Blood over Bright Haven: A Novel

Hands down to one of the best books I have ever read The narration and the story will keep you at edge and it's a page turner. Those who haven't yet read, I urge you to read soon. I wish I could read this book again for the first time

Very atmospheric read. Story picks up after few chapters. Unexpected ending. This book definitely leaves a mark on its reader.

This book blew me away. I was completely hooked — the magic system alone had me geeking out! It felt so much like writing code, which made it uniquely exciting and satisfying to read. Sciona is not your typical FMC — and that’s exactly what made her so refreshing. She’s sharp, driven, and not necessarily likable, which is honestly the point. Watching her navigate a male-dominated academic system filled me with so much rage. She absolutely crushed the high mage entrance exam — outperforming every male candidate — and still, people reduced her to either a diversity hire or someone who slept her way in. Despite the damn exam being public! I swear, I wanted to punch half the men in this book. Then, as an insult, she’s assigned an immigrant janitor, Thomil, as her lab assistant — a move meant to humiliate her… but it ends up changing everything. Sciona’s internal bias toward the Kwen immigrants was frustrating, especially as someone who’s a POC and has experienced life as an immigrant. But her inner dialogue, while maddening, felt real — a raw look at how deep ignorance can go when people grow up inside unchecked privilege. As Thomil and Sciona begin to work together, he not only challenges her worldview but reveals the devastating truth behind the magic that powers their city — and the field she’s devoted her life to. What follows is both heartbreaking and transformative. This story is powerful, important, and unflinching. It forces us to question what we normalize and who we dehumanize. In a world where we’re often desensitized to the cost of human life, this book is a gut-punch reminder that every life matters — equally, fully, and urgently. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here crying about that ending 😭

Very food book. Would recommended. Book quality is very good

the cover felt a little old and simple as compared to the picture shown

It’s a dark fantasy with dark academia vibes. I enjoyed the world building. A little violent and gore for my taste but overall a good read.

Ugh, love the way the book is packaged, the font is beautiful, the typesetting is beautifully done. ML wang always seems to pay attention to these. Big book! Opens up and sits on the table really well. Made a bookmark for it :)

I also liked it much more than her previous 'The Sword of Kaigen'. The pace is fantastic from the beginning and there are no boring parts. I enjoyed how the magic was similar to computer programming, that was fun. The protagonists Thomil and Sciona are excellent and likeable. There was a lot of angst, just like her last book but unlike Misaki (from the Sword of Kaigen), Sciona isn't a senseless martyr and doesn't have some irrational hate for herself. There's a lot of steely resolve and a small amount of selfishness here. This is very refreshing. Almost everything in the book was superb, the story, the magic system, the characters, their interactions and the climax. I mean sure, there were similar tropes of sexism (an overbearing and somewhat irritating amount of sexism to be honest) , elitism, imperialism but it was well done as a whole. I just wish the ending was better. Don't get me wrong, it was brave and kickass, I just wish there was more closure, maybe an epilogue? I'm quite glad the author's writing again and look forward to many more books.

Book cane in perfect condition and larger than it looks in the picture

書評YouTuberのWillowがブッカー賞を取るべきだったと熱く推していたので苦手なSF？ファンタジー？を久しぶりに手に取って、結果最後まで面白く読んだ。 英語が平易で読みやすかったことと、とても分かりやすい現代社会批評になっていたため、そうだよなあ、と頷きながら読んだ。 性差別、家父長制、人種主義、宗教と権威、資本主義といったテーマを語るための器、として作られた物語のように感じた。物語の推進力はあるので、ページをくる手は止まらないけれど、感情よりは知的答え合わせとして読む感じが強かった。ただ資本主義やグローバルサウスとノースのあり方への比喩は、その残酷な本質を容赦なく醜く描いていて、読んでいて強い痛みと後ろめたさを感じた。新聞記事や報道では得難い大切な情報を文学は運び得るのだなと、これまで何十回も感じてきたことをまた再認識する読書だった。 また主人公を通して女性の生きづらさを描きながらも、男社会の尺度を次々と乗り越え自己実現していく彼女が、その社会の価値観を深く内面化していて、周りの女性や不遇な人への眼差しが行き届かない様子が捉えられているところがとても良かった。 理想に燃えたエリートが”改革”を起こそうとして、結果一般市民にどんな状況をもたらすか、という苦い展開はイラン革命の最中の女性たちの姿を描いた”テヘランでロリータを読む”を思い出させた。 2023年7月に出た本とのことだが、終盤は読みながらガザのことを思わずにはいられなかった。自分より先に亡くなった仲間の意志をついで、少しずつ次の世代が良くなるように希望を信じる、という締めくくりが、トランプ2期目の混沌の世界の中で少し虚しく響き、複雑な気持ちになった。

Came in good condition, can’t wait to read it.

Blood Over Bright Haven is an incredible book, but definitely not a light and easy one. It stayed with me for quite a while, it entertained, but even more it made me think. I guess that is the best you can ask from a book, right?! The book starts with a genocide: Almost a whole tribe is eliminated when trying to reach the city of Tiran in order to survive the blight – something inexplicable that destroys every single living thing, plants, animals, humans. The only save place seems to be the city of Tiran with its magical barrier. But non-natives, from the city-born called Kwen, are only allowed to stay if they are able to work. They are less than second class-citizens, little more than slaves. Thomil, one of two main characters, is one of two Caldonnae that survived the blight and made it into the city together with his baby-niece. The exact opposite of the Kwen are the mages who maintain the barrier and try to enhance the life for the Tiranians by providing them magically powered industrialization. Sciona Freynan is the first female mage to become highmage, until then a strictly male caste who basically run the city. She is the second main character of the book (and the one with more stage time). Becoming a highmage is by far not the end of her struggles in this male-dominated society, it’s pretty much just the beginning. M.L. Wang tackles a lot of difficult topics in this relatively short book: racism, sexism, classism, colonialism, morality, to name only a few – and she does it convincingly. Most of these topics are also part of her other books, but in my opinion not to this degree. The two main characters are both subjected to different forms of discrimination, but they are also part of this system and accordingly act discriminating themselves. Only through working together do they learn about the problems not only the other character has, but the problems of the whole society. Especially Sciona is a great character: As the first highmage in history she is antagonized by a lot of her peers (male and female), patronized by a few others and constantly has to fight for acceptance, for acknowledgement. But by the beginning of the book, she is not a likeable character: She is completely focused on herself, on her career, her possible impact on this world, her future legacy that she hardly cares about anything or anyone else. The male chauvinism of the other highmages is basically only another problem for her to be overcome. Sciona is also driven by her scientific curiosity and can disregard pretty much everything else if it helps her learning, progressing, inventing. But she changes. Slowly. Painfully. But she changes and this change is masterfully done. Blood Over Bright Haven is a dark academia-book at it’s best: the wonderful blend of magic and science, the aspect of power and responsibility, of morality and progress. And ‘dark’ here does not only appeal to the bleak world or the brutality, but to the whole social system. All the books by M.L. Wang that I have read so far are brilliantly written and this is no exception, the story gripped me from the very first page and didn’t let up until even after finishing. There is plenty of action, but mostly not in the sense of physical confrontations, still, it’s a very fast-paced book, nay, masterpiece. Bravo!

The story may be taken place in a utopian world but it feels like an accurate description of the kind of world we are living in. This book left me thinking (A LOT) about how much we are willing to not see and acknowledge so we can live a comfortable life