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Vita Nostra (English) #2
Assassin of Reality
The eagerly anticipated sequel to the highly acclaimed Vita Nostra takes readers to the next stage in Sasha Samokhina’s journey in a richly imagined world of dark academia in which grammar is magic—and not all magic is good.
In Vita Nostra , Sasha Samokhina, a third-year student at the Institute of Special Technologies, was in the middle of taking the final exam that would transform her into a part of the Great Speech. After defying her teachers’ expectations, Sasha emerges from the exam as Password, a unique and powerful part of speech. Accomplished and ready to embrace her new role, she soon learns her powers threaten the old world, and despite her hard work, Sasha is set to fail. However, Farit Kozhennikov, Sasha’s dark mentor, finds a way to bring her out of the oblivion and back to the Institute for his own selfish purposes. Subsequently, Sasha must correct her mistakes before she is allowed to graduate and is forced to do what few are asked and even less to succeed and reverberate —becoming a part of the Great Speech and being one of the special few who dictate reality. If she fails, she faces a fate far worse than the choice is hers. Years have passed around the Institute—and the numerous realities that have spread from Sasha’s first failure—but it is only her fourth year of learning what role she will play in shaping the world. Her teachers despise and fear her, her classmates distrust her, and a growing love—for a young pilot with no affiliation to the school—is fraught because a relationship means leverage, and Farit won’t hesitate to use it against her. Planes crash all the time. Which means Sasha needs to rewrite the world so that can’t happen...or fail for good.
In Vita Nostra , Sasha Samokhina, a third-year student at the Institute of Special Technologies, was in the middle of taking the final exam that would transform her into a part of the Great Speech. After defying her teachers’ expectations, Sasha emerges from the exam as Password, a unique and powerful part of speech. Accomplished and ready to embrace her new role, she soon learns her powers threaten the old world, and despite her hard work, Sasha is set to fail. However, Farit Kozhennikov, Sasha’s dark mentor, finds a way to bring her out of the oblivion and back to the Institute for his own selfish purposes. Subsequently, Sasha must correct her mistakes before she is allowed to graduate and is forced to do what few are asked and even less to succeed and reverberate —becoming a part of the Great Speech and being one of the special few who dictate reality. If she fails, she faces a fate far worse than the choice is hers. Years have passed around the Institute—and the numerous realities that have spread from Sasha’s first failure—but it is only her fourth year of learning what role she will play in shaping the world. Her teachers despise and fear her, her classmates distrust her, and a growing love—for a young pilot with no affiliation to the school—is fraught because a relationship means leverage, and Farit won’t hesitate to use it against her. Planes crash all the time. Which means Sasha needs to rewrite the world so that can’t happen...or fail for good.
241 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
175 people are currently reading
4411 people want to read
About the author
Marina Dyachenko
120 books712 followersМарина Дяченко
Marina and Serhiy Dyachenko - co-authors of novels, short fiction, plays and scripts. They primarily write in Russian (and in the past also in Ukrainian) with several novels translated into English and published in the United States. These include, Vita Nostra (2012), The Scar (2012), The Burned Tower (2012), Age of Witches (2014) and Daughter from the dark (2020). The primary genres of their books are modern speculative fiction, fantasy, and literary tales.
Marina and Serhiy Dyachenko - co-authors of novels, short fiction, plays and scripts. They primarily write in Russian (and in the past also in Ukrainian) with several novels translated into English and published in the United States. These include, Vita Nostra (2012), The Scar (2012), The Burned Tower (2012), Age of Witches (2014) and Daughter from the dark (2020). The primary genres of their books are modern speculative fiction, fantasy, and literary tales.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 444 reviews
January 30, 2025
(4.25) This is such a strange but unique series.
I can't wait to read the third one!
I can't wait to read the third one!
May 4, 2023
Nothing about this incredible, preposterous book should be taken at face value. Certainly the ending is not what it seems. Nor, perhaps, the beginning. Some of the people here are achingly real (Lisa is a scene-stealer, as in Vita Nostra). Others are not people at all. (Truly convincing unpeople are not easy to write; one finds them in fantasy only rarely.) As in Vita Nostra, Sasha’s projections, fantasies, and misunderstandings are not just central to the story, they are the story. Despite all the things we now know as readers—despite how far Sasha has come since that fateful seaside vacation—incomprehension remains the novel’s key technique and central theme. Pry your eyes open and gaze upon the utter incomprehensibility of life, of death, of existence and nonexistence. What would it mean—these novels ask—to actually comprehend this world? It would be a kind of madness, a kind of torture.
November 28, 2022
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I am truly honoured to be one of the first people who gets to read this in English after waiting several years for there to be a translation. As such I’ll try to restrain my actual reaction, which was an elated squeal so high-pitched that only dogs could hear it.
A few years ago, I read Vita Nostra, and it absolutely blew my mind. It’s a shimmering gem of a novel—inventive, atmospheric, transcendent. It gave me nightmares. I had to make everyone I knew read it. It’s also a very complete book, and without spoiling the ending, I couldn’t imagine how Sasha’s story could continue from its brainmelting conclusion.
