Anthemic Tangle
Michael BuschThis is an occasional reminder that there is most of a century of wizard-school stories written by authors who are not horrible people.
From Le Guin's "Earthsea" through to Novik's "Scholomance Trilogy".
Someone quoted this post and wrote that I was saying Earthsea was similar to Harry Potter.
Which was not my point at all.
Nor is Scholomance at all similar to Harry Potter.
My point is that there are many different better stories written by people who are not J.K. Rowling.
Sean Purcell (he/him)@michael_w_busch The Scholomance books were so good. I didn't foresee the murder magic school story becoming a perfect, succinct critique of capitalism, but it really just kept getting sharper with each book.
@michael_w_busch Oh I have to add that anytime people say anything about that other famous wizard boarding school series, I advocate for them to read Witch Hat Atelier.
It is many things: a biting critique of knowledge systems, a reflection on healthcare and disability, a gorgeously drawn metatext on drawing as an art.
But what I love most about it is that every page is filled with kindness. Kindness drives the main cast to do great things, and kindness is the lens in which the characters view their world.
It's lovely. (And a new volume came out a few days ago!)
cpkimber@michael_w_busch I'm a simple man, I see Le Guin mentioned, I boost
Dr. Victoria Grinberg@cpkimber @michael_w_busch heh, this...
Matti Järvinen@vicgrinberg @cpkimber @michael_w_busch definitely.
A great author and a great mind she was.
mengel@michael_w_busch Even never, the excellent "The Incandescent" by Emily Tesh which does magic school from the teacher perspective.
I could also have referenced things from Discworld to Dracula, but "magic university" seemed different enough from "wizard boarding school for kids".
Reuben 
@michael_w_busch I discovered and read The Scholomance recently. Highly recommend.
stuart yeates@railwhale @michael_w_busch YA or Adult?
Flash Mob Of One@michael_w_busch Henry Neff and his Tapestry series.
Alex R@michael_w_busch basically half of everything Diana Wynne Jones wrote (and both halves are excellent)
Dane 🌎🖖✌️☮️⚛️☸️🕉️@michael_w_busch I need to re-read the Earthsea Trilogy.
NaomiElizabeth@michael_w_busch Terry Pratchett's "Equal Rights", Miya Kazuki's "Ascendance of a Bookworm" (as a 5 part series with parts 3,4,5,9 and 12 volumes long, you really need to be one).
Adriano@michael_w_busch I'm currently reading the Earthsea Quartet to my daughter and she's loved every word, so yeah.
woe2you@michael_w_busch And most of it is leagues ahead of Rowling in writing quality too.
Orb 2069
knirirr@michael_w_busch Baxter's "Raft" felt like a wizard school story to me, though labelled as hard sci-fi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raft_%28novel%29?wprov=sfla1
Robin Adams@michael_w_busch Great thread of reading recommendations so far.
Like to add Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series.
And of course Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch series. When you read them you see how JKR might have taken some, um, inspiration from them.
Zeborah@robinadams Vita Nostra (this is the English title, for clarity) by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko is... definitely a magic boarding school and is definitely different. It's even a good order of magnitude or two darker than the Scholomance.
That one was not to my taste.
@michael_w_busch I found it quite painful to read. I never quite decided if it was good-painful or bad-painful, and then the end hit with a "wait you what now?"
But it definitely was different....
AvonLovesBlakeAnd Diana Wynne Jones has a bunch of wizard school books too!
schrotthaufen@michael_w_busch @sundogplanets I played the Near-Mage point & click adventure game recently. Teen girl, who didn’t know she’s a witch, goes to magic boarding school in Romania, and dismantles a fascist movement through the powers of friendship, and having a moral compass.
Prof. Rachel Thorn 🍉🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🏳️@michael_w_busch I strongly recommend Zen Cho's "Sorcerer to the Crown" and its follow-up, "The True Queen." Cho is a Chinese Malaysian author who has done a superb job of 1) entertaining and 2) de-centering whiteness. I hope there are many more volumes to come. I was inspired to read her after seeing her speak at an event at a feminist bookstore in Kuala Lumpur.
https://zencho.org/books/sorcerer-to-the-crown/
https://zencho.org/books/sorcerer-to-the-crown/
gra
Angua 
@michael_w_busch
From whom the ideas were nicked.
From whom the ideas were nicked.
Seachaint@michael_w_busch I read a review of the TV adaptation of "The Worst Witch" where the reviewer, a Young 'Un, criticised it for being too derivative of Harry Potter 