Magic School Books We Love
School is in session in Project Spellstruck, so we wanted to share some of our favorite books that take place at a magic school. Check them out below!
Fourth Wing by Rebeca Yarros
Violet Sorrengail spent her whole life training to be a scribe, but when her mother, General Sorrengail, forces her to enter the dragon rider quadrant instead, Violet must use her brain to survive when she's surrounded by brawn.
The Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros has become a global phenomenon since its initial release in 2023, and it's not hard to see why. Readers (including us! see our Top Book Boyfriends list on Instagram) have fallen in love with Xaden Riorson and his burn-the-world-down-for-you attitude. Rebecca Yarros expertly crafts relationships between her characters: the friendships between Violet and the other members of her squad, the bonds with the dragons and their riders, and of course, the romance between Violet and Xaden. These realistic relationships help ground the reader and propel the narrative forward despite the ruthless war college backdrop, making Fourth Wing a great recommendation for readers who are dabbling in Romantasy for the first time.
A Deady Education by Naomi Novik
A Deadly Education is the first book in The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik. The story follows El as she learns to master her deadly powers in a magical school where everyone and everything wants to kill her.
One of my favorite parts of the series is how the friendship between El, Aadhya, and Liu develops over time. Their interactions begin as a transaction, an alliance made out of desperation and necessity. But the more time they spend together and get to know each other, the more they realize they have in common. And for the things they don't have in common, they develop a beautiful understanding with each other. Their friendship feels organic, even if it (intentionally) starts out as forced.
Also, "You are dating me?" is quite possibly one of the best lines I've ever read.
It Ends In Fire by Andrew Shvarts
It Ends In Fire by Andrew Shvarts is a standalone young adult fantasy that flips the genre on its head by asking: what if magic school was evil? [If that author's name looks familiar, it should! We force Andrew to talk about his books at every opportunity 😉]
Set in a world where wizards rule the world as a brutal aristocracy, It Ends In Fire follows Alka Chelrazi, a young wizard raised in secret by rebels after her dissident parents are murdered. Now seventeen, Alka is tasked with her first solo mission: to infiltrate Blackwater Academy, the most prestigious magic school in the country, and destroy it from within. To survive, the ruthless Alka has to lie, cheat and kill, but as she sinks deeper and deeper into wizard society, she struggles to hold onto her sense of self. Can Alka destroy the corrupt school without becoming a part of it?
It Ends In Fire takes tremendous fun in flipping all the tropes of the magic school: the house competition is ruthless social engineering designed to turn students against each other, the sports are lethal duels, and the kindly headmaster is a vicious murderer who’ll stop at nothing to secure his power. But underneath it all is an affecting story about an outcast finding her place in the world, underscored by an unexpectedly sweet love triangle.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Magicians by Lev Grossman follows Quentin Coldwater, a jaded young man who yearns for the magical lands of his childhood storybooks. His life changes when he discovers that magic is real and he's enrolled in a secret magic school, but the reality of that world turns out to be much darker and more complicated than the fairytales suggested.
There are many reasons why I love this series, but foremost is that Lev Grossman is fantastic at writing complex, dynamic, and uniquely flawed characters. I also love the way The Magicians plays with the classics, yet establishes aged-up versions of magic school tropes. I could say much more, but I think one of the joys of this series is how the world reveals itself over time to be something far more than it initially seems.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
No list of the best magic school books can possibly be complete without Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea–the first fantasy novel to ever feature a magic school! This remarkable novel follows the coming-of-age journey of Ged, a gifted but prideful young boy, who leaves his remote village to train at Roke Island, the greatest school of wizardry in Earthsea.
What makes A Wizard of Earthsea stand out is how it treats magic not as flashy wish fulfillment, but as a force that must be understood and wielded with care. Ged’s journey is as much about self-discovery and restraint as it is about mastering spells. This approach to power, identity, and consequence makes Earthsea a fantastic gateway into Le Guin’s incomparable masterwork, The Left Hand of Darkness, where she explores similar themes on an even more ambitious, thought-provoking scale. For readers looking for a magic school story with depth, philosophy, and poetic prose, A Wizard of Earthsea stands as both the first and one of the finest examples in the genre.
The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan
The Titan’s Curse is the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series by Rick Riordan. The story follows Percy Jackson as he continues to fight against Kronos’ forces who are seeking to overthrow the Gods of Olympus.
[SPOILER ALERT] I love how this book presents real doubt in Percy’s ability to be a hero. We see this through Nico's perspective, who initially views Percy as a hero, but that changes when he fails to protect Nico’s sister. This book also casts doubt on the righteousness of the Olympian Gods themselves. After everything Percy has done for them, they narrowly decide against destroying him. They pretend it's in the name of wisdom, but it's actually a desperate bid to maintain the status quo and buy time against forces they're not sure they can defeat. More than any other book in the series, I think this book defines what actually makes Percy a hero. It isn’t because he's perfect, but because he's willing to keep going against all odds.
The Candlelight team is excited to add our own entry into the catalog of magic school stories. Keep an eye out for more updates and sneak peeks of Project Spellstruck!