But, continue it does, in a novel that is every bit worth the wait. Fifteen years after the events of Vita Nostra, a different Sasha, one who made different choices, dies in a car accident. The night before, she catches a vision of our Sasha, whose third-year exam at the Institute of Special Technologies did not exactly go as planned. “Our” Sasha is forced by her sinister mentor Farit to return to the Institute, where she must correct her mistakes before she is allowed to graduate. The stakes, this time, are not just the lives of her loved ones, but the very nature of reality itself.
I fell in love with the Sasha of Vita Nostra, and her persistence and ambition in the face of her own terror and the perplexing, overwhelming absurdity of the Institute. Assassin of Reality gives us an older, wearier Sasha, one who pushes back against the Institute’s structures and fights for her life, her humanity, and her agency, even if that fight comes at a tremendous personal cost. I also loved the deeper glimpses we get into the lives of those around her, especially Lisa, who is just a fantastic character. It’s a complex, philosophical, challenging book, but it’s grounded in the raw fallibility of the people (and metaphysical constructs) at its heart. Sasha’s fragile and fraught relationships with her classmates, her burgeoning love for Yaroslav, a pilot with secrets of his own, even her growing friendship with Yaroslav’s aging father are rendered with sympathy but never romanticization. The Institute, too, is a character in its own right, claustrophobic and uncanny.
I couldn’t rave about this book without also mentioning how wonderful the translation is. I can’t imagine how challenging it must have been to translate a book in which language plays such a central role. Without giving away too much of the story, language is a major plot point, there’s wordplay, and Russian and English are not exactly similar languages. And yet it doesn’t feel like a book in translation—the prose absolutely sings off the page.
Assassin of Reality is a worthy successor to what’s probably my favourite fantasy novel of all time. Its sole flaw is that I know there is a third book and I still speak neither Russian or Ukrainian. I would give it more stars if I could, stars that only exist on planes of reality that we mortals have yet to explore.
A few years ago, I read Vita Nostra, and it absolutely blew my mind. It’s a shimmering gem of a novel—inventive, atmospheric, transcendent. It gave me nightmares. I had to make everyone I knew read it. It’s also a very complete book, and without spoiling the ending, I couldn’t imagine how Sasha’s story could continue from its brainmelting conclusion.
But, continue it does, in a novel that is every bit worth the wait. Fifteen years after the events of Vita Nostra, a different Sasha, one who made different choices, dies in a car accident. The night before, she catches a vision of our Sasha, whose third-year exam at the Institute of Special Technologies did not exactly go as planned. “Our” Sasha is forced by her sinister mentor Farit to return to the Institute, where she must correct her mistakes before she is allowed to graduate. The stakes, this time, are not just the lives of her loved ones, but the very nature of reality itself.
I fell in love with the Sasha of Vita Nostra, and her persistence and ambition in the face of her own terror and the perplexing, overwhelming absurdity of the Institute. Assassin of Reality gives us an older, wearier Sasha, one who pushes back against the Institute’s structures and fights for her life, her humanity, and her agency, even if that fight comes at a tremendous personal cost. I also loved the deeper glimpses we get into the lives of those around her, especially Lisa, who is just a fantastic character. It’s a complex, philosophical, challenging book, but it’s grounded in the raw fallibility of the people (and metaphysical constructs) at its heart. Sasha’s fragile and fraught relationships with her classmates, her burgeoning love for Yaroslav, a pilot with secrets of his own, even her growing friendship with Yaroslav’s aging father are rendered with sympathy but never romanticization. The Institute, too, is a character in its own right, claustrophobic and uncanny.
I couldn’t rave about this book without also mentioning how wonderful the translation is. I can’t imagine how challenging it must have been to translate a book in which language plays such a central role. Without giving away too much of the story, language is a major plot point, there’s wordplay, and Russian and English are not exactly similar languages. And yet it doesn’t feel like a book in translation—the prose absolutely sings off the page.
Assassin of Reality is a worthy successor to what’s probably my favourite fantasy novel of all time. Its sole flaw is that I know there is a third book and I still speak neither Russian or Ukrainian. I would give it more stars if I could, stars that only exist on planes of reality that we mortals have yet to explore.
June 27, 2023
Assassin of Reality is just as hypnotic as Vita Nostra but not quite as inventive. I hoped the plot would develop more than it did. This book feels more rooted in reality, with the introduction of modern technology and side characters from outside the Institute, which is both positive for the character development and negative for the atmosphere. I will always be amazed by the authors' ability to turn abstract ideas about language and possibility into blazing reality. Sasha is one of my favorite fictional transcendent beings.
March 19, 2023
A lot of the power of "Vita Nostra" came from the reader, and the protagonist, Sasha, having no idea what was going on. In its sequel, we do have a general idea of what's happening -- there is no mystery to unfold. "Vita Nostra" is strange, powerful and compelling: "Assassin of Reality" does not live up to its promise. It's often clunky and the central relationship is not convincing. Disappointing.
