Publication Date: October 7, 2025
In this incisive, irreverent, and whimsical cozy dark academia novel for fans of Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series and R.F. Kuang’s Babel, a struggling mage student with intense anxiety must prove that classic literature contained magic—and learn to wield her own stories to change her institution for the better.
First-generation graduate student Dorothe Bartleby has one last chance to pass the Magic program’s qualifying exam after freezing with anxiety during her first attempt. If she fails to demonstrate that magic in classic literature changed the world, she’ll be kicked out of the university. And now her advisor insists she reframe her entire dissertation using Digimancy. While mages have found a way to combine computers and magic, Bartleby’s fated to never make it work.
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. Out of her depth, she recruits James, an unfairly attractive mage candidate, to help her 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 her own knowledge and skills. Otherwise, she risks losing both the missing students and her future as a mage, permanently.
When students seeking disability accommodations begin to disappear and the administration fails to protect them, Bartelby must learn to trust in her own skills and knowledge in Higher Magic by Courtney Floyd.
I enjoy books that involve magic, special powers, and the struggle between good and evil. The author was clever with her storyline and writing. I have never read a story about a magical school at the college level. The story itself was original, funny, whimsical, and quite simply, phenomenal.
The writing was terrific, the dialogue sharp, and humorous. The way the characters spoke was very realistic, and it demonstrates a genuine gift of craft, as the author writes dialogue that is resplendent with real-life conversations.
There are clever blurbs at the beginning of each chapter. They were so entertaining and funny. They help the reader gain insight into what the students experienced while at school.
The main character, Dorothe Bartleby, is very likable. I think most women can identify with her. Being a woman in academia can be difficult, and being a woman in a magical school must be even harder. James is absolutely dreamy. I love strong male characters who can hold their own and also be sensitive.
Just in time for Halloween, Higher Magic delivers magic, mystery, and humor in plenty of doses.
Courtney Floyd is a neurodivergent fantasy author who grew up in New Mexico, where she learned to write between tarantula turf wars and apocalyptic dust storms. She currently lives at the bottom of a haunted mountain in the woods of Vermont with her partner and pets. Higher Magic is her debut novel.
Courtney has a PhD in British Literature and a penchant for irreverent literary allusions. Her short stories have appeared in publications including Fireside Magazine, Small Wonders, and Haven Spec, and her audio drama, The Way We Haunt Now, is available wherever you get your podcasts.
