughout the story.
Finally, I am so pleased that in a story where there is no right answer, the message is that maybe someone else has a better answer than you do. Healing can come through surrender, trust, and hope. There is a letting go that can have profound impact.
My only note is that this story did not pack the emotional punch that The Sword of Kaigen did. For that reason, it isn't my favorite book she's written, but I cannot find fault with it. It is a clean and satisfying story about a corrupt system and the unsustainability of it. It illustrates how the average citizen can be both ignorant and complicit, and how one can be part of the problem and the solution. Love can change the game. Ego is its own kind of evil magic, casting the most unreasonable delusions. I could go on. There are so many takeaways because this woman understands NUANCE.
If you like Dark Academia, and fiction that offers insight into the complexity of the issues we face, I highly recommend this!
May 17, 2024
I've read a lot of SFF books about colonization, exploitation, and systemic oppression. I've read a lot of SFF books about terrible empires built on those things. I don't think I've ever read a book where that truth and its reckoning feels this heavy, where the weight and the burden of knowledge is genuinely and realistically impossible to carry, because almost like a Lovecraftian monster, to truly look at the depths of the depravity of "civilization" would be madness-inducing. If any of us were to look around us and seriously hold the knowledge of how everything around us came to be there - the unethical labor practices, the factory farming, the deforestation, a dozen other evils that stack on top of each other to put, say, a slice of pizza on a disposable plate - if we genuinely wrapped our heads around every piece of the puzzle that makes up our daily comfort, we would sit in a corner and scream. We would be incapacitated.
That's really all I'm going to say; that's what this book is about. Not in its entirety, of course, there's actually a ton going on, but that feeling is what I'm left with. I finished reading this a while ago now and I've been letting it marinate hoping that I'll figure out how to properly review it, but I actually think this is one where it's better to know as little as possible going into it. If you know M. L. Wang at all, you'll know to expect incredibly nuanced character work and a brilliantly intricate magic system. This is perfect for fans of Babel, and the worldbuilding will appeal to anyone who loved Fullmetal Alchemist. I also think you'll love this if you enjoyed the Final Strife, although they're very different stories.
I figured out early in the book what the terrible twist to the "utopia" would be, and felt pretty clever for it, but learning the truth actually isn't the point at all. The point is what we do with it.
That's really all I'm going to say; that's what this book is about. Not in its entirety, of course, there's actually a ton going on, but that feeling is what I'm left with. I finished reading this a while ago now and I've been letting it marinate hoping that I'll figure out how to properly review it, but I actually think this is one where it's better to know as little as possible going into it. If you know M. L. Wang at all, you'll know to expect incredibly nuanced character work and a brilliantly intricate magic system. This is perfect for fans of Babel, and the worldbuilding will appeal to anyone who loved Fullmetal Alchemist. I also think you'll love this if you enjoyed the Final Strife, although they're very different stories.
I figured out early in the book what the terrible twist to the "utopia" would be, and felt pretty clever for it, but learning the truth actually isn't the point at all. The point is what we do with it.
August 16, 2023
Another great stand-alone fantasy novel by M.L. Wang! Though I didn’t love this one as much as
Sword of Kaigen
, I still feel that Blood Over Bright Haven has a lot to offer: a compelling dark academia setup, an interesting and well-written magic system, and on-point, well-integrated commentary about sexism and gender. Though the book is somewhat long, I finished it in two days because the prose was so readable and I wanted to know what would happen next.
The main reason I give this book four stars instead of five is because the first half or so of the story felt a tad predictable to me. It came across as almost didactic, and the parallels between a privileged person learning about their privilege from a marginalized person (e.g., I was thinking of a white person learning about their white privilege from a person of color) almost felt too obvious to me. This element of the novel slightly redeemed itself toward the second half when Sciona started to recognize her own problematic behavior and self-correct.
I will say though, the last 20% of Blood Over Bright Haven had me *shaken*. It really saved the novel for me. Things happened that I did not expect though felt so satisfying from a plot and character development perspective. I felt genuinely moved by the characters and their growth. To avoid spoilers, all I’ll say is *that* is how you put your money where your mouth is in terms of allyship, standing with people with less privilege than you, etc. All in all, a solid four-star read.
The main reason I give this book four stars instead of five is because the first half or so of the story felt a tad predictable to me. It came across as almost didactic, and the parallels between a privileged person learning about their privilege from a marginalized person (e.g., I was thinking of a white person learning about their white privilege from a person of color) almost felt too obvious to me. This element of the novel slightly redeemed itself toward the second half when Sciona started to recognize her own problematic behavior and self-correct.
I will say though, the last 20% of Blood Over Bright Haven had me *shaken*. It really saved the novel for me. Things happened that I did not expect though felt so satisfying from a plot and character development perspective. I felt genuinely moved by the characters and their growth. To avoid spoilers, all I’ll say is *that* is how you put your money where your mouth is in terms of allyship, standing with people with less privilege than you, etc. All in all, a solid four-star read.
April 18, 2024
"The worthwhile run is never the short one."
Once every ten years, a woman is allowed to test into becoming a high mage. This year, its Sciona, a brilliant and driven mage who has shown that she doesn't care about anything except her ego and magic. She is chosen, only to realize that the blatant sexism that has been thrown in her face everyday of her life will not go away just because she is high up in academia. Ten years ago, running with his tribe from a blight that literally unravels people, Thomil is a Kwen who crossed into the city of Tiran with his niece, Carra. Because of the racism in the city, Thomil cannot rise above the job of janitor no matter how smart and capable he is. He keeps his head down just to survive another day. Through chance (a shitty coworker making a shitty joke), Thomil ends up as Sciona's sole laboratory assistant. Despite Sciona's prejudices towards Thomil, she teaches him how to become her assistant and, together, they discover the terrible cost that allows this city to function.