December 18, 2022
This is a direct sequel, sometimes even presented as the second part of the same novel, to one of the most popular SFF novels of Ukraine-born couple of writers Marina Dyachenko and Sergey Dyachenko, Vita Nostra. I’ve reviewed the first book here and when it was written (in 2006) it was self-sufficient, even if extremely open-ended, which worried a lot of readers who hoped to receive some answers. This book suggests some answers, but a lot of things remain unanswered. This is the final novel of the couple for in 2022 Sergey Dyachenko passed away.
A few words about both the series and the authors.
This book in the original is subtitled ‘Work on mistakes’ I don’t know the exact English equivalent but it is what one does after receiving their paper back with marks and comments. The English title of the translation, planned for early 2023 is Assassin of Reality, which is the name given to Sasha by one of her tutors. It is a part of two series – a loosely connected Metamorphosis, where publication order is used (so #4) and a sub-series Vita Nostra (#2). The first series is extremely weakly connected with maybe similar issues but different settings and characters, and the second is more like two parts of a single book.
The authors are a long-married couple from Ukraine, who wrote in Russian (a large share of the Ukrainian population was Russified when they moved from villages to cities, esp. in the 20th century. This doesn’t mean a Russian identity in most cases as the current Russian invasion clearly shows, but it often means a greater connection to Russian culture) and turned popular in the 1990s. They had a single daughter with a serious illness, so to pay her medical bills and get the best treatment, they moved from Kyiv to Moscow in 2009 and to San Francisco in 2013. Quite likely because of personal issues and fears of losing the possibility to live from publishing in Russia, they never clearly publicly stated their position about the Russian-Ukrainian war that started with the occupation of Crimea in 2014. Sadly, their daughter passed away in 2018
The second book starts at the same time fourteen years later and right after the finish of the first story. From the ending of the first book, readers know that the protagonist - Alexandra (Sasha) Samokhina is .
The new book starts with her 14 years later, driving a car after a breakdown with her husband, just to get into a deadly accident. From which she wakes up as from a nightmare only to get into another one – meeting herself from 14 years ago… as readers find out, this was a possible future for Samokhina, who never entered the Institute of Special Technologies in the town of Torpa but lived her life as an ordinary human, shown to her by the ‘devil’ from the first book Farit Kozhennikov. So now she is pushed by him to return to the institute, to try to pass this time. The rest of the story in her re-entry to a renewed institute, where some tutors see her as a danger, while her fellow students (also transported 14 years into the future) have a varied reaction to her return; there is another great love, another set of weird exercises and another conflict with the world.
Some readers of this duology call this book a fanfic based on the great and talented first book. And to some extent they have a point – the first book was partially a bildungsroman, a grimdark and soft-SF version of Hogwarts; the second proposes the same teen rebellion, love affairs, growing up, but doing it with a formed personality, which hardly can grow up once again. Also, I guess intentionally they added some quite strange pseudo-poetic comparisons like ‘The touch was like an entry point into another reality, like a hole in the side of a spaceship through which the cosmos flows.’ Or ‘the whiteboard remained clean, like the dress of a still sober bride’. At the same time, I think the book is less fanfic but more a musing of older writers about the first one, maybe a more cynical view. It is interesting but much less ground-breaking.
A few words about both the series and the authors.
This book in the original is subtitled ‘Work on mistakes’ I don’t know the exact English equivalent but it is what one does after receiving their paper back with marks and comments. The English title of the translation, planned for early 2023 is Assassin of Reality, which is the name given to Sasha by one of her tutors. It is a part of two series – a loosely connected Metamorphosis, where publication order is used (so #4) and a sub-series Vita Nostra (#2). The first series is extremely weakly connected with maybe similar issues but different settings and characters, and the second is more like two parts of a single book.
The authors are a long-married couple from Ukraine, who wrote in Russian (a large share of the Ukrainian population was Russified when they moved from villages to cities, esp. in the 20th century. This doesn’t mean a Russian identity in most cases as the current Russian invasion clearly shows, but it often means a greater connection to Russian culture) and turned popular in the 1990s. They had a single daughter with a serious illness, so to pay her medical bills and get the best treatment, they moved from Kyiv to Moscow in 2009 and to San Francisco in 2013. Quite likely because of personal issues and fears of losing the possibility to live from publishing in Russia, they never clearly publicly stated their position about the Russian-Ukrainian war that started with the occupation of Crimea in 2014. Sadly, their daughter passed away in 2018
The second book starts at the same time fourteen years later and right after the finish of the first story. From the ending of the first book, readers know that the protagonist - Alexandra (Sasha) Samokhina is .
