Breakaway Books

Authored by M.L. Wang; Published 2023; Fantasy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️

Blood Over Bright Haven stands out to me for its unique combination of magic, religion, and technology. Its system of magic is described in precise, fascinating detail, but this book actually has much more commentary about our world than is initially apparent. 

Blood Over Bright Haven follows Sciona, an ambitious mage in Tiran, who aims to become the first woman to join the ranks of High Mage in Tiran’s history. In her attempt to prove her worth, she works tirelessly to support the expansion of the country’s magical borders and, in the process, discovers the true cost of her magic in human lives. This lesson, in all its brutal realism, is repeatedly emphasized, and so I must warn you—this is not a book for idealists.

The description of the mechanics of magic in this world is one of the highlights of the novel. The exacting detail drew me in from the start, and the slow-burn revelation of the source of Tiran’s magic is the beating heart of the novel. Sciona herself is another highlight: an excellent example of an academic with a brilliant intellect and nearly no emotional intelligence. Her evolution to something more than that throughout the novel feels both real and hopeful, if painful for her. But easily, the part of this novel that will stick with me the longest is the ethical questions it repeatedly poses: What are we willing to pay for progress? For convenience? Whose needs win out? As an allegory, I found the novel exceptionally powerful. 

The final chapters of the book were difficult to read, precisely for their realism. They are brutal and graphic, and although they point toward hope, I’m not sure it really got there in the end. I wish I knew just a little more about the secondary characters, more about the tribes outside of Tiran, and how the society evolved and reacted to Sciona’s work. Gender played a major role throughout the novel without any real resolution, and I wanted to understand more deeply why women are so completely banished from magic in Tiran. But to me, it is always a good sign when what I want from a novel is more.

A brutal novel, but also a beautiful one. Blood Over Bright Haven is a fantasy novel to read not to get away, but to think more deeply about society.