This book is very academic and has a unique magic system that reminds me a lot of coding. While it is really cool, it can also be a little exhausting to read pages upon pages of Sciona infodumping this highly academic magic system to various people (mainly Thomil). The only times I ever put the book down was during those pages of explanation because it truly felt like I was reading a textbook.
"Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort."
Sciona is also a really hard character to read from. While yes, she does have to deal with the sexism of her society, she is still upholding an incredibly racist system and it takes her a while to understand that Thomil is just as much a person as her and even longer to realize that Thomil is not an anomaly among the Kwen in that regard. While having Sciona as the main POV in this book makes it a bit hard to read at times, it allows for Wang to open up a lot of points about the importance of intersectionality and how you can still be an oppressor if you yourself are being oppressed.
Further into the book, we finally get to actually meet Carra, the young niece of Thomil. Thomil has trained himself to keep his head down and accept his fate just to survive, but he did not do the same to Carra. Where Thomil is calm and dejected, Carra is rightfully angry. She doesn't care about her own life if it means that the world will be better for her people. While she isn't a POV, she is a huge catalyst and important character for the plot and is so well written.
This book is about how you are still bad if you are upholding an evil system that you are aware of and have the power to stop. If you are in a place when you can make a change, you are bad if you put your head down and ignore the atrocities and you allow for evil things to keep happening.
The end of this book is bittersweet. Its really easy in a fantasy book to create an easy solution for all of the structural issues in a world, but, like in Babel by RF Kuang, Wang shows that progress cannot be made without sacrifice and violence. And even with that sacrifice and violence, it may take a hundred years to see a tangible change.
This is a book that makes you angry. Not just about this fantasy world, but about the racism, colonialism, and imperialism of our own world.
Song: Butchered Tongue / Hozier
________
pre-review: stayed up til after 3am for this book to absolutely destroy me.
Once every ten years, a woman is allowed to test into becoming a high mage. This year, its Sciona, a brilliant and driven mage who has shown that she doesn't care about anything except her ego and magic. She is chosen, only to realize that the blatant sexism that has been thrown in her face everyday of her life will not go away just because she is high up in academia. Ten years ago, running with his tribe from a blight that literally unravels people, Thomil is a Kwen who crossed into the city of Tiran with his niece, Carra. Because of the racism in the city, Thomil cannot rise above the job of janitor no matter how smart and capable he is. He keeps his head down just to survive another day. Through chance (a shitty coworker making a shitty joke), Thomil ends up as Sciona's sole laboratory assistant. Despite Sciona's prejudices towards Thomil, she teaches him how to become her assistant and, together, they discover the terrible cost that allows this city to function.
This book is very academic and has a unique magic system that reminds me a lot of coding. While it is really cool, it can also be a little exhausting to read pages upon pages of Sciona infodumping this highly academic magic system to various people (mainly Thomil). The only times I ever put the book down was during those pages of explanation because it truly felt like I was reading a textbook.
"Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort."
Sciona is also a really hard character to read from. While yes, she does have to deal with the sexism of her society, she is still upholding an incredibly racist system and it takes her a while to understand that Thomil is just as much a person as her and even longer to realize that Thomil is not an anomaly among the Kwen in that regard. While having Sciona as the main POV in this book makes it a bit hard to read at times, it allows for Wang to open up a lot of points about the importance of intersectionality and how you can still be an oppressor if you yourself are being oppressed.
Further into the book, we finally get to actually meet Carra, the young niece of Thomil. Thomil has trained himself to keep his head down and accept his fate just to survive, but he did not do the same to Carra. Where Thomil is calm and dejected, Carra is rightfully angry. She doesn't care about her own life if it means that the world will be better for her people. While she isn't a POV, she is a huge catalyst and important character for the plot and is so well written.
This book is about how you are still bad if you are upholding an evil system that you are aware of and have the power to stop. If you are in a place when you can make a change, you are bad if you put your head down and ignore the atrocities and you allow for evil things to keep happening.
The end of this book is bittersweet. Its really easy in a fantasy book to create an easy solution for all of the structural issues in a world, but, like in Babel by RF Kuang, Wang shows that progress cannot be made without sacrifice and violence. And even with that sacrifice and violence, it may take a hundred years to see a tangible change.
This is a book that makes you angry. Not just about this fantasy world, but about the racism, colonialism, and imperialism of our own world.
Song: Butchered Tongue / Hozier
________
pre-review: stayed up til after 3am for this book to absolutely destroy me.
November 23, 2023
ML Wang should be talked about in the same breath as any of the fantasy greats. First, with the Sword of Kaigen, and now with Blood Over Bright Haven, she has crafted two masterpiece standalone books that have become two of my favorite books ever.
Would you believe me if I told you that this 516 page book effectively explores the themes of misogyny, racism, religion, family, ego, legacy, and morality? Because IT DOES.
All while having a plot that is extremely engaging and addicting, characters that are believable and multi-layered, and a world and magic system that are entirely unique. I mean, COME ON. WHO THE HELL CAN DO ALL OF THAT IN ONE BOOK???? WHO?????????????
The most important part of this book is that ML Wang is unflinching in the way she explores topics and themes. She doesn’t take the easy way out like a lot of fantasy stories do. Her portrayals of emotion and change are brutally honest. Sometimes change is not easy. Sometimes the world cannot be fixed with words. Sometimes, all that you can do is move forward. Every time I thought I knew where our narrative or emotional threads were headed in this story, I was proven wrong. And I LOVED it.