The new book starts with her 14 years later, driving a car after a breakdown with her husband, just to get into a deadly accident. From which she wakes up as from a nightmare only to get into another one – meeting herself from 14 years ago… as readers find out, this was a possible future for Samokhina, who never entered the Institute of Special Technologies in the town of Torpa but lived her life as an ordinary human, shown to her by the ‘devil’ from the first book Farit Kozhennikov. So now she is pushed by him to return to the institute, to try to pass this time. The rest of the story in her re-entry to a renewed institute, where some tutors see her as a danger, while her fellow students (also transported 14 years into the future) have a varied reaction to her return; there is another great love, another set of weird exercises and another conflict with the world.
Some readers of this duology call this book a fanfic based on the great and talented first book. And to some extent they have a point – the first book was partially a bildungsroman, a grimdark and soft-SF version of Hogwarts; the second proposes the same teen rebellion, love affairs, growing up, but doing it with a formed personality, which hardly can grow up once again. Also, I guess intentionally they added some quite strange pseudo-poetic comparisons like ‘The touch was like an entry point into another reality, like a hole in the side of a spaceship through which the cosmos flows.’ Or ‘the whiteboard remained clean, like the dress of a still sober bride’. At the same time, I think the book is less fanfic but more a musing of older writers about the first one, maybe a more cynical view. It is interesting but much less ground-breaking.
August 22, 2023
I don't know what went wrong. I absolutely adored 'Vita Nostra', but 'Assassin of Reality' felt like one of those exercises Sasha tries to figure out - total gibberish with some fragments of beautiful clarity.
Basically, Sasha is back at the Institute, with a failed exam behind her, a new impossible-looking task and a fresh love interest. But while VN unraveled slowly but steadily, with high stakes and characters we could empathize with, AoR feels detached, too focused on concepts to care about the people. It left me confused and disinterested.
Basically, Sasha is back at the Institute, with a failed exam behind her, a new impossible-looking task and a fresh love interest. But while VN unraveled slowly but steadily, with high stakes and characters we could empathize with, AoR feels detached, too focused on concepts to care about the people. It left me confused and disinterested.
August 8, 2023
3.5/5 stars
“How does one formulate the order “Do not be afraid” without the negative particle “not”? “Be brave,” Sasha whispered.”
I’m slightly devastated, but I can’t say that I’m surprised... Considering the type of book Vita Nostra is, and the type of reader I am, there was a decent risk of a sequel not living up to the love I felt for the first book. Regardless, curiosity beat trepidation in the end and I picked this book up. I don’t regret doing so. I had a good time with Assassin of Reality, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the raging fire that is Vita Nostra.
Reviewing a sequel without completely spoiling the first book is often a challenge, but especially so with a book that introduces so many reality- and mindbending concepts as Vita Nostra, on which Assassin of Reality builds on. In Vita Nostra, we follow then 16-year old Sasha Samokhina, as she enrolls in a mysterious, possibly arcane university, not quite by choice of her own. What follows is part magic-school-fantasy, part unsettling dark-academia, part bildungsroman and part exercise in philosophy, following Sasha’s first three years at the Institute of Special Technologies. And it’s absolutely brilliant!
Assassin of Reality picks up exactly where Vita Nostra left off: following Sasha from her final third-year exam through her 4th year at The Institute. Expectedly, it’s more of the same that we’ve already seen: more metaphysical shenanigans, more student-teacher-rivalry, and more discussion around language in a deeper exploration of the magic-system. There is even a new element of romantic love, that feels somewhat fresh. What is missing, however, is what made the first book exceptional.
Again, without spoiling it entirely, in Vita Nostra , Sasha works towards an important metamorphosis in her third year. Her development along that journey was the best part of the novel for me. Sasha grows from a student, feeling out of place in this academic adult world that feels almost alien to her (very relatable to many young academics!), to a capable adult. That strong character-arc is absent in Assassin of Reality. Even more so: some elements of her character-arc are undone by the events at the start of this book, which I really didn’t like as a plot-choice. Details below the spoilertag.
Another strength of book 1 that was missing here, was that sense of mystery and “insecurity”; of not being able to fully get your footing in this strange world. With the deeper exploration of the magic system, it loses that feeling, as well as the ability for the reader to interpret events for themselves. Within the first book, there’s a discussion about multiple realities/interpretations and how all of them can be true at once. Much of the magics ambiguity perfectly matches that. That resonance is lost now that the true nature is spelled out for us. I personally liked that ambiguity, and that freedom to look for answers myself.
To me, Assassin of Reality is the ultimate 3-to—3.5 star sequel: it doesn’t add much to my love for Vita Nostra, but it doesn’t subtract anything from it either. Vita Nostra worked perfectly well for me as a standalone, and didn’t truly need a sequel. Depending on the kind of reader you are, and the elements you liked in book 1, your milage with this one will vary.
“How does one formulate the order “Do not be afraid” without the negative particle “not”? “Be brave,” Sasha whispered.”
I’m slightly devastated, but I can’t say that I’m surprised... Considering the type of book Vita Nostra is, and the type of reader I am, there was a decent risk of a sequel not living up to the love I felt for the first book. Regardless, curiosity beat trepidation in the end and I picked this book up. I don’t regret doing so. I had a good time with Assassin of Reality, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the raging fire that is Vita Nostra.
