There is something unusual about Sapience University. It is a dark, isolated castle that has stood empty for years. It is surrounded by undead creatures left behind from a magical war. And when everyone returns to Sapience for the winter semester, some students seem eerily different. Students continue their magical studies unaware that enemies walk among them. However, it won’t be long until the enemy strikes and sends the school back into chaos. Taking this into consideration, it’s not a surprise that magic is present in so many art forms. In literature alone, plenty of genres have been built around magic, or at the very least, feature it prominently: fantasy, magical realism, paranormal romance; the list goes on. Even people who believe in no kind of magic whatsoever are still susceptible to its appeal in fiction. The source of this appeal is twofold: for one thing, it takes us out of the mundane; for another, it feeds a very human longing for power and control. During these times especially, when we have so little control over so many things, the idea of being able to heal, or fly, or change matter simply by flicking a hand, or whisking a few ingredients in a cauldron, is particularly attractive. A prominent subset of magic stories is centered on school. Magic school: a place where, instead of learning algebra or physical education, we learn how to perform a spell, or turn back time. Sounds like something you’d enjoy? Read on. Would you like more books about boarding schools? Cat and Janet set out to solve Gwendolen’s disappearance, but the more they dig, the more ugly surprises they find. Who was Gwendolen really? This year, Sophie and Agatha are about to make the journey. Beautiful Sophie seems predestined to become the heroine, whereas Agatha appears to be a shoo-in to turn into a villain. But what happens next surprises everyone, Sophie and Agatha included. In this book, we learn all the tasks that Sparrowhawk must accomplish to restore the balance. After all, how hard can it be? (Narrator: hard, complicated, almost certainly fatal. Oh well. Don’t unleash shadows upon the world, kids.)
