[pwalker8]

Ok, the title is a bit misleading. There are certain subgenres that seem to belong mostly to indies. However, very occasionally, a name author will take a whirl at that subgenre.

One example of that is the whole Zombie Apocalypse subgenre and John Ringo's Black Tide Rising series, which shows the difference between a pro and the wantabes.

Another subgenre that seems to be the female equivalent is what I tend to call the Magic High School genre. It was likely inspired by Hogwarts, but it tends to be more, older high school girls being the cool, popular girl at the magic high school, kind of a variant of the romance novels, I guess.

Naomi Novik, of Temeraire fame, has taken a swing at this genre with her new book, A Deadly Education, the first in the Scholomance trilogy. In this book, the protagonist, Galadriael aka El, is more of a future Disney evil queen in this pro version.

Novik is a very talented author. One of the major differences between a lot of these type books and Novik's book is the set up and back story. Most budding wantabe authors tend to skip the setup and back story and go straight to punchline, with such books frequently coming across more as a series of scenes than a coherent story. Noviks backstory and setup is both interesting and gives an interesting justification for the school. Equally interesting is her rather unique spin on a school without teachers.

Well worth reading. The book came out in September.