Reviewing a sequel without completely spoiling the first book is often a challenge, but especially so with a book that introduces so many reality- and mindbending concepts as Vita Nostra, on which Assassin of Reality builds on. In Vita Nostra, we follow then 16-year old Sasha Samokhina, as she enrolls in a mysterious, possibly arcane university, not quite by choice of her own. What follows is part magic-school-fantasy, part unsettling dark-academia, part bildungsroman and part exercise in philosophy, following Sasha’s first three years at the Institute of Special Technologies. And it’s absolutely brilliant!
Assassin of Reality picks up exactly where Vita Nostra left off: following Sasha from her final third-year exam through her 4th year at The Institute. Expectedly, it’s more of the same that we’ve already seen: more metaphysical shenanigans, more student-teacher-rivalry, and more discussion around language in a deeper exploration of the magic-system. There is even a new element of romantic love, that feels somewhat fresh. What is missing, however, is what made the first book exceptional.
Again, without spoiling it entirely, in Vita Nostra , Sasha works towards an important metamorphosis in her third year. Her development along that journey was the best part of the novel for me. Sasha grows from a student, feeling out of place in this academic adult world that feels almost alien to her (very relatable to many young academics!), to a capable adult. That strong character-arc is absent in Assassin of Reality. Even more so: some elements of her character-arc are undone by the events at the start of this book, which I really didn’t like as a plot-choice. Details below the spoilertag.
Another strength of book 1 that was missing here, was that sense of mystery and “insecurity”; of not being able to fully get your footing in this strange world. With the deeper exploration of the magic system, it loses that feeling, as well as the ability for the reader to interpret events for themselves. Within the first book, there’s a discussion about multiple realities/interpretations and how all of them can be true at once. Much of the magics ambiguity perfectly matches that. That resonance is lost now that the true nature is spelled out for us. I personally liked that ambiguity, and that freedom to look for answers myself.
To me, Assassin of Reality is the ultimate 3-to—3.5 star sequel: it doesn’t add much to my love for Vita Nostra, but it doesn’t subtract anything from it either. Vita Nostra worked perfectly well for me as a standalone, and didn’t truly need a sequel. Depending on the kind of reader you are, and the elements you liked in book 1, your milage with this one will vary.
January 17, 2024
2.5 stars. Not anywhere near the greatness of Vita Nostra, and it's mostly because there's just no mystery here. The first one was a real mind bender, and it kept you hooked by giving you just a little bit of info (abstract and surreal as it was) at a time, with an ending that cranked up the heat to leave your brain a melted grey puddle. In AoR, we know what's happening from go - and the story kinda just caries along like that. Can our hero do the thing without fucking up the other thing? Find out on the next episode of Vita Nostra Z!
The ending was fine. I hate putting it that way, but I don't know what else to say. It leaves a bit up to the reader to decide, and that's cool, but the problem is that it's all so vague that I don't care. I also understand that this is the last part of the story, no VN3 coming, that's all folks.
IMO Vita Nostra is better left as a standalone, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend that fans of that novel read this one. We get no real answers, and the juice is barely worth the squeeze.
The ending was fine. I hate putting it that way, but I don't know what else to say. It leaves a bit up to the reader to decide, and that's cool, but the problem is that it's all so vague that I don't care. I also understand that this is the last part of the story, no VN3 coming, that's all folks.
IMO Vita Nostra is better left as a standalone, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend that fans of that novel read this one. We get no real answers, and the juice is barely worth the squeeze.
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August 11, 2025Vita Nostra was one of the most amazing fantasy novels I have read in forever. I have to admit I'm not really sure what this second installment adds that wasn't in book 1. I enjoyed revisiting this strange and painful world, and this is very readable but I didn't feel it was necessary.
December 20, 2022
Ничего не понятно
May 28, 2023
"Vita Nostra" is enthralling. This sequel is not. In book one, the Dyachenkos are methodical and deliberate; while I never felt like I fully grasped the world I was in, I believed it and cared. Book two not only doesn’t really explain the reality of this strange school the young people are at; it also doesn’t even tell a convincing love story. In fact, the love story was so haphazardly written, despite being a crucial part of the plot, that I found myself rolling my eyes through much of the book. The last three or so pages are utterly brilliant, but the rest of it felt rushed and silly—and all the more disappointing for being the sequel to a book I was totally invested in.
November 30, 2022
I couldn’t wait for the English translation of the book (coming in March 2023) so I read it in Russian. I consider myself fortunate to be able to do so because the first book in the series, Vita Nostra, blew my mind. Just like the first one, the sequel isn’t easily yielding itself to a description. If you haven’t read the first book please do yourself a favor and read it now!!
