Assassin of Reality: A Novel. Marina and Sergey Dyachenko. Translated by Julie Meitov Hershey. From Harper Voyager (2023). 

Assassin of Reality is the widely anticipated sequel to Vita Nostra (reviewed here), by Ukrainian authors Marina and Sergey Dyachenko.  It was translated from Russian by Julie Meitov Hershey. 

Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy from the publisher, Harper Voyager, with no obligation to review. 

Assassin of Reality

In Assassin of Reality, Alexandra (Sasha) finds herself back at her mysterious technical college under unique circumstances. Although she “failed” her final exam at the conclusion of Vita Nostra, she has somehow earned the right to (or is paying the penalty of) correcting her “errors” and completing the program. If the undergraduate course of study was a series of difficult and mind-bending exercises, the fourth-year curriculum is downright dangerous. Defending her master’s thesis promises annihilation. Yet Sasha and her fellow students persist.
Because Sasha, the straight-A student and dutiful girl of Vita Nostra, has been through some extraordinary experiences, she’s gained—often flawed—insights into her own identify. She fights the faculty and her mysterious and vaguely threatening “advisor” for the right to learn, develop, and most of all, exercise her freedom. In a charming airline pilot and his adorable elderly father, the forces trying to manipulating Sasha find new foils with which to coerce her into compliance. 

Nature of Reality

Sasha (and the reader, along for the ride) continue to learn the nature of the “technology,” a dizzying confluence of grammar, physics, and force of will, through which remarkable, inexplicable things happen. Like Vita Nostra, Assassin of Reality doesn’t just tell the reader an entertaining, beautifully crafted story about life-and-death choices. It draws us in and makes us ponder the nature of reality. 

From the first day of Sasha’s return to the college, it is obvious that she is a playing piece in some larger conflict among the faculty and staff of the school. Her return to her studies is a first, obviously pushed by her advisor, but what’s his end game? Sasha has no interest in pleasing him. But even if he weren’t slyly threatening all she holds dear, I suspect she can’t help herself from taking on difficult intellectual tasks and mastering them. That’s just who she is. 

Reader Experience

The book isn’t an easy read, but not a difficult one, either. It’s on the short side for a standard novel but tells the next stage of Sasha’s remarkable journey with grace and style. Your best reader experience would be to read Vita Nostra first. While Assassin of Reality does bring the reader up to speed on past events, those events are mind-blowing, and you won’t get the full effect of Assassin without immersion in Vita Nostra.

Readers who enjoyed The Magicians (Lev Grossman’s novels) (Netflix series) might like this take on cosmic issues at a magical school. 

If you found Assassin and Vita Nostra interesting, you might enjoy reading my review of Piranesi.

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