This book is not like Harry Potter. At all. But: What if you take a Deputy Head of an English boarding school for magically capable children, in the era of internet and smartphones, and tell a story from their point of view? You end up with something vaguely reminiscent of what Professor McGonagall probably was thinking about the activities of the Hogwarts kids, except there are demons, and she’s bisexual. It’s awesome.

So. The Incandescent follows Dr. Saphire Walden, a PhD in (demon) invocation and a teacher at an elite school with a strong magic curriculum in addition to the more mundane chemistry, rowing and rugby. Dr. Walden (who goes by “Saffy”) is teaching a group of 17-18 year-olds in an advanced magic seminar. The story is both about Saffy and the four students whom she teaches, the magical messes the students create that Saffy needs to help manage, and the personal growth of Saffy herself.

I was instantly captured by the writing and premise of this book. The idea that demons can inhabit any object (or person) with “self-ness” was amusing and frightening at the same time. (You will never call your cell phone by a pronoun ever again). I loved the acerbic observations about academia, government functioning and the education system. The magic system was well-integrated with modern living in the way that makes my urban-fantasy-loving soul happy. As a primer to the book magic system: Invocation is calling forth demons using very precise forms, evocation is more like physical spell casting, instantiation is basically alchemy and divination was debunked years ago.

The tone had the same delightful wit as the Scholomance series, interspersed with funny anecdotes about teaching. I am not going to say much more because I don’t want to spoil anything, but the conversations with a certain being I thought were great. I cringed hard at all of the awkward moments we see in Saffy’s personal life and cheered just as hard when something went right. My only wish is that the ending expanded a little bit more on later book events, but overall it is a wonderful standalone and a great addition to the dark academia genre. 4.5 stars, and I would recommend it for fans of the Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik, The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso and Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean.

The Incandescent is out tomorrow from Orbit Books – you can order your copy HERE