The second book opens up right after the end of the first, when Sasha’s exam doesn’t turn out as expected and she is doomed to repeat her experience at the Institute, in some ways, though she is also in a higher course of study, along with her compatriots who don’t know what to make of her. Sasha doesn’t know what to make of herself really. She is both a Word, a concept, and a human, achingly messy and sympathetic. She is struggling to be herself while embracing her development, growing up and holding on to the past, and letting go of it, and creating something entirely new. It’s fascinating to see her past loves and her friends and classmates develop alongside her. I was particularly touched by their fierce protectiveness of Sasha, obviously coming at a cost to them. Farit, her nemesis and her minder, is strangely more sympathetic in the sequel, changing just as Sasha changes everyone and everything, as is her nature. Unsurprisingly, she ends up outgrowing him.
It’s a powerhouse of a story, written on a higher plane of existence, while keeping a heartbeat in this one. I can’t wait for the next sequel.
I am fully planning to buy the English translation when it’s available and read it again. I am not square with the Russian language at the moment, but that’s no fault of the authors. I am also planning to tell everyone I know about the book, and make them buy it and read it. It’s now my mission!
The second book opens up right after the end of the first, when Sasha’s exam doesn’t turn out as expected and she is doomed to repeat her experience at the Institute, in some ways, though she is also in a higher course of study, along with her compatriots who don’t know what to make of her. Sasha doesn’t know what to make of herself really. She is both a Word, a concept, and a human, achingly messy and sympathetic. She is struggling to be herself while embracing her development, growing up and holding on to the past, and letting go of it, and creating something entirely new. It’s fascinating to see her past loves and her friends and classmates develop alongside her. I was particularly touched by their fierce protectiveness of Sasha, obviously coming at a cost to them. Farit, her nemesis and her minder, is strangely more sympathetic in the sequel, changing just as Sasha changes everyone and everything, as is her nature. Unsurprisingly, she ends up outgrowing him.
It’s a powerhouse of a story, written on a higher plane of existence, while keeping a heartbeat in this one. I can’t wait for the next sequel.
I am fully planning to buy the English translation when it’s available and read it again. I am not square with the Russian language at the moment, but that’s no fault of the authors. I am also planning to tell everyone I know about the book, and make them buy it and read it. It’s now my mission!
July 21, 2023
I am constantly amazed by the Dyachenkos' ability to write open-ended conclusions to their novels that somehow allow them to work as standalones at the same time as leaving questions open for sequels to answer. Although Vita Nostra gave readers no dearth of information when it came to understanding the premise of Assassin of Reality, somehow a lot of the first half of this novel still flew right over my head, making me take much longer to get through it than I did its predecessor. The second half made much more sense and brought narrative threads together well; there may have been far more oddly poetic sentences mixed in with the usual writing style carried forward from Vita Nostra, but it was overall a compelling read.
The acknowledgements section was a bittersweet close to the novel. Serhiy Dyachenko died during the process of Assassin of Reality's translation into English; the third and final installment of this trilogy will be written by Maryna without him. I look forward to reading its translation whenever it's published and discovering .
The acknowledgements section was a bittersweet close to the novel. Serhiy Dyachenko died during the process of Assassin of Reality's translation into English; the third and final installment of this trilogy will be written by Maryna without him. I look forward to reading its translation whenever it's published and discovering .
April 18, 2023
2.5/5 stars
I'm not sure what happened, but I think the vagueness of the lessons and the students' powers have gone too far. I didn't understand what was happening anymore. Maybe a reread of both the books together would have made things a bit clearer.
Honestly breaks my heart to rate it this low after the beauty that was Vita Nostra, but oh well
I'm not sure what happened, but I think the vagueness of the lessons and the students' powers have gone too far. I didn't understand what was happening anymore. Maybe a reread of both the books together would have made things a bit clearer.
Honestly breaks my heart to rate it this low after the beauty that was Vita Nostra, but oh well
August 2, 2023
3,5/5
I dunno. Vita Nostra is one of my all-time favorite books. This one is mind-bending and has interesting moments, but overall I just couldn't get into it as strongly as I hoped I would.
I dunno. Vita Nostra is one of my all-time favorite books. This one is mind-bending and has interesting moments, but overall I just couldn't get into it as strongly as I hoped I would.
July 30, 2023
I was really excited that the sequel to Vita Nostra had finally been translated, as Vita Nostra is one of my favourite fantasy novels of recent years. Assassin of Reality follows Sasha through the next year of her arcane schooling. Given this similarity in setting and plot to the first book, I didn't experience the same sense of extraordinary discovery as I found reading Vita Nostra. It was nonetheless delightful to visit the same world again and I continue to find Sasha a fascinating protagonist. I deeply respect the fact that she is primarily motivated by intellectual curiosity. The strangeness of studies remains beguiling; the malleability of time and reality is written brilliantly. I particularly liked the excellent weirdness with time loops.
The message running through Assassin of Reality is a positive one: defying fear and living bravely. Sasha's continuing adventures in scholarship involve love of several kinds. Her teachers try to help her despite interfaculty conflict, her fellow students offer support, and she falls in love with a pilot. I found the romance the least interesting of these. Her romantic relationship was at its most intriguing when she suspected it to be some kind of trap.