I’ll start with specifically talking about Sciona, who is our main character in this story. She is a woman of determination and obsession, and I kind of thought that I knew where her story was headed based on these things. She has to fight and scrap for everything she earns in this society dominated by men, and her struggle was already one that I found compelling. For the sake of spoilers, I will say that she is so so much more than those qualities. She’s a complex human, as we all are, and due to the nature of this story, we get to explore her psyche in a way I wasn’t expecting. While at times I felt disconnected from her emotional journey, by the end I felt like I understood her. Just as with Misaki in the Sword of Kaigen, I never could have predicted where she ended her emotional arc.
And then there’s Thomil, who I felt emotionally attached to literally in chapter 1. I truly can’t say much about him without spoilers, but I will say that I love him very very much and that’s all you need to know.
As for the magic and the world - it’s fucking awesome. The magic is basically coding, but with magical elements. If that sounds boring to you, I promise that it’s not. Everything is explained in a digestible way, and the magic is absolutely crucial to both character and plot in this story. It also functions to power the entirety of this world, which, if I had to describe it, is steampunk adjacent. Think Fullmetal Alchemist or Arcane.
The fact that Wang created such an original story with such an original world AGAIN… I’m at a loss for words.
I’m actually having a hard time collecting my thoughts because there is just so much within these pages that could be discussed. It’s safe to say, however, that I consider ML Wang to be one of my favorite authors ever now.
Would you believe me if I told you that this 516 page book effectively explores the themes of misogyny, racism, religion, family, ego, legacy, and morality? Because IT DOES.
All while having a plot that is extremely engaging and addicting, characters that are believable and multi-layered, and a world and magic system that are entirely unique. I mean, COME ON. WHO THE HELL CAN DO ALL OF THAT IN ONE BOOK???? WHO?????????????
The most important part of this book is that ML Wang is unflinching in the way she explores topics and themes. She doesn’t take the easy way out like a lot of fantasy stories do. Her portrayals of emotion and change are brutally honest. Sometimes change is not easy. Sometimes the world cannot be fixed with words. Sometimes, all that you can do is move forward. Every time I thought I knew where our narrative or emotional threads were headed in this story, I was proven wrong. And I LOVED it.
I’ll start with specifically talking about Sciona, who is our main character in this story. She is a woman of determination and obsession, and I kind of thought that I knew where her story was headed based on these things. She has to fight and scrap for everything she earns in this society dominated by men, and her struggle was already one that I found compelling. For the sake of spoilers, I will say that she is so so much more than those qualities. She’s a complex human, as we all are, and due to the nature of this story, we get to explore her psyche in a way I wasn’t expecting. While at times I felt disconnected from her emotional journey, by the end I felt like I understood her. Just as with Misaki in the Sword of Kaigen, I never could have predicted where she ended her emotional arc.
And then there’s Thomil, who I felt emotionally attached to literally in chapter 1. I truly can’t say much about him without spoilers, but I will say that I love him very very much and that’s all you need to know.
As for the magic and the world - it’s fucking awesome. The magic is basically coding, but with magical elements. If that sounds boring to you, I promise that it’s not. Everything is explained in a digestible way, and the magic is absolutely crucial to both character and plot in this story. It also functions to power the entirety of this world, which, if I had to describe it, is steampunk adjacent. Think Fullmetal Alchemist or Arcane.
The fact that Wang created such an original story with such an original world AGAIN… I’m at a loss for words.
I’m actually having a hard time collecting my thoughts because there is just so much within these pages that could be discussed. It’s safe to say, however, that I consider ML Wang to be one of my favorite authors ever now.
March 6, 2024
9.00 on CAWPILE
Absolutely rage inducing. I loved it.
Absolutely rage inducing. I loved it.
December 1, 2023
2.5 stars.
I have to admit that I was less than impressed with this book. The magic system was cool, but the rest of the book left a lot to be desired.
The "big twist" was so obvious that I figured it out in the first chapter and struggled to believe that, in a society filled people who study magic on a daily basis, only the tiniest handful of their "elite" actually ever figure out the "big secret."
The handling of the sexism theme was so ham-fisted that it felt like the author was going down a checklist of "all the sexist things that men can say to women" and trying to cram every item into every single conservation.
One of the villains basically turned into a mustache-twirling cartoon character two-thirds of the way through the story, and he completely out of the blue in the third act, an event that the book tries to make sense of by literally back-filling information after the fact.
The plot has some strange pacing and development issues. There are lulls where there shouldn't be, and the plot progresses unevenly. And while the climax is kind of satisfying in the way that it deals with the antagonists, I don't like how open-ended the conclusion is. I felt that it could've been way more definitive than that, given the setup for the climax.
I wish I had liked this book a lot more than I did, because I know that people really love this author's other novel, The Sword of Kaigen. But this book just didn't land well with me. Lots of cool concepts, but the execution could've been a lot better.
I have to admit that I was less than impressed with this book. The magic system was cool, but the rest of the book left a lot to be desired.
The "big twist" was so obvious that I figured it out in the first chapter and struggled to believe that, in a society filled people who study magic on a daily basis, only the tiniest handful of their "elite" actually ever figure out the "big secret."
The handling of the sexism theme was so ham-fisted that it felt like the author was going down a checklist of "all the sexist things that men can say to women" and trying to cram every item into every single conservation.
One of the villains basically turned into a mustache-twirling cartoon character two-thirds of the way through the story, and he completely out of the blue in the third act, an event that the book tries to make sense of by literally back-filling information after the fact.
The plot has some strange pacing and development issues. There are lulls where there shouldn't be, and the plot progresses unevenly. And while the climax is kind of satisfying in the way that it deals with the antagonists, I don't like how open-ended the conclusion is. I felt that it could've been way more definitive than that, given the setup for the climax.
