Blood Over Bright Haven – Spoiler free review
A Fantasy stand aLone that cuts deep
M. L. Wang
2024
Stand alone
I just finished Blood Over Bright Haven – or I might say, it finished me. A brilliant, dark and interesting stand alone fantasy novel that you need to add to your TBR if you haven’t already. Here’s my Blood Over Bright Haven – spoiler free review.
Blood Over Bright Haven is a dark academia fantasy novel written by M. L. Wang. The story is atmostpheric and interesting and covers a lot of different topics like prejudice, hope and religion. This book actually reminded me about His Dark Materials, with the dark akademia setting, the magic system and the over all feel. But with a more grown up perspective and a grimmer tone. After you’ve read this Blood Over Bright Haven – Spoiler free review, you need to pick it up immediatelly.
Getting into the story
The beginning of the book really throws you right into the plot, and it’s really exciting from the get go. The next chapter, is a little harder to get into, because there are a lot of names, politics both in the city and in the academia, and the magic system is quite complex. But, if you just keep reading, everything will fall into place and be explained as you go, so it’s just a matter of trusting the process. I was a bit confused at first but started to love it after about 60 pages.
For a stand alone, I think both the world building and the magic system is increadible, which makes this book so captivating to read. You could almost assume that it’s supposed to be multiple books since it’s so well written.
A city of magic and secrets
The story takes place in the city Tiran (Gods Haven) which is an industrial city driven by magic. We get to follow our female main character Sciona, who is attempting to be the first woman to be admitted to the order of High Mages and the rulers of the city Tiran. But in a society with a lot of predjudice, a lot of challenges will arise.
The city is surrounded by a magic barrier that protects the citizens from the blight outside. It’s really fun to read about how the city is structured, and how they use magic for everything we use electricty for, running hot water in the tap, infrastructure and production in the city.
A SCHOOL SETTING WITH A TRIAL
We spend most of our time at the University, where Sciona has been studying and practicing for her final test to become a High mage for a long time. So there’s a school setting, a mentor and a huge trial in this book which is really fun to read.
Blood Over Bright Haven – A dark academia which makes you both feel & think
Morality, feminism and racism
This book is covering a lot of interesting topics, since the whole society is built by men from Tiran. Women are supposed to be good wives with no ambition. The kwen, who has immigrated, or ”blighters” as they are called are looked upon as less worthy human beings and are usually used as servants or workers.
It’s really interesting to read but also heart breaking sometimes because you see the structures in so many different levels. Sciona is really fighting tooth and nail to be taken seriously at the University even though she is better at magic than most of her male peers, and at the same time she is aslo increadably racist towards the immigrants. Her comments are sometimes really painful to read.
The novel also centers around morality, and what makes a good person – what you were trying to do or what your deed actually did for the world. Religion is also a huge topic in this book, which permeates the whole society.
A book that evokes both a lot of feelings and thoughts
This book is brilliant, because it draws you in and makes you feel for Sciona and the other characters in this world. You get really invested, and at the same time frustrated because she is such a flawed characther. It’s interesting to read such racism from her, but at the same time experience the injustices she suffers. So I was both rooting for her and wanted to scream at her the same time for being so egocentrical. But, it’s also really rewarding to see how she is expanding her mind and develops through the story.
WHAT MAKES YOU LOVE THIS BOOK
Like I previously mentioned, this is such a well written fantasy novel, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy. It has so many layers, and a really interesting magic system as well. There are some great characters in addition to Sciona, and you really want to see how it all turns out. The school setting, not knowing who you can trust and the high stakes really keeps you engaged all the way though. So if you haven’t read it yet, don’t miss out on this heartbreaking master piece.
WT THE VIDEO
If you want to know more about my thoughts about the book!
This is where my Blood Over Bright Haven – spoiler free review ends, but if you want to know more about certain parts of the story, click on each section below. I won’t spoil the whole book, but a little more details and my thoughts.
THE MGIC SYSTEM
A facinating magic system that stands out
The magic system in this book is really unique. The High Mages are using magic and logic to source energy and produce spells, often with a so called spellograph. To be able to create spells you need to first map where the best energy is found, then source it for your spell and then create a correct spell (or spellweb if there’s multiple spells in action) to set it free. If you’re advanced, you can also use magic in other conduits than a spellograph, like a staf for example.
The city has big reserves of sourced energy that you can tap into to use for magic, but if you are good at what you do, like Sciona, you can also do manual mapping and sourcing for your spells.
THE OTHER CHACTHERS
The main male characters POV that makes this story cut even deeper
Sciona isn’t the only character we get to follow in this book. There are also a male main character, a kwen called Thomil. We get to follow him from the beginning where he tries to escape into the city with the last remaining people of his tribe. They are forced to work togheter at the university and despite there differences (or Scionas predjudice) they develop a working relationship and maybe something more.
Thomils perspective really adds to the plot, and really challenges Sciona to think broader, which drives the story further.
THE ENDING
The ending was extreamly tragic and emotional to read. When I first started this book, I had no idea that the story would be so heartbreaking but about 10 chapters in, you realise that it’s way darker than what it seems at first.
I understand why M.L Want chose to write it like she did, and it objectively made the book even stronger. But in just my personal opinion, I would have preferred it to turn out differently.