Vita Nostra and Assassin of Reality are the best magical education novels I've read, as they treat the fantastical in a genuinely academic manner while also making it dizzyingly bizarre. I recently read and was very disappointed by The Atlas Six, which has none of their intelligence, subtlety, and originality. I always want fantasy fiction to engage with the philosophical implications of magic and it rarely does to my satisfaction. Vita Nostra and Assassin of Reality manage this feat, so I recommend them over other recent novels about students learning magic.
The message running through Assassin of Reality is a positive one: defying fear and living bravely. Sasha's continuing adventures in scholarship involve love of several kinds. Her teachers try to help her despite interfaculty conflict, her fellow students offer support, and she falls in love with a pilot. I found the romance the least interesting of these. Her romantic relationship was at its most intriguing when she suspected it to be some kind of trap.
Vita Nostra and Assassin of Reality are the best magical education novels I've read, as they treat the fantastical in a genuinely academic manner while also making it dizzyingly bizarre. I recently read and was very disappointed by The Atlas Six, which has none of their intelligence, subtlety, and originality. I always want fantasy fiction to engage with the philosophical implications of magic and it rarely does to my satisfaction. Vita Nostra and Assassin of Reality manage this feat, so I recommend them over other recent novels about students learning magic.
November 30, 2023
this didn't quite have the same magic that made the first book so special, but i still thoroughly enjoyed returning to this world and these characters again nonetheless.
July 17, 2023
This is the most 3.5 book I’ve read in a long time. For two days I’ve deliberated on how much this book worked and how much I enjoyed it, and depending on which aspect of it I consider, it could go either way.
If it’s on a character level, seeing what happened to Sasha in the nebulous final pages of Vita Nostra was very compelling. I think she grows in this book as much as you would like her to in the first, which actually makes the outcome of the first book more understandable. The idea of grammatical functions as analogs for constructed reality, yet also being human beings has to be one of the most novel concepts in SFF I have ever heard of. And making it work in fiction, to this degree, is the feat of a wizard. Peoples’ personalities and their interaction with the meta fiction as constructs, even as you’re consuming fiction constructed of grammar, and the struggle of a character parallels the rules of those constructs even as Sasha struggles to be a character and bypass those “rules”.
However, on a plot level, I do feel it is less interesting than Vita Nostra. The reader still doesn’t really know what’s going on, so we follow Sasha in her figuring it out. But the fact that it does answer the largest questions, in some ways, makes it feel like the question is what primarily drove the most compelling aspects of the fiction. There are still some curve balls and the prose, though perhaps not quite as strong as the first book, propelled me along well, once I got used to the style again. But this is a very Middle book of a series novel. More is set up with Sasha and the plot spins the wheel more, while not getting as far. And because Sasha straddles this line of being emotionless as a construct or the push-pull of being human, there are some moments that necessarily don’t land because the emotional context is not present. Things are happening but they feed into this meta narrative. I have to imagine there is another book planned in this new (hopefully!) trilogy.
If it’s on a character level, seeing what happened to Sasha in the nebulous final pages of Vita Nostra was very compelling. I think she grows in this book as much as you would like her to in the first, which actually makes the outcome of the first book more understandable. The idea of grammatical functions as analogs for constructed reality, yet also being human beings has to be one of the most novel concepts in SFF I have ever heard of. And making it work in fiction, to this degree, is the feat of a wizard. Peoples’ personalities and their interaction with the meta fiction as constructs, even as you’re consuming fiction constructed of grammar, and the struggle of a character parallels the rules of those constructs even as Sasha struggles to be a character and bypass those “rules”.
However, on a plot level, I do feel it is less interesting than Vita Nostra. The reader still doesn’t really know what’s going on, so we follow Sasha in her figuring it out. But the fact that it does answer the largest questions, in some ways, makes it feel like the question is what primarily drove the most compelling aspects of the fiction. There are still some curve balls and the prose, though perhaps not quite as strong as the first book, propelled me along well, once I got used to the style again. But this is a very Middle book of a series novel. More is set up with Sasha and the plot spins the wheel more, while not getting as far. And because Sasha straddles this line of being emotionless as a construct or the push-pull of being human, there are some moments that necessarily don’t land because the emotional context is not present. Things are happening but they feed into this meta narrative. I have to imagine there is another book planned in this new (hopefully!) trilogy.
April 10, 2023
The Dayachenko team has really continued to push the envelope. But this series feels like a wordy stereogram. You have to focus and try to relax through this suspenseful/choppy world building when things start to pop out at you. Likely, you may feel a book hangover if you try to speed read or overthink this concept.
I know I’ll have to do re-listen if/when book 3 is ever translated. 🤞
Filed under// Books to savor
I know I’ll have to do re-listen if/when book 3 is ever translated. 🤞
Filed under// Books to savor
September 12, 2021
Ну не знаю. Или они постарели, или я, но не радует, как те елочные игрушки. То же было и с продолжением Ведьм. Сюжеты есть, мысли есть, душа ушла куда-то.