I wish I had liked this book a lot more than I did, because I know that people really love this author's other novel, The Sword of Kaigen. But this book just didn't land well with me. Lots of cool concepts, but the execution could've been a lot better.
August 8, 2024
“It’s much easier to tell yourself you’re a good person than it is to actually be one.”
Actual Rating: 4.5 Stars
Wang's The Sword of Kaigen is one of my all-time favorite books, so I was eagerly anticipating her next release. When I heard about Blood Over Bright Haven, I was overjoyed. Though this book is quite different from her previous work, I’m thrilled to say that it stands out as another exceptional standalone fantasy novel. I’m also excited that it’s about to be traditionally published!
Wang’s writing style is poetic, dark, and utterly captivating. From the moment I read the prologue, I knew I was in for something special, and by the time I finished the last chapter, my initial impressions were confirmed. Although I’m not typically a fan of the dark academia genre, Wang’s storytelling made it hard not to enjoy this one. The story centers on Sciona, who strives to master magic and become the first woman admitted to the High Magistry. Unsurprisingly, her journey is fraught with challenges, including a thoughtful exploration of sexism and misogyny.
“So many parents will try to kill everything brilliant about a girl in the name of giving her a good life, a safe life, a chance at happiness.”
The magic system in the novel is intriguing, though it takes a bit of time to fully grasp. As a fan of magical schools, I knew I’d be drawn to this aspect, and my appreciation for the magic system only deepened as I read on. The world’s mystery element, while somewhat predictable, was both clever and engaging.
The book tackles serious issues and includes content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation. Fans of Wang's work will recognize her penchant for brutality. The novel gave me vibes of Babel mixed with Foundryside, but with Wang's unique flair. Although I anticipated the ending, I felt it was the most fitting conclusion to the story and wished for it to unfold as it did.
In summary, while Blood Over Bright Haven is quite different from The Sword of Kaigen, it is brilliant in its own right. With its exceptional writing, well-developed characters, and captivating magic system, it’s everything I could have hoped for!
July 14, 2023
Now THAT is a dark academia
August 2, 2023
"a woman was weighed at the gates of heaven by her actions and their impact. well, sciona was going to leave an impact."
4.5/5
when it comes to writing standalone fantasy, m.l. wang is truly a genius.
this book was such an incredible ride, i'm still reeling from the adrenaline. it did take me a while to get into - the first 30% is a bit slow but once the plot gets going, it's full-speed ahead with barely a breather and i was on the edge of my seat right till the end (it also has my favorite thing where the ending echoes what happened at the beginning).
this is dark academia as it should be - questioning the foundations of academia, the ethics of research, the elitism and greed of academics. i also loved how wang explored the themes of colonialism, industrialization, capitalism, and misogyny through a fascinating magic system in a gaslamp fantasy setting. i really enjoyed the way the magic system was treated as a science, with theories and formulas and calculations and i loved learning about it along with the world and its history. the way the narrative uncovers the mysteries behind the world and its magic was beautifully done.
i also appreciate this book's insight into religion and morality and what it truly means to be a good person - or rather, if it's possible for goodness to survive in a harsh and cruel world.
of course no dark academia is complete without a passionate obsessive academic at its core and sciona freynan is that brilliantly unhinged protagonist. she's far from a likable character but you can't help rooting for her - she's an underdog in her world and also an unreliable narrator, egotistical, has racist views, and is ignorant to the painful realities of many in her city. but the way she grows, the path she takes, her sheer determination and strength of will to break the boundaries of society - i grew to really admire her. as for our other hero, i absolutely loved thomil, i loved seeing his complex, fraught relationship with sciona, and i couldn't have gone on this journey with better characters.
if i'm being really picky, i'd say the side characters could have been more fleshed out but that's a minor complaint in the context of a book as accomplished as blood over bright haven.
easily a new favorite of the year. highly recommended.
July 31, 2023
Wow, another spectacular stand-alone fantasy from the remarkable M.L. Wang. She's indisputably one of the best of the genre in writing emotionally powerful stories in a single tome.
September 7, 2024
This is the second book I have read by M.L. Wang, and I always don't know what to think of an author after I have only read one amazing book by them. Which is where I was at with Kaigen. You never know if they caught lightning in a bottle, or if they are just that good.
M.L. Wang is just that good. She has achieved auto buy, read on day one of release status after this.
This was brilliant, and I liked it even more than I liked The Sword of Kaigen. I think the duel chapter in Kaigen is still definitely my favorite scene of either book, but it just had a few little things that drove it down, and this really didn't.
Hard to describe without spoilers so I will just say dark academia vibe(something i'm generally neutral on), incredibly interesting protagonist who is compelling, inspiring, but deeply deeply flawed. Also worth noting that this protagonist is compelling, inspiring, and deeply flawed in totally different ways than Mizaki. M.L. Wang shows her range to those who have only read Kaigen. This is a book that manages to be compelling from start to finish, and also is a book that didn't just keep me up because I was reading, it kept me up because when I stopped reading I couldn't stop thinking about what I read.
M.L. Wang is so good at writing emotional turmoil, and she is also just brutal, where other authors would make things slightly easier on their protagonist, and their reader, I don't mean this is in a graphic content way, but in making them truly see consequences. M.L. Wang puts her protagonist in position of someone who has accidentally participated in evil.
There is an entire group of people in history who accidentally participated in evil, and they are the most uncomfortable people to think about, because if we don't think about it too hard we can all pretend that if we were in their shoes we would never have done that.
M.L. Wang offers an unflinching look at this, forces us to confront it head on, and does not pull a single punch.
9.4
M.L. Wang is just that good. She has achieved auto buy, read on day one of release status after this.
