Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

Book Review

Elloise Hopkins

The Caldonnae tribe has long been dwindling. Now, Thomil and the few survivors have no choice but to find safety in the great city of Tiran. Safety from the cold, and hope for a future. Blight has robbed the tribe of food and driven them from their home, but not all will make it to Tiran. To reach the magical shields that surround the city, they must traverse a thawing lake and, of course, risk being taken by the Blight.  It is a risk they have no choice but to take, and Thomil is determined to survive.

Today is the day Sciona Freynan will take the High Magistry exam. If she passes, then she will be the first female ever to do so. And if she fails, then it will add more reason for the men who control the High Magistry to never allow another female to sit the exam. Sciona feels the pressure keenly. It is not just her future at stake, but the future of every female mage after her.

Blood Over Bright Haven is billed as dark academia but certainly has much in common with Trudi Canavan’s Magician books and similar high fantasy of the contemporary past. We have a patriarchal, magical society which breeds jealousies and harbours dark secrets, which, of course, Sciona discovers as the story unfolds.

As a heroine and scholar, Sciona is very believable, and she is also very relatable as a female trying to thrive in a male society. Confident in her own abilities and (mostly) resilient to her opposition, she is written as brilliantly flawed: single-mindedly determined to succeed on her path, no matter what she must face; arrogant, as experts in their field can sometimes appear; and she is at times woefully ignorant of the feelings of those around her.

Thomil is a fantastic contrast to Sciona and ends up an unlikely partner in her endeavours. Being an outsider to Tiran, Thomil’s story shows us another dark side to the High Magistry, and the society they control within the city… and beyond. It is not only women who are oppressed in Tiran, and both narrative threads ensure plenty of underlying tension throughout what is a solid page-turner.