Vita Nostra: A Novel (Vita Nostra, 1)

“Vita Nostra” — a cross between Lev Grossman’s “The Magicians” and Elizabeth Kostova’s “The Historian” [...] is the anti-Harry Potter you didn’t know you wanted.” -- The Washington Post“Vita Nostra has become a powerful influence on my own writing. It’s a book that has the potential to become a modern classic of its genre, and I couldn’t be more excited to see it get the global audience in English it so richly deserves.” -- Lev GrossmanBest Books of November 2018 -- Paste MagazineThe definitive English language translation of the internationally acclaimed Russian novel—a brilliant dark fantasy combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way.Our life is brief . . .Sasha Samokhina has been accepted to the Institute of Special Technologies.Or, more precisely, she’s been chosen.Situated in a tiny village, she finds the students are bizarre, and the curriculum even more so. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, it is their families that pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time; experiences which are nothing she has ever dreamed of . . . and suddenly all she could ever want.A complex blend of adventure, magic, science, and philosophy that probes the mysteries of existence, filtered through a distinct Russian sensibility, this astonishing work of speculative fiction—brilliantly translated by Julia Meitov Hersey—is reminiscent of modern classics such as Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, Max Barry’s Lexicon, and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, but will transport them to a place far beyond those fantastical worlds.

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of November 2018: If Hogwarts was in Russia instead of Great Britain, if failing your O.W.L. exam meant death to family members, and if learning how to bend reality might deform your brain and physical body…well, Harry Potter wouldn't make it past year one. Vita Nostra, a Russian urban fantasy novel, audaciously expands the concept of magic and philosophy well past their current comfortable doctrines. The strenuous, stressful lessons that Sasha Samokhina assimilates at the Institute of Special Technologies forces Sasha and her classmates to rethink their assumptions and break past mental barriers—even when the barrier is simply identifying as human. Reading Vita Nostra exposes just how complacent novels about magic have become as they evoke the tried-and-true magical systems based on inherited abilities, willpower, or enchanted items. As Sasha expands her vision of the world, so, too, the reader's vision of fantasy literature expands. Vita Nostra’s ending doesn't have the tidy satisfaction I expect…but perhaps that reveals how pigeonholed some of my own reading expectations continue to be. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review

From School Library Journal

Originally published in Russian, this modern fantasy follows Sasha Samokhina as she is unwillingly recruited and forced to attend the mysterious Institute of Special Technologies. The teachings seem nonsensical, and failure comes at a high cost, sometimes resulting in the untimely death of a close relative. Through fear and coercion, the students learn at an accelerated speed, unlocking secrets to higher human potential and beyond. The lyrical writing will appeal to those who favor magical realism, and the college atmosphere grounds the novel in the real world. Readers will look forward to the next installment of this fascinating, strange tale. Recommended to fans of Lev Grossman's The Magicians and Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale. ­VERDICT A must-purchase for libraries serving fantasy-loving mature teens.-Melanie Leivers, Palm Beach Country Library System, FLα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

a cross between Lev Grossman’s

“Vita Nostra”

Washington Post

“The Historian” [...] is the anti-Harry Potter you didn’t know you wanted.”

Aliette de Bodard, award-winning author of The Tea Master and the Detective

“Amazing book. Dark Harry Potter on steroids with a hefty dose of metaphysics.”

Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians

“Vita Nostra has become a powerful influence on my own writing. It’s a book that has the potential to become a modern classic of its genre, and I couldn’t be more excited to see it get the global audience in English it so richly deserves.”

Charlie Holmberg, bestselling author of The Paper Magician

“Vita Nostra is utterly fascinating. It’s like a drug; the more you read, the more you have to read. A unique premise, mind-blowing magic system, and spellbinding conclusion makes this one of the best reads of the year.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Vita Nostra takes the trope of young people selected for a school for magic and transforms it into an unnerving, deeply philosophical coming-of-age tale. [...] Hersey’s translation is plain and straightforward, a wise choice that enhances the deep strangeness of this trippy, vivid novel.”

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This dark, ambitious, and intellectually strenuous novel will feel like a fresh revelation to fantasy readers glutted with Western wish-fulfillment narratives.”

BookPage

“Imagine that Hogwarts has opened a satellite campus inside Harry Haller’s Magic Theater from Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, and assigned Kafka, Dostoevsky and Rod Serling to oversee the curriculum.”

Paste Magazine (Best Books of November 2018)

“Vita Nostra reminds us that language and knowledge are the greatest powers, and it’s through the word that we’ve shaped everything around us.”

New York Journal of Books

“Vita Nostra is a dark, enthralling fantasy quite unlike any other. . . .  One part coming of age tale, one part contemporary magic school, and a sizable part dark reality, Vita Nostra is a beautiful, aching, nearly debilitating fantasy that bruises, and thrills, the heart.”

Booklist

“Dark and foreboding, this fantasy, translated from Russian, is more of philosophical treatise on growing up and the nature of reality than an adventure tale. Readers willing to challenge themselves and slowly digest this deep book will enjoy it immensely.”

PopMatters

“The Dyachenkos have produced a remarkable novel and one that will linger long afterward in the reader’s thoughts.”

Manhattan Book Review

“Vita Nostra is the purest version of the magical academy fantasy setting.”

Scifi Pulse

“This goes magnificently into an adult direction that will blow the reader’s mind. It twists and turns between wonders and horrors, taking a reader on a magical, psychological trip that won’t be forgotten.”

SFRevu

“It is a thought-provoking, twisting tale that has highs and lows, unlike anything that most U.S. readers will have experienced. It is brilliant and well worth the time.”

From the Back Cover

The definitive English-language translation of the internationally bestselling Russian novel—a brilliant dark fantasy combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative wayOur life is brief . . .While vacationing at the beach with her mother, Sasha Samokhina meets the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov under the most peculiar circumstances. The teenage girl is powerless to refuse when this strange and unusual man with an air of the sinister directs her to perform a task with potentially scandalous consequences. He rewards her effort with a strange golden coin.As the days progress, Sasha carries out other acts for which she receives more coins from Kozhennikov. As summer ends, her domineering mentor directs her to move to a remote village and use her gold to enter the Institute of Special Technologies. Though she does not want to go to this unknown town or school, she also feels it’s the only place she should be. Against her mother’s wishes, Sasha leaves behind all that is familiar and begins her education.As she quickly discovers, the institute’s “special technologies” are unlike anything she has ever encountered. The books are impossible to read, the lessons are obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them directly for their transgressions and failures; instead, their families pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time—experiences which are like nothing she has ever dreamed of . . . and suddenly all she could ever want.A complex blend of adventure, magic, science, and philosophy that probes the mysteries of existence, filtered through a distinct Russian sensibility, this astonishing work of speculative fiction—brilliantly translated by Julia Meitov Hersey—is reminiscent of modern classics such as Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, Max Barry’s Lexicon, and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale.

About the Author

Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, a former actress and a former psychiatrist, are co-authors of over thirty novels and numerous short stories and screenplays. They were born in Ukraine and moved to California in 2013. Their books have been translated into several foreign languages and awarded multiple literary and film prizes. Marina and Sergey are recipients of the Award for Best Authors (Eurocon 2005), Prix Planete SF des blogueurs (2020), Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (2020) and of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Rosetta Awards (2021).Sergey Dyachenko passed away in 2022, but his memory lives on in books.

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