This was brilliant, and I liked it even more than I liked The Sword of Kaigen. I think the duel chapter in Kaigen is still definitely my favorite scene of either book, but it just had a few little things that drove it down, and this really didn't.
Hard to describe without spoilers so I will just say dark academia vibe(something i'm generally neutral on), incredibly interesting protagonist who is compelling, inspiring, but deeply deeply flawed. Also worth noting that this protagonist is compelling, inspiring, and deeply flawed in totally different ways than Mizaki. M.L. Wang shows her range to those who have only read Kaigen. This is a book that manages to be compelling from start to finish, and also is a book that didn't just keep me up because I was reading, it kept me up because when I stopped reading I couldn't stop thinking about what I read.
M.L. Wang is so good at writing emotional turmoil, and she is also just brutal, where other authors would make things slightly easier on their protagonist, and their reader, I don't mean this is in a graphic content way, but in making them truly see consequences. M.L. Wang puts her protagonist in position of someone who has accidentally participated in evil.
There is an entire group of people in history who accidentally participated in evil, and they are the most uncomfortable people to think about, because if we don't think about it too hard we can all pretend that if we were in their shoes we would never have done that.
M.L. Wang offers an unflinching look at this, forces us to confront it head on, and does not pull a single punch.
9.4
July 27, 2024
3⭐️ || TikTok
long story short...
this is a very mid book with in your face themes and an extremely predictable plot.
The long story...
The first chapter of this book is insanely gripping, it had me excited to continue and I couldn’t wait to read this magical, life changing book everyone is raving about…
but then everything went downhill fast…
The remainder of the first 30% of this book is spent over explaining a magic system that made me feel like I was in my Java 101 class. While I do think the magic system is fairly unique the author spends entirely too much time explaining it. Additionally the method of world building feels like a giant info dump. It is mostly presented in the form of the FMC teaching the MMC about magic so he can assist her in her research, what that really means is pages worth of dialogue that dumps more than needed information on a magic system that did NOT need to be explained in such detail. This is a STANDALONE novel, I do not need 30% of the book reserved for world building, it’s not worth it in my opinion.
I was told by many that loved this book that it is character driven and that’s where it really shines, ok cool. So why is it that we spend 30% of the book on the magic system, show maybe a single day or two interaction between the FMC and MMC and then have a FUDGING TIME JUMP, where we’re told the FMC and MMC come to care for each other?! I would have preferred to see their relationship develop over those weeks (months?) rather than have chapters worth of detail about coding on a typewriter.
40-60% The 40% mark is where the book actually picks up and the first time we get to see the MMC’s niece again. Why?! Why do we not see her and their relationship before the 1/2 mark when the first chapter makes it seem like she’ll at least be a fairly important minor character?!
Before I go any further…
I get it, the author has built a world that reflects our own in terms of misogyny, sexism, classism, religion, morality, etc… but it is done in a very IN YOUR FACE LOOK AT ME AND HOW TERRIBLE THIS WORLD IS, kind of way. This is just my personal opinion but when reading fiction I prefer these topics to be included with more finesse and a lot less in your face. I like the idea of a fiction book that tackles hard topics, but does so in a way that isn’t so obvious, maybe even in a way that less discerning readers might miss. Again, just my PERSONAL preference. The only really well done aspect of this within Blood Over Bright Haven is the idea of intentions vs consequences. That was done with nuance and in a way that will have you thinking without shoving it in your face.
Now on to the last 40% of this book…
By this point in the book I was so angry and felt so duped (my fault for assuming the hype for this book was appropriate) that I had to take about a week break from the book. Once I started back up I could not care less about the plot progression, character arcs, or the story as a whole.
Look this book gets better after the 1/2 way mark but in my opinion it doesn’t make up for all the ways this book when wrong.
I’m giving it 3⭐️ because it does have some redeeming qualities but in the end there are better books out there.
With that, I still plan to read Sword of Kaigan and I won’t write off this author based off this book alone.
and lastly… The ONLY reason I finished this book is that it was an ARC - had I not needed to review it I would have stopped reading around the 29% point.
Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
long story short...
this is a very mid book with in your face themes and an extremely predictable plot.
The long story...
The first chapter of this book is insanely gripping, it had me excited to continue and I couldn’t wait to read this magical, life changing book everyone is raving about…
but then everything went downhill fast…
The remainder of the first 30% of this book is spent over explaining a magic system that made me feel like I was in my Java 101 class. While I do think the magic system is fairly unique the author spends entirely too much time explaining it. Additionally the method of world building feels like a giant info dump. It is mostly presented in the form of the FMC teaching the MMC about magic so he can assist her in her research, what that really means is pages worth of dialogue that dumps more than needed information on a magic system that did NOT need to be explained in such detail. This is a STANDALONE novel, I do not need 30% of the book reserved for world building, it’s not worth it in my opinion.
I was told by many that loved this book that it is character driven and that’s where it really shines, ok cool. So why is it that we spend 30% of the book on the magic system, show maybe a single day or two interaction between the FMC and MMC and then have a FUDGING TIME JUMP, where we’re told the FMC and MMC come to care for each other?! I would have preferred to see their relationship develop over those weeks (months?) rather than have chapters worth of detail about coding on a typewriter.
40-60% The 40% mark is where the book actually picks up and the first time we get to see the MMC’s niece again. Why?! Why do we not see her and their relationship before the 1/2 mark when the first chapter makes it seem like she’ll at least be a fairly important minor character?!
