Lex Croucher’s irreverent take on dark academia sub-genre

Time travel, a brilliantly conceived otherworld, and a Russian nuclear submarine that appears to have gone rogue feature in this sci-fi/fantasy roundup 

Lex Croucher’s 'The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones' is a wryly knowing romp that references Evelyn Waugh, Donna Tartt, and 'Saltburn'.

Dark academia is having its glow-up moment right now. Lex Croucher’s The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones (Gollancz, £22) offers an irreverent take on the sub-genre, which unfolds in the exclusive Temple School of Thaumaturgy, an unholy blend of Eton and Hogwarts where Briar Jones takes up a janitorial position. 

A working class stiff devoid of any magical spark, Briar is disgusted to discover that their sensitive childhood friend Seb has degenerated into a brutal bully, a prefect who employs the dark arts to haze the school’s new intake in a series of ritual humiliations that has in the past proved fatal.