The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
Published by Orbit
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Academia, Magic School, Asian Characters, Bisexual Characters, Black Characters, Brown Characters, Lesbian Characters, Plus Size Characters, Sapphic Characters, British Authors, Dark Academia, Modern Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Demons, Diverse Representation, Magic Users, Supernatural
My Rating:
Published on: May 13, 2025
Pages: 432
Disability Representation: Asthma, and upper limb amputation.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
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"Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us."

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job—no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from—is herself.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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What grabbed my attention about Emily Tesh’s The Incandescent was the setting: a British school, sixth-form students, and a teacher protagonist. Saffy Walden is the top in her field of invocation, making her one of the most powerful magicians in England. She works at the illustrious Chetwood Academy as the Director of Magic, overseeing the magic departments, staff and students, as well as magical security for the campus. Due to her managerial responsibilities, she only teaches a few classes, including year thirteen A-Level Invocation.

Told from Walden’s perspective, The Incandescent is an ode to teachers. As shown through Walden’s experiences, teaching is chaotic, and that is even before demons come into play! This book is an ode to teachers, and I was addicted to it from the very first page. I was so excited to finally find a book set in a British school written by someone who knew what they were talking about. I didn’t realise until I got to the acknowledgements that Emily Tesh is a teacher herself, so that makes sense! I have some background in teaching, and even though I didn’t take that career path, it was wonderful to see things like risk assessments and lesson plans.

I was also once an A-Level student, and Walden’s commentary about Years Twelve and Thirteen, especially the latter, was very nostalgic. Tesh perfectly captured the thoughts and feelings of A-Level students, especially Year Thirteen. I laughed at Walden’s reflections on the carol service, and how each Year group acted differently, with Year Thirteen giving it their all as the realisation of it being their last one hit them. I remember being that Year, and having that exact experience. 

The way Tesh incorporates experiences like this into her narrative shows her compassion as a teacher and her skill as a writer. She clearly knows her students, and her experiences have enabled her to write an incredible novel. The Incandescent is an emotional rollercoaster, much like school itself, showcasing the lives of the staff of Chetwood Academy and its students. While the A-Level students take centre stage in that department, other scenes offer a glimpse at other Year groups. There is one with an asthmatic student that particularly stood out to me as a fellow asthmatic, and I appreciated Walden’s remark about asthmatics knowing how to handle their own condition.

While there is a lot of school procedure and teacher jargon, the duller moments are lightened up by Walden’s thoughts. Sarcastic and quick-witted, Walden’s savvy approach to dealing with students and teachers alike offers a lot of insight into the world around her. This includes the serious moments, as well as amusing ones of bartering with an imp in the photocopier.

As Walden is an Invoker, the magic in the book is focused on demons; however, Tesh uses the academic environment to explore the wider magic system and world-building. There are the magical cops, the Order of Marshals, who help keep order on campus, and then school meetings that introduce the other magical departments. Tesh’s characters are real characters, not just in the sense of realism but also personality-wise. Even the minor characters are memorable, with the downside that I found myself wondering about them despite only meeting them on page once.

The Incandescent is a sapphic romance, with a bisexual protagonist. Romance is not the main focus of this book; instead, it features as a part of life. This is emphasised by Walden reflecting on her relationships and her life to date as a thirty-eight-year-old. Like many people nearing forty, she is beginning to question whether she has done enough. There is also the inevitable adolescent romance drama that comes with a bunch of teenagers.

This book hit all the right notes for as a British queer woman in their late thirties from South East London. Unlike other books set in a British school, it was good to see a realistic representation of race. Too often, I see a predominantly white student body, and it was great to see an author point out on page how diverse the school is. Chetwood may be a fictional location or based on ‘Chetwode’, which, like Chetwood, is close to Milton Keynes.

At present, The Incandescent appears to be a standalone novel, but the novel’s conclusion could go either way. It wraps up nicely as a standalone while also leaving room for another book. As a fan of series’ I’d love Tesh to do just that, or in the future return to the world she has created here. It feels like there is a lot of room to develop it further, and I’d love to see what happens to some of the student characters!

About Emily Tesh

Emily Tesh is a winner of the Astounding Award and of the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. She is the author of the Greenhollow Duology, which begins with Silver in the Wood and concludes with Drowned Country. Some Desperate Glory, her first novel, was released in April 2023.

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Thanks for reading my book review for The Incandescent by Emily Tesh! It is due out on 13th May 2025 and can be pre-ordered from any of the links in this review.

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