Before I go any further…
I get it, the author has built a world that reflects our own in terms of misogyny, sexism, classism, religion, morality, etc… but it is done in a very IN YOUR FACE LOOK AT ME AND HOW TERRIBLE THIS WORLD IS, kind of way. This is just my personal opinion but when reading fiction I prefer these topics to be included with more finesse and a lot less in your face. I like the idea of a fiction book that tackles hard topics, but does so in a way that isn’t so obvious, maybe even in a way that less discerning readers might miss. Again, just my PERSONAL preference. The only really well done aspect of this within Blood Over Bright Haven is the idea of intentions vs consequences. That was done with nuance and in a way that will have you thinking without shoving it in your face.
Now on to the last 40% of this book…
By this point in the book I was so angry and felt so duped (my fault for assuming the hype for this book was appropriate) that I had to take about a week break from the book. Once I started back up I could not care less about the plot progression, character arcs, or the story as a whole.
Look this book gets better after the 1/2 way mark but in my opinion it doesn’t make up for all the ways this book when wrong.
I’m giving it 3⭐️ because it does have some redeeming qualities but in the end there are better books out there.
With that, I still plan to read Sword of Kaigan and I won’t write off this author based off this book alone.
and lastly… The ONLY reason I finished this book is that it was an ARC - had I not needed to review it I would have stopped reading around the 29% point.
Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
July 30, 2023
4.25/5
We're not running from oblivion. We're running toward hope.
M.L. Wang is a genius. This book is incredible. It's astoundingly clever, every part of it is so well thought out. It strikes you at every precise beat with raw, emotional twists and devastating revelations. Everything artfully comes to fruition and meets together again in unexpected ways. It's masterfully created, I don't think it could have been done better.
The writing is beautiful all throughout, from the very first page to the very last. I was continuously noting down gorgeous passages and couldn't stop, they seemed never-ending. The characters are complicated and ever so interestingly constructed. They're passionate and flawed and conflicted. They make for an incredibly engaging story, one that is quite impossible to put down. It's the type of story that makes you feel the need to consume it obsessively, unable and unwilling to ever stop reading. It's thrilling and addictive. I loved slowly unravelling every inch of this world and its dark, insidious other face.
Both the worldbuilding and the magic system were fascinating. I loved learning more and more about them as time went on, I loved discovering this world's secrets. The world is created with such intelligent insight from the ground up; all its history is riveting, it teems with life.
Within this bustling city, we are predominantly stationed within the High Magistry's walls, where the elite mages work. Here we dive into a story that is, at the very least, dark academia adjacent and we delve into a lot of the themes that are often explored in such novels. These themes of colonialism, racism, misogyny, and more are all deeply ingrained into Tiran's society and are used and explored in such skilful ways all throughout the story.
The brightest meadows grew from dead things.
I was hooked from the very first chapter and found this book to only get better and better. If you liked a lot of the themes explored in Babel by R.F. Kuang but wished the fantasy elements were more pronounced (or wished those themes were explored in depth within a high fantasy novel), then you will definitely enjoy and take a lot away from this book.
I can't wait to see what else Wang does in the future!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Sciona was no witch. She was a mage of Tiran to her core.
We're not running from oblivion. We're running toward hope.
M.L. Wang is a genius. This book is incredible. It's astoundingly clever, every part of it is so well thought out. It strikes you at every precise beat with raw, emotional twists and devastating revelations. Everything artfully comes to fruition and meets together again in unexpected ways. It's masterfully created, I don't think it could have been done better.
The writing is beautiful all throughout, from the very first page to the very last. I was continuously noting down gorgeous passages and couldn't stop, they seemed never-ending. The characters are complicated and ever so interestingly constructed. They're passionate and flawed and conflicted. They make for an incredibly engaging story, one that is quite impossible to put down. It's the type of story that makes you feel the need to consume it obsessively, unable and unwilling to ever stop reading. It's thrilling and addictive. I loved slowly unravelling every inch of this world and its dark, insidious other face.
Both the worldbuilding and the magic system were fascinating. I loved learning more and more about them as time went on, I loved discovering this world's secrets. The world is created with such intelligent insight from the ground up; all its history is riveting, it teems with life.
Within this bustling city, we are predominantly stationed within the High Magistry's walls, where the elite mages work. Here we dive into a story that is, at the very least, dark academia adjacent and we delve into a lot of the themes that are often explored in such novels. These themes of colonialism, racism, misogyny, and more are all deeply ingrained into Tiran's society and are used and explored in such skilful ways all throughout the story.
The brightest meadows grew from dead things.
I was hooked from the very first chapter and found this book to only get better and better. If you liked a lot of the themes explored in Babel by R.F. Kuang but wished the fantasy elements were more pronounced (or wished those themes were explored in depth within a high fantasy novel), then you will definitely enjoy and take a lot away from this book.
I can't wait to see what else Wang does in the future!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Sciona was no witch. She was a mage of Tiran to her core.
April 23, 2024
Read this instead of RF Kuang’s Babel
I’m a huge fan of ML Wang. Her book The Sword of Kaigen is an absolute must-read masterpiece. I was very eager to read Blood and I was not disappointed but I will say I didn’t exactly enjoy this book… but that’s kind of the point. I’ll explain.
First, the characters are phenomenal. Sciona, the first woman protege mage to make it to the big leagues is complex, well fleshed out and with very clear motivations. She’s also beautifully paradoxical in both her ambitions and contrived compassion. She’s very compelling to read alongside the janitor Thomil, who eeks out his living as part of the exploited and racial underclass. Thomil and his niece along with the history of his oppressed people is the jewel of this book and is really what this entire book is actually about. The world of Tiran and the blight that has destroyed the people of Kwen, creating an exploited labor market of refugees is a compelling backdrop as the plot moves forward. I think the ending is very well done, but predictable.
