Dr. Saffy Walden, MThau, PhD, works at Chetwood Academy as the Director of Magic. Alongside the endless marking, meetings, and general bureaucracy that comes with her administrator position at the school, she still gets to do a fair bit of teaching to the sixth form. Which comes with the usual hormone-fuelled dramas, of course, but also the small matter of trying to keep the students from getting possessed and/or opening portals to hell dimensions. Teenagers do not always make the best decisions, but then, sometimes neither do the adults.

Further complicating things are the Marshalls, led by Laura Kenning. The Marshalls are essentially magical cops, an ancient order who are there to protect humanity from the demons (and, if somewhat unspoken, from the staff and students too). Laura has a deep distrust of Dr Walden, and the feeling is distinctly mutual—if only Laura wasn’t quite so attractive.

The world of The Incandescent is well developed, exploring a lot of the day-to-day operation of the school before things inevitably go sideways in the second half. The story did not go at all in the directions I expected, although one of the villains may as well have been twirling a moustache throughout their introduction. There is a pleasant romance subplot, although it’s not the main focus of the story.

There are several delightful and imaginative touches to this world, which is very similar to our own but with magic woven through it. For example, you have one has to be very careful not to refer to everyday objects as “you” on campus, because this will create an opening for evil forces to take up residence. As a result, the number of people swearing at the photocopier has left it with a demon inside that demands tribute before it will properly function.

While I was reading this, I soon got the feeling that the author has some first-hand experience in academia, and indeed she does; Emily Tesh teaches Latin and Ancient Greek to school kids in Hertfordshire. Applying that real-world experience to a magic school is genius, and grounds this story in a tangible realism that makes the fantastical elements work so well. It’s also enjoyable to have a book with an older, highly competent female protagonist, if not without her flaws.

I highly recommend this book to both academics and magicians alike.
 

Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store!