EBOOK
About
She always felt like an impostor…
First-generation graduate student Dorothe Bartleby has one last chance to pass the Magic program's qualifying exam. If she fails, she'll be kicked out of the university, losing access to higher magic and her chance to prove classic literature contained spells that rebuilt the world.
Still reeling from the paralyzing anxiety that made her freeze on her first attempt, she's horrified when her adviser insists she reframe her entire dissertation using Digimancy. Mages may have found a way to make computers and magic work together, but throw Bartleby into the mix, and nothing ever goes right.
This time is no exception. Her revised working goes horribly wrong, creating a talking skull named Anne that narrates Bartleby's inner thoughts-even the most embarrassing ones-like she's a heroine in a Jane Austen novel.
Facing the scrutiny of her professors, increasingly frequent panic attacks and the impending deadline, Bartleby doubts whether she's fit to become a Mage at all. Out of her depth, she recruits James, an unfairly attractive Mage candidate, hoping he can help her correct the code and stop Anne's glitches in time for her exam.
Instead, Anne leads them to a shocking and dangerous discovery: magic students who seek disability accommodations are disappearing-quite literally. When the administration fails to act, Bartleby must learn to trust in her knowledge and skills…and begin to rewrite her own story. Otherwise, she risks losing both the missing students and her future as a Mage, permanently. "An outrageously original magic system, real and relatable characters, themes of belonging, self-determination, and community, A+ romance, and some of the best disability representation I've read-not to mention the charming talking skull-make this an entrancing page-turner." -Leanne Schwartz, author of A Prayer for Vengeance and To a Darker Shore
"Higher Magic is the subversive, dry-humored, disability justice-oriented dark academia book of my heart. Between the truly ingenious magic system, potent renderings of grad school trauma (and community!), an edge-of-your-seat mystery, and a romance that had me cackling, I couldn't put this book down. Actual witchcraft." -P. H. Low, Locus- and Rhysling-nominated author of These Deathless Shores
"Higher Magic is simply brilliant: a delightful mash up of dark academia and nineteenth-century sensation fiction. A magical university, found family, and a powerful championing of kindness, love, and compassion for others-this book is perfect for fans of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and The Winx Saga. Floyd is an exciting new voice in contemporary fantasy, and their debut is a higher kind of magic indeed." -Jen Sugden, author of High Vaultage
First-generation graduate student Dorothe Bartleby has one last chance to pass the Magic program's qualifying exam. If she fails, she'll be kicked out of the university, losing access to higher magic and her chance to prove classic literature contained spells that rebuilt the world.
Still reeling from the paralyzing anxiety that made her freeze on her first attempt, she's horrified when her adviser insists she reframe her entire dissertation using Digimancy. Mages may have found a way to make computers and magic work together, but throw Bartleby into the mix, and nothing ever goes right.
This time is no exception. Her revised working goes horribly wrong, creating a talking skull named Anne that narrates Bartleby's inner thoughts-even the most embarrassing ones-like she's a heroine in a Jane Austen novel.
Facing the scrutiny of her professors, increasingly frequent panic attacks and the impending deadline, Bartleby doubts whether she's fit to become a Mage at all. Out of her depth, she recruits James, an unfairly attractive Mage candidate, hoping he can help her correct the code and stop Anne's glitches in time for her exam.
Instead, Anne leads them to a shocking and dangerous discovery: magic students who seek disability accommodations are disappearing-quite literally. When the administration fails to act, Bartleby must learn to trust in her knowledge and skills…and begin to rewrite her own story. Otherwise, she risks losing both the missing students and her future as a Mage, permanently. "An outrageously original magic system, real and relatable characters, themes of belonging, self-determination, and community, A+ romance, and some of the best disability representation I've read-not to mention the charming talking skull-make this an entrancing page-turner." -Leanne Schwartz, author of A Prayer for Vengeance and To a Darker Shore
"Higher Magic is the subversive, dry-humored, disability justice-oriented dark academia book of my heart. Between the truly ingenious magic system, potent renderings of grad school trauma (and community!), an edge-of-your-seat mystery, and a romance that had me cackling, I couldn't put this book down. Actual witchcraft." -P. H. Low, Locus- and Rhysling-nominated author of These Deathless Shores
"Higher Magic is simply brilliant: a delightful mash up of dark academia and nineteenth-century sensation fiction. A magical university, found family, and a powerful championing of kindness, love, and compassion for others-this book is perfect for fans of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and The Winx Saga. Floyd is an exciting new voice in contemporary fantasy, and their debut is a higher kind of magic indeed." -Jen Sugden, author of High Vaultage