Second, the subject matter and themes of Blood are timely and compelling: colonialism, imperialism, bigotry, class war, sexism, patriarchy, misogyny, dogmatism, immigrations, ultra nationalism, fascism—it’s all here and it’s woven expertly into an accessible fantastical narrative. The treatment of these themes was spot on. This book serves as direct social and political commentary to the real world. Because of the content and themes, this fantasy novel is not fantasy escapism it’s fantasy realism. That’s what made this book not necessarily a pleasurable experience. Which is fine, writers don’t need to write to pacify their audience into escapism. I loved all that.
My only real problem with the plot is that it felt contrived. The story didn’t feel organic or spontaneous to me. My evidence for this is the binary moral system of Sciona. What I mean is, Sciona is a cold, talented power hungry mage throughout basically all of this book. But when she discovers the truth about her society, she seems to have compassion (although ego-driven) on the underclass which is constantly at odds with her alleged nature of craving power. A dynamic is set up where she is grappling with who she is and also who she wants to be in the eyes of Thomlin. The narrative would’ve felt more organic if Sciona was allowed to revel in the complexity of personhood rather than her grappling with an artificial binary system. Because of this binary, Sciona was destined to do what she did rather than a resolution that could have been less predictable which is why the plot and the resolution felt contrived. This isn’t to say Sciona wasn’t complex, well written and well characterized because she most definitely was.
My other issue with this story is that it is pretty blunt and heavy handed. Again, I really appreciate the commentary but the villains were just so banal and obvious. Again, this is realism because real evil is just as banal and obvious. This book is VERY similar to RF Kuang’s Babel in many ways. I thought Babel was only okay because it came off extremely heavy handed, pedantic and contrived. Bright suffers from some of the same problems but it is a MUCH better book with better characters and not so pedantic.
At any rate, I definitely found this book an excellent read and extremely well written by a very talented author.
I’m a huge fan of ML Wang. Her book The Sword of Kaigen is an absolute must-read masterpiece. I was very eager to read Blood and I was not disappointed but I will say I didn’t exactly enjoy this book… but that’s kind of the point. I’ll explain.
First, the characters are phenomenal. Sciona, the first woman protege mage to make it to the big leagues is complex, well fleshed out and with very clear motivations. She’s also beautifully paradoxical in both her ambitions and contrived compassion. She’s very compelling to read alongside the janitor Thomil, who eeks out his living as part of the exploited and racial underclass. Thomil and his niece along with the history of his oppressed people is the jewel of this book and is really what this entire book is actually about. The world of Tiran and the blight that has destroyed the people of Kwen, creating an exploited labor market of refugees is a compelling backdrop as the plot moves forward. I think the ending is very well done, but predictable.
Second, the subject matter and themes of Blood are timely and compelling: colonialism, imperialism, bigotry, class war, sexism, patriarchy, misogyny, dogmatism, immigrations, ultra nationalism, fascism—it’s all here and it’s woven expertly into an accessible fantastical narrative. The treatment of these themes was spot on. This book serves as direct social and political commentary to the real world. Because of the content and themes, this fantasy novel is not fantasy escapism it’s fantasy realism. That’s what made this book not necessarily a pleasurable experience. Which is fine, writers don’t need to write to pacify their audience into escapism. I loved all that.
My only real problem with the plot is that it felt contrived. The story didn’t feel organic or spontaneous to me. My evidence for this is the binary moral system of Sciona. What I mean is, Sciona is a cold, talented power hungry mage throughout basically all of this book. But when she discovers the truth about her society, she seems to have compassion (although ego-driven) on the underclass which is constantly at odds with her alleged nature of craving power. A dynamic is set up where she is grappling with who she is and also who she wants to be in the eyes of Thomlin. The narrative would’ve felt more organic if Sciona was allowed to revel in the complexity of personhood rather than her grappling with an artificial binary system. Because of this binary, Sciona was destined to do what she did rather than a resolution that could have been less predictable which is why the plot and the resolution felt contrived. This isn’t to say Sciona wasn’t complex, well written and well characterized because she most definitely was.
My other issue with this story is that it is pretty blunt and heavy handed. Again, I really appreciate the commentary but the villains were just so banal and obvious. Again, this is realism because real evil is just as banal and obvious. This book is VERY similar to RF Kuang’s Babel in many ways. I thought Babel was only okay because it came off extremely heavy handed, pedantic and contrived. Bright suffers from some of the same problems but it is a MUCH better book with better characters and not so pedantic.
At any rate, I definitely found this book an excellent read and extremely well written by a very talented author.
November 21, 2023
I wanted to make sure to actually write a review for this one, because I want more people to be reading it. Everyone who read Babel last year should also read this. Like, ASAP. I'm sure this review is about to be trash because I tend to babble when I attempt to sum up how good this book is, or go on too long, but I'm going to try anyway, because it was such an immersive and satisfying reading experience.
Our main character is Sciona, who has a fierce desire to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. She has spent her life studying harder and more relentlessly than anyone else around her, and now it's time for her to finally prove herself. Except, achieving her dream turns out to be almost nothing like she hoped it would be. There's the sexism, of course, but the bigger problem is that Sciona's admittance, and the conversations she beings to have with her lab assistant put into motion events that Sciona doesn't want to happen, and she begins to have her eyes opened in ways that are disturbing, and which begin to undermine her own sense of her identity. Her lab assistant, who used to be the janitor, was given to her as a prank by her male colleagues, and he is a member of a looked down upon minority group in Sciona's supposed "utopia" of a city. Their complex relationship is the heart of the book, and I really can't say more than that.
There were several points of this book that I literally gasped out loud (which were mostly followed by agonized moans of disbelief). This book GOES THERE. And you have no idea it's going to do that, or where it's going, at the beginning. The ending of the book is so emotionally intense and exciting (and terrible) that I don't think I looked up from my Kindle for almost two hours. And that says something right there, that this book was able to hold my attention on Kindle, when I normally have a really hard time paying attention to things I read electronically.
