Blood Over Bright Haven
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  • Published: 2 December 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804950760
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

Blood Over Bright Haven

Formats & editions
Paperback
2 Dec 2025
Tr. Paperback
29 Oct 2024
EBook
29 Oct 2024
Audiobook
29 Oct 2024
Hardback
29 Jan 2025
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A riveting dark academia fantasy about the limits of truth and power, from the author of The Sword of Kaigen.

TRUTH OVER DELUSION

For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic.

When she finally achieves her ambition to become the first woman admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry, she finds herself undermined at every turn. Instead of a lab assistant, she’s paired with a janitor, putting her crucial research at risk.

But Thomil wasn’t always a janitor. Once a nomadic hunter from the wild plains outside the city, he now sees a chance to understand the forces that decimated his tribe and drove him from his homeland.

Together they will uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever – if it doesn’t get them killed first.

‘A storytelling masterclass’ Mark Lawrence

‘Innovative and brilliantly written’ Seanan McGuire
  • Published: 2 December 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804950760
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

Praise for Blood Over Bright Haven

Powerful, passionate, and painful, this book is like a file baked into a birthday cake: a surprise when you first bite down on it, but also a tool that can set you free. Innovative and brilliantly written, this is a glorious jewel added to the crown of dark academia.

Seanan McGuire

A scathing but truthful look at the world we live in… A stunningly powerful story.

Terry Brooks

With one of the most intricate and fascinating magic systems I have ever read, Blood Over Bright Haven masterfully draws you into the brutal web of power, corruption, and complicity at the heart of its society. This book is a merciless reckoning that leaves you reeling long after the last page is turned.

Sara Hashem, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Jasad Heir

Breathtaking in its scope, audacity, and the depth of its storytelling.

Andy Peloquin, author of Darkblade

The best book – bar none – I've read all year.

Evan Winter, author of The Rage of Dragons

Blood Over Bright Haven is, well, bloody brilliant. (Pun intended.) I wish I could craft a character half so well as M.L. Wang, that I could set a scene with half so rich an atmosphere. Blood Over Bright Haven is the kind of book that knocks you down, kicks you repeatedly, and then makes you thank it for doing so. I can't recommend it highly enough.

John Bierce, author of Mage Errant

A storytelling masterclass. Deeper themes run through this energetic tale of dark academia and feats of imagination abound.

Mark Lawrence, author of The Book that Wouldn't Burn

A fantastic page-turner – clever, emotional, and thematically rich. I was completely engaged the whole way through. Highly recommended!

James Islington, author of The Will of the Many

A fantastic page-turner – clever, emotional, and thematically rich. I was completely engaged the whole way through. Highly recommended!

James Islington, author of The Will of the Many

Blood Over Bright Haven is a storytelling masterclass. Deeper themes run through this energetic tale of dark academia and feats of imagination abound.

Mark Lawrence, author of The Book that Wouldn't Burn

This powerful and engaging novel… bears comparison to groundbreaking works by Ursula K Le Guin. […] For me, the best fantasy novel of the year.

Lisa Tuttle, The Guardian