The Incandescent

By Emily Tesh

Book Overview

A Deadly Education meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy from bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented and chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job--no, Walden is great at her job. But when a new threat arises in the form of the ancient demon who has long waited patiently just beyond the school's wards, even Walden and the aggressively competent Chief Marshal, Laura Kenning, may not be able to contain it.

It's Walden's responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it's possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from--is herself.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250835011
• ISBN13: 9781250835017
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Loved it!

I love the trend of dark academia. Usually it is from the viewpoint of a student, but in this wonderfully dark novel, it is a teacher, Doctor Sapphire (aka Saffy) Walden, a really cool teacher who tries her best to set her students on the right path and keep them from repeating mistakes of the past (namely trying to summon a demon much too powerful for them the control, which she actually has experience in that). You get to see the history of the school, Chetwood Academy, both the dark and the good, and the depths of character, strengths and weaknesses and what Doctor Walden will do to protect her students and keep the school safe (along with all the other teachers tasked with this), even if it may be from herself, and even possibly find someone to share her life with (or at least help kick demon butt with). Yes, it focuses a lot on schooling and testing for A levels and you get to know her students well with their struggles and strengths and such, but you also get some really good fight scenes, demon summoning, demon banter, and even some demons that weren't too bad (aka Phoenix, or an imp in the copier). This was an absolutely wonderful story with depth, great world building, a tense showdown, and a happy ending for most (Doctor Walden certainly deserves it for all that she sacrificed and went through during that last school year!) and I adored this so much! I know I will definitely reread this in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this awesome novel! I highly recommend it!