I have probably read Naomi Novik's Scholomance books more times than anything but Lord of The Rings, most recently falling asleep to the audiobook versions; falling asleep to an audiobook works better if you already know it, can tie your mind to the familiar words while gradually letting consciousness slip away. It works with recordings of my books too. Novik, even at her best, is not in Tolkien's class, but the books are strangely addictive, more so than her Spinning Silver which I am inclined to rate in other respects a better book. One result of reading a book many times is that I start looking at the world and the plot for internal consistency. By that criterion they are very bad books, internally inconsistent in multiple ways, starting with the demographics of the wizard population. Adolescent wizards are targeted by maleficaria, magical wildlife, which prey on them for their mana. Adult wizards are powerful enough to defend themselves, a fourteen year old wizard, about the age...
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