After this book, I will follow M.L. Wang wherever she wants to go, and I'm really excited to get to The Sword of Kaigen sometime in 2024.
[4.5 stars, rounded up bc wow]
Read Harder Challenge 2023: Read an independently published book by a BIPOC author.
Our main character is Sciona, who has a fierce desire to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. She has spent her life studying harder and more relentlessly than anyone else around her, and now it's time for her to finally prove herself. Except, achieving her dream turns out to be almost nothing like she hoped it would be. There's the sexism, of course, but the bigger problem is that Sciona's admittance, and the conversations she beings to have with her lab assistant put into motion events that Sciona doesn't want to happen, and she begins to have her eyes opened in ways that are disturbing, and which begin to undermine her own sense of her identity. Her lab assistant, who used to be the janitor, was given to her as a prank by her male colleagues, and he is a member of a looked down upon minority group in Sciona's supposed "utopia" of a city. Their complex relationship is the heart of the book, and I really can't say more than that.
There were several points of this book that I literally gasped out loud (which were mostly followed by agonized moans of disbelief). This book GOES THERE. And you have no idea it's going to do that, or where it's going, at the beginning. The ending of the book is so emotionally intense and exciting (and terrible) that I don't think I looked up from my Kindle for almost two hours. And that says something right there, that this book was able to hold my attention on Kindle, when I normally have a really hard time paying attention to things I read electronically.
After this book, I will follow M.L. Wang wherever she wants to go, and I'm really excited to get to The Sword of Kaigen sometime in 2024.
[4.5 stars, rounded up bc wow]
Read Harder Challenge 2023: Read an independently published book by a BIPOC author.
January 6, 2024
I just read Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang and here is what I thought about it:
If you read Babel by R. F. Kuang last summer and have been chasing that high ever sense, you should pick up this book. While I wouldn’t necessarily categorize this book as dark academia in the same way that The Secret History by Donna Tartt is dark academia, this is an academia driven story about the intensive research processes in a STEM-like magical system that helps the immersive fantastical urban center of Tiran run and keeps out a blight that rips people to shreds. The cast of characters is rather small as we mostly follow the first female mage work with her assistant to prove herself to a deeply misogynistic, racist, and xenophobic “beacon” city. The critiques of academia and colonialism are clear and poignant—I was never bored and always felt intrigued by the unfolding of a well told story.
The strengths of this book include its snappy pace, strong (yet limited) character work, and an extremely layered and well thought out magic system that is deeply ingrained into the plot of the book and the histories of the characters. If you like the system and integration of the magic system in Full Metal Alchemist you will deeply enjoy this one. Every page of the book felt necessary and moved the plot forward. Nothing was waisted and I couldn’t take my eyes off the book from page one.
In addition to my gushing about this book, I can’t help but think about this novel compared to The Sword of Kaigen which I also deeply enjoyed. I have concluded that I think I enjoyed this more (only because this sub-genre of fantasy is preferable to me) but aside from just my feelings, they are very incomparable, and I love to find authors that can write well in multiple genres. M. L. Wang is truly skillful, and I appreciate her ability to successfully use the positive sides of indie publishing to create a truly unique book.
Wang has solidified herself as one of my favorites and I can’t wait to read more from her.
5/5
If you read Babel by R. F. Kuang last summer and have been chasing that high ever sense, you should pick up this book. While I wouldn’t necessarily categorize this book as dark academia in the same way that The Secret History by Donna Tartt is dark academia, this is an academia driven story about the intensive research processes in a STEM-like magical system that helps the immersive fantastical urban center of Tiran run and keeps out a blight that rips people to shreds. The cast of characters is rather small as we mostly follow the first female mage work with her assistant to prove herself to a deeply misogynistic, racist, and xenophobic “beacon” city. The critiques of academia and colonialism are clear and poignant—I was never bored and always felt intrigued by the unfolding of a well told story.
The strengths of this book include its snappy pace, strong (yet limited) character work, and an extremely layered and well thought out magic system that is deeply ingrained into the plot of the book and the histories of the characters. If you like the system and integration of the magic system in Full Metal Alchemist you will deeply enjoy this one. Every page of the book felt necessary and moved the plot forward. Nothing was waisted and I couldn’t take my eyes off the book from page one.
In addition to my gushing about this book, I can’t help but think about this novel compared to The Sword of Kaigen which I also deeply enjoyed. I have concluded that I think I enjoyed this more (only because this sub-genre of fantasy is preferable to me) but aside from just my feelings, they are very incomparable, and I love to find authors that can write well in multiple genres. M. L. Wang is truly skillful, and I appreciate her ability to successfully use the positive sides of indie publishing to create a truly unique book.
Wang has solidified herself as one of my favorites and I can’t wait to read more from her.
5/5
June 30, 2024
꒰ 💐 ⊹˚. ෆ pre review:
my toxic trait is never giving a book 5 stars because i'm saving it for the one book that will touch my heart in the way no man ever will, only to find that book and have nothing to say about it because writing a positive review feels like my intestines are being pulled out of my throat with a wrench. oh and also, this is my first 5 star arc and my first 5 star book of 2024, so i will be taking my sweet time to write the perfect review that this book deserves. so yea, check back in march 2035 for a review <3
my toxic trait is never giving a book 5 stars because i'm saving it for the one book that will touch my heart in the way no man ever will, only to find that book and have nothing to say about it because writing a positive review feels like my intestines are being pulled out of my throat with a wrench. oh and also, this is my first 5 star arc and my first 5 star book of 2024, so i will be taking my sweet time to write the perfect review that this book deserves. so yea, check back in march 2035 for a review <3
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