Review of The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

Get in, loser, we’re writing an encomium. When I read Some Desperate Glory, I became an instant Emily Tesh fangirl. That book rocked my world, and if you want thoughtful science fiction, you must read it; I am so thrilled it won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. But this review is about Tesh’s latest, The Incandescent. I was vibrating with excitement to read this one and preordered it from my local indie bookshop as soon as I knew it was coming out. Although it isn’t on exactly the same level as Some Desperate Glory (which I view as a true landmark of genre), The Incandescent still captivated me and is written in such a way that affirms Tesh’s incredible skill and compassion as a writer.

Doctor Walden (Saffy or Sapphire, but the book literally introduces her to us as “Doctor Walden,” and it’s Walden she remains) is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School in England. In many ways, Chetwood is your typical old-money private school—it also just happens to teach classes in magic to those pupils who have the ability. Walden’s particular skillset makes her talented at invocation, the branch of magic that summons and deals with demons and therefore, arguably, the most dangerous. When Walden was a student at Chetwood, she was party to an incident that claimed a life and could have been much, much worse. Now, she’s a teacher—more than that, she is literally responsible for the integrity of the magical wards that keep Chetwood and its staff and pupils safe from the demonic plane. And Walden might not be up to the task.

I love that this is a book about magic school from the point of view of the staff rather than students. I relate to Walden so hard. We are basically the same age (mid-thirties). Like her, I am mid-career in my teaching, with enough experience and responsibility that I feel a distance from the younger, bubblier newly qualified teachers who cross my path, yet with enough energy and far enough from retirement that I am not quite a jaded or set-in-my-ways stalwart. Everything that Walden shares about teaching in this book resonates with me. It’s not just the surface-level mentions of workload or staff–student dynamics. It’s the ardent awareness of responsibility for the social–emotional needs of one’s students. Throughout the book, Walden reflects on how to interact with her pupils: how to treat them as mature, almost-adults while also remembering that she is their teacher and they are still students. It is such a difficult line to walk, and the way Tesh explores Walden’s thinking is completely accurate and, for nonteachers, I hope quite illuminating. I was so not surprised to learn, when I read her acknowledgements, that Tesh herself is a teacher.

Additionally, although I am Canadian, I lived and taught in the UK for two years! Now, I did this right after graduating from university, so I was far more similar to the NQT Lily in this book than I was to Walden. Nevertheless, The Incandescent stoked some nostalgia I didn’t even realize I harboured for my time in the UK. Like Walden, I taught A-levels, and they were always the bright spot of my day versus the, shall we say, more rambunctious sets of Years 7 through 11 that I also taught. I share in Walden’s despair that a letter grade on a standardized test can hold so much power over a young person’s trajectory in life. So this was another way in which this book worked on a very personal level.

But enough about me! The Incandescent will appeal to people who aren’t teachers who spent time in the UK, I swear. For one, there’s the whole sapphic romance angle. As most of you know, I am not super into romance, but I am slowly coming around to the discovery that if my book must have romance, I would like it to be sapphic. Sorry-not-sorry to the straights and the male gays, but I am here for women loving women! Without going too deeply into spoilers, I want to highlight that Walden is a bi baddie and the romance in this book is more complicated. There isn’t so much a love triangle happening here as a situationship … thing. I don’t know how to label it. Anyway, though this book has a romantic subplot and uses some romance tropes, it is far from a traditional romance.

Indeed, I really only have two criticisms of this book. The first has to do with Laura and how she gets put on a bus for basically the entire middle act of the story. Like, it makes narrative sense, but it means we don’t spend much time with her character, so she feels so underdeveloped. The second is that the resolution of the plot is a bit too quick for me. After spending so much time building up to the actual danger, Tesh wraps things up very quickly. This is what stops me from giving the book the five stars I so desperately want to give.

These complaints aside, I just think The Incandescent is (pardon the pun) brilliant. As I’ve said, Walden’s characterization is so deep and fascinating. She is very flawed, which literally leads to the biggest conflict in the story. She is so deeply human. I love the little glimpses we get of her A-level students, the way Tesh fleshes out their perspectives on the world. Like there’s one scene where Nicola, who is an orphan and ward of the school, is talking to Walden, finally confiding in her. She mentions that Aneeta, her classmate and best friend, can’t quite understand some of her experiences because Aneeta, for all her kindness, has grown up quite privileged and rich. It’s just a really quick touch on social class dynamics (though it is far from the only one, I should say—this book is very much about class).

The magic system is also interesting, with a blend of stuff we’ve seen before and a few new ideas, and a perfect balance of exposition versus action. I really like how Tesh conceptualizes demons—it’s kind of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too approach to demons as primitive, inhuman forces versus intelligent, scary foes! I think the best magic school stories are the ones where you’d like to live in that world despite the body count, and this book is definitely one of those stories.

Finally, as much as I think the ending is abrupt, I have to confess I cried during the climax. (I also laughed a lot throughout this book.) I just got so invested and so emotional in Walden, her struggle, and Laura’s role … it’s just so good. Like, I don’t know what else to say to convince you, but if you have any suspicion or hope at all that this book could be for you, read it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Emily Tesh is a phenomenon.