Ponderable orbs! Magical walking sticks! Strokeable white beards! While all of these things no self-respecting thaumaturge would be caught without, a true wizard knows that arcane mastery comes from the various tomes and texts that make up a magical library. If you’re preparing to study the eldritch arts at a well respected wizard college, you’d best get on the faculty’s good side by familiarizing yourself with the assigned reading material. These are 10 fantasy books sure to prepare you for your rigorous study of sorceries, and will help you lock down a good post-graduation wizard job to pay off your magical student loans.
A Wizard of Earthsea
Archmage Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea is the gold standard wizard guidebook, a no-nonsense roadmap to becoming a great wizard by dedicating your life to being a good wizard. The first novel of Le Guin’s Earthsea series is a cautionary tale, one about how with great wizard power comes great wizard responsibility yada yada yada. Look, if you’re gonna dedicate your life to magic, make sure you know what kind of magic you’re getting into. Don’t be like Ged, the protagonist of this novel, who decides to dabble in forbidden arts and ends up summoning a shadow monster made out of his own fears from a parallel dimension. That will get you expelled from wizard school like… immediately. Seriously, don’t be an overachiever, or else you’ll end up in a magical battle of wills with the forces of the underworld .
Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Ah yes, another cautionary tale. Eldritch enchanter Susanna Clarke’s Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is the story of two wizards undone by the great killer of mages everywhere: their own egos. The story begins in 19th century England, where magical professor Mr. Norrell is researching the arcane arts with a cautious and scientific touch. Norrell rises to prominence within the wizarding community, but his reign is upended by the arrival of the talented young Johnathan Strange, who takes a wild approach to magical studies. Unable to reconcile their differing philosophies, Strange and Norrell begin a bitter rivalry, spurred on by a dark fae spirit that seeks the ruin of both. And ruin comes, oh boy, does it come.
A Darker Shade of Magic
Celebrated thaumaturge V.E. Schwab penned the Shades of Magic series in order to instruct young sorcerers about the perils of dimension hopping. Schwab’s series takes place throughout four parallel Londons, each with its own unique (often fraught) relationship with the arcane. For ease of organization, Schwab has color coded each London – Red London being the most magical, Grey London and White London being magically iffy and Black London being a dark void where magic (and everything else) goes to die. The first novel follows a sorcerer named Kell, who serves as Red London’s magical ambassador to the other Londons… while dabbling as an inter-dimensional smuggler of magical goods on the side. After Kell gets fleeced by a Grey London pickpocket, the thief and the thieved discover that the stolen magical artifact holds an enormous and terrible power that threatens all four Londons at once.
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence
Scholastic sorcerer R.F. Kuang teaches that when it comes to wizard college, it’s sometimes best to drop out. Why? Because even the most well intentioned magical pursuits can serve nefarious ends when government power and academic thought intermix. The marriage of these institutions in Babel, or The Necessity of Violence is (as title implies) anything but benevolent. The story concerns a young orphan from China who is adopted by an Oxford professor and tutored in the language arts. The young pupil is soon accepted into Babel, an institute that studies the magical power of language. What the young academic doesn’t know (but soon learns) is that Babel intends to use latent linguistic power to serve the colonial ends of the ever-expanding British Empire. Better preserve your magical morals by quitting school to become a thaumaturgical trade worker – probably make more money anyway.
The Temeraire Series
Wizards are far from the only magical beings on the planet, our world is shared by all manner of arcanely inclined beasties! One of the most prominent of magical creatures is the dragon, and any wizard worth their salt must learn how best to befriend one. Dragonrider Namoi Novik’s Temeraire series is the story of one such draconic bonding experience, which occurs at the same time Napoleon and his dragon legions are waging war across Europe. After a British sailor finds a dragon egg on a captured French frigate, he forms a friendship with the serpent slumbering within – and the pair are called to serve in the dragon riding forces of the England in order to thwart the advance of the Corsican tyrant.
Akata Witch
The life of a wizard isn’t always glamorous. Sometimes, one’s latent magical abilities causes them to be outcasted from the mundane world. Such is the story of Sunny Nwazue, magical protagonist of Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch. Born albino, Sunny is unable to go outside in the hot Nigerian sun for long, and is shunned by her community due to her condition. One day she discovers that her budding magical abilities make her a member of the Leopard People – a magical community that hides in plain sight. After forming a coven with three other blooming practitioners, the quartet is called to investigate the disappearance of magical children – rumored to be caused by a serial killer who stalks the land.
Circe
Mage Madeline Miller’s Circe is the story of the titular witch who perviously served as a minor character on Homer’s The Odyssey. How did Circe begin her career as an island enchantress that turns men into pigs? This magical biography will explain it all. A disgruntled daughter of the sun god Helios, Circe is exiled from her realm after cursing a rival with forbidden magic. Her banishment turned into a blessing in disguise, as Circe now is free to spend her immortal days studying the art of witchcraft. Stuck on how to prepare a perfect poultice? Take a page from Circe’s book and do it the way she did: screw around with magical plants for centuries and find out! Easier said than done when you’re immortal, but you can still give it the old college try!
The Bone Season
Despite the value that they provide to the world, magical people aren’t always loved. Sometimes they’re misunderstood. Sometimes they’re feared. Sometimes they’re hunted down and eliminated. Sorcerer Samantha Shannon’s The Bone Season is a story of a society where the magical must face all three of these grim realities. In a dystopian society where the magical community is oppressed and culled, nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney uses her arcane abilities to serve a magical criminal underworld. After she’s discovered by the powers that be, she’s kidnapped and taken to a secret city – ruled by an alien species that has been secretly pulling society’s strings. But these extraterrestrials aren’t all bad! In fact, one of them is plotting against the status quo – and he just so happens to have a magical sort of chemistry with Paige. It wouldn’t be the wizard college experience without a few enemies to lovers arcs, now would it?
Summer In Orcus
Charmweaver T. Kingfisher’s Summer In Orcus is the story of a little girl lucky enough to study under one of the most formidable practitioners of magic to ever exist: The Baba Yaga. After the fabled fairy tale witch walks her chicken-legged house into eleven year old Summer’s backyard, Summer sees an opportunity to escape the clutches of her overbearing mother. After Summer wishes for her heart’s desire to be fulfilled, Baba Yaga transports the girl to the magical realm of Orcus – replete with talking animals, magic trees, and a tyrannical queen that appears to really want Summer’s head on a spike. It wouldn’t be a coming of age story without a little bit of mortal peril. Builds character – an essential wizard trait.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by arcane scholar Alix E. Harrow is every wizard’s fantasy – to be trapped in a charming mansion filled with all manner of strange artifacts. For young January Scaller, it’s a total bummer. Poor Jan is the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, a distant man that leaves her largely alone. One day while roaming the mansion, she uncovers a mysterious book that serves as a doorway to tens of thousands of other worlds. Eager to escape her solitary existence, January dives right on in. As January drinks the book in, she realizes that it tells a familiar story – the story of her life. Not only that, it grants January the power to open doors to other potential lives she could be leading, allowing her to rewrite the details of her fate.
(Featured Image: New Line Cinema)
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