October 26, 2024
Fermatevi al primo
June 11, 2023
Actual rating: 3.5
The story is still good and the concept mindblowing but the sequel doesn’t feel as dark and complicated as book 1. Also the atmosphere was missing for me , I don’t know if it’s the book or the translation but it was off compared to book 1
The story is still good and the concept mindblowing but the sequel doesn’t feel as dark and complicated as book 1. Also the atmosphere was missing for me , I don’t know if it’s the book or the translation but it was off compared to book 1
May 1, 2023
Read like a lovely extension of Vita Nostra. A bit heartbroken I might have to wait another few years for the last book in the trilogy, but I really admired the seemless integration between the two books.
Ending felt a bit rushed, but I love this series ❤
Ending felt a bit rushed, but I love this series ❤
January 18, 2022
Эх, редко умеют авторы вовремя останавливаться.
Не плохо, но просто совсем ничего нового, по сравнению с первой частью, не добавилось.
Не плохо, но просто совсем ничего нового, по сравнению с первой частью, не добавилось.
March 5, 2023
4.5 stars
With a completely unique take on the dark academia/dark fantasy genres, Assassin of Reality is an equally innovative sequel to Vita Nostra.
Despite being pretty significantly shorter than the first book, Assassin of Reality did a great job upping the stakes and expanding the world building and magic system. Even though the magic system is still incredibly unusual and obscure, the way it was portrayed in this installment made me “get it” more than I did from the first book alone. The entire setting still remains completely bizarre, but that’s what makes this series so special and work so well—and also makes them not for everyone.
While we did get some character development in this installment, particularly for Sasha and some of the teachers, this book would’ve been improved if this had been expanded upon even more.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
With a completely unique take on the dark academia/dark fantasy genres, Assassin of Reality is an equally innovative sequel to Vita Nostra.
Despite being pretty significantly shorter than the first book, Assassin of Reality did a great job upping the stakes and expanding the world building and magic system. Even though the magic system is still incredibly unusual and obscure, the way it was portrayed in this installment made me “get it” more than I did from the first book alone. The entire setting still remains completely bizarre, but that’s what makes this series so special and work so well—and also makes them not for everyone.
While we did get some character development in this installment, particularly for Sasha and some of the teachers, this book would’ve been improved if this had been expanded upon even more.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
considering-reading
December 10, 2022Waiting for this to get published in a language I can read (in this case, english) before I even sample the first. Just in case I do love the first one...
July 5, 2025
I didn't love this as much as the first book which totally took me by surprise, but I think this was still an excellent sequel.
It retained the weirdness, brutality, and very high concept considerations of language/speech and how we shape the world around us. Sasha's self-actualization journey is honestly fascinating.
It retained the weirdness, brutality, and very high concept considerations of language/speech and how we shape the world around us. Sasha's self-actualization journey is honestly fascinating.
July 18, 2023
I listened to the audiobook and while the narrator did a good job, I had a hard time following the complex surrealist magic going on.
This was a pretty flawless continuation of Vita Nostra. Of course, Vita Nostra does not need a continuation. I'm still happy to have read this.
This was a pretty flawless continuation of Vita Nostra. Of course, Vita Nostra does not need a continuation. I'm still happy to have read this.
May 24, 2023
Every word in this novel was perfect.
This is a direct continuation of Vita Nostra and we continue to follow Alexandra Samokhina in her thorny and complicated journey.
We actually get more of the same, and I mean it as a praise. The get the same complex characters, the same captivating atmosphere, the same painful choices, the same tension and the same beautiful writing (though not sure to what extent the translation plays part in this).
The explanations of the world and the answers to the questions were there, but not really? There was still a lot of obscurity to the world-building and I don't believe there is just one definite interpretation. But rather than being frustrated by it, as it often happens in other novels, I believe it was part of the appeal of this book and the series. For me it was about the choices between the extremes as one enters the adult life and later on - freedom or obedience (does freedom even exist?), love or fear, individuality or being part of a collective.
I really hope the other 2 books in the series will be translated into any language I can read. Even if characters are different, I need more of this world.
This is a direct continuation of Vita Nostra and we continue to follow Alexandra Samokhina in her thorny and complicated journey.
We actually get more of the same, and I mean it as a praise. The get the same complex characters, the same captivating atmosphere, the same painful choices, the same tension and the same beautiful writing (though not sure to what extent the translation plays part in this).
The explanations of the world and the answers to the questions were there, but not really? There was still a lot of obscurity to the world-building and I don't believe there is just one definite interpretation. But rather than being frustrated by it, as it often happens in other novels, I believe it was part of the appeal of this book and the series. For me it was about the choices between the extremes as one enters the adult life and later on - freedom or obedience (does freedom even exist?), love or fear, individuality or being part of a collective.
I really hope the other 2 books in the series will be translated into any language I can read. Even if characters are different, I need more of this world.
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