School of Shards is the third and final installment in the trilogy that began with Vita Nostra, and begins with a world deeply in trouble. The book takes place about 15 years after Assassin of Reality in a world that is fundamentally different than the one Sasha's story began in. It is an improved world in many ways - children don't die, airplanes don't crash, students are not ruled by fear - but both Institute students and the Great Speech itself are failing, and it is Sasha's responsibility to fix what she broke before everything is quite literally gone.

As mind-twisting, and logic defying as ever, School of Shards is beautifully written and feels more similar to Vita Nostra than Assassin of Reality, which at times seemed to get lost in the weeds. School of Shards is also strengthened by the introduction of new characters carrying fragments of Sasha's past reality: her now 18 year old half-brother Valya, and pilot Yaroslav's twin sons, Pashka and Arthur. Told through their eyes as well as Sasha's, School of Shards is as heart-wrenching and complicated as Vita Nostra was, and your heart will ache for the the three boys as they navigate the complex and confusing reality of Torpa and the Speech.

Overall this is a strong addition and satisfying conclusion to the Vita Nostra trilogy. Despite all its complexity there is true resolution at the end, and while I still have questions, I also know that that is fundamental to what this series is, and I can't imagine any version where that wouldn't have been the case. I highly recommend School of Shards for anyone who enjoyed Vita Nostra.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for honest review.

I remember when the wonderful woman behind Aquavenatus first suggested that I read Vita Nostra, the first book in the series, back when it was the only one translated from their original Russian into English by the incredibly talented Julia Meitov Hersey. Fast forward to now, when the final book has been completed and translated, and the whole series still blew my mind as much as they did the first time, maybe even more so since I seem to understand it more each time I’ve read the books. This book closes out the series in the Dyachenko’s unique style, leaving me mind-blown. Sergey Dyachenko passed away during the writing of this novel, and it was dedicated to him and their daughter. 💕

It’s hard to write this review, because this book and the series overall (since I did a quick audio reread before jumping into this one) is one of the most unique books that I have ever read. It doesn’t quite fall into one genre, bridging fantasy with science fiction, speculative fiction with the darkest of dark academia settings, and these books are equally difficult to quantify in a review format.

I’ve had an up and down relationship with Sasha, the main character. She goes through immense changes over the course of the trilogy, and that definitely contributed to how likable she was to me. Her personality is significantly different in this book, as she switches roles from student to teacher. She was much more forceful and demanding, toeing the line towards tipping into being overly controlling, without any progress being made by her students. I struggled with her actions in this book, and found it harder than ever before to connect with her. It has taken me multiple days to try to organize my thoughts about the book, and still don’t feel like I have fully wrapped my head around this book.

Now that I’ve had the time to think about it, it does make sense that I had a harder time connecting with her as she progressed in her studies and finally became a teacher at the mysterious Institute of Special Technologies, she became less human and more a part of a huge, complex plan known as The Great Speech. It is now her job to turn her students from humans to parts of grammar, but the education process isn’t working the same and Speech is at risk.

Sasha works with a cast of characters, from familiar professors to students, and while there are some new faces in major side roles, the familiar ones are showing a completely different side as Sasha’s subordinates rather than her educators. It was intriguing to see how Sasha’s interactions have all changed so much, as she literally transforms herself completely. She has immense power in her role as Password, and it was fascinating to see this world now that I’ve read the earlier books multiple times. Rather than being an observer during Sasha’s education, we now see how the teachers view the transformation process.

Both Sasha and Kostya now have taken over the roles that Farit Kozhennikov and other recruiters, as Sasha has now become desperate to collect pieces of herself that she has left behind in her past, and bring the three people with shards of herself to the school so they can learn—the twin sons of her former lover, and her half-brother, now grown up—and stabilize the universe. But Sasha’s power as Password is too strong, and her alteration of reality throws off the balance of the world as they know it unless she can get these three young men to not only learn, but to understand the process and save Speech and maybe their world.

There were so many different threads running through the book that did get wrapped up, but it ultimately felt a little anticlimactic after all the mind-bending nature of the trilogy as a whole and the high stakes in this book. But I have fallen in love with this series thanks to a rec that a friend made, and shows how well she knows my reading taste. This book was a masterpiece of translation on the part of Julia Meitov Hersey, who shows her ability to convey the complex concepts and beautiful writing from Russian to English, and the novel showcases that talent to the fullest. As far as it being originally a Russian novel, the structure of the books are quite different than what I’ve become used to from American and other Western literature, yet they still carry forward the grand tradition of Russian literature, from classics to modern day. I can’t recommend this series highly enough, even if I finished the first book completely confused. This is a series not to miss, even if I felt like the end was a little bit of a letdown from the high expectations that I had developed after reading the first two books.

I found the Vita Nostra series by chance and quickly was drawn in.. it's one of those books where you have to trust the process. Marina and Sergey Dyachenko have created a really masterful, interesting world, where time move strangely and the magic is rather odd. I love how they pulled in aspects of mind control and thought experiments for the students to master to become parts of speech. I wasn't sure if we'd get School of Shards, but it was a great ending to the series - a little different from the rest of the series as Sasha is now a teacher, but still very enjoyable. I really love how Sasha is kind of a truly morally-gray character and her driving force fluctuates throughout all the books. At times she's very likeable and at others, she's almost scary and I feel like School of Shards brought that back in full force.
Synopsis: Sasha is now the provost of The Institute of Special Technologies, where she has now created a new world "without fear" - however, the students are unable to master the curriculum. The parts of speech are the basis of the material world, and if Sasha is unable to get the students to learn, matter will soon cease to exist. Now she must collect fragments of her former reality - and only three people can carry those fragments within themselves to the Institute. Sasha will have to shape reality again.

A satisfactory conclusion to a series that has had some high highs and some low lows.

I’ll start with the translation, which has at least improved since the first book. I’ve spent this entire series begging for a new translator (which we did not get), and I don’t think the translation was ever truly what I would call good, though it’s infinitely better in the third book than in the first.

As for the story, it’s kind of the opposite. Conceptually I love all the mind bendy play with language. It’s the best part of the series. And the way the school sets up is fine, if not as rooted in strong sense of place as I would like.

The books lose me a bit when it comes to the characters, who have actually become less compelling as the series progresses, and weren’t wonderful to begin with. While I get that part of the message is the harshness of this world and that its characters must adapt to it, that doesn’t make them a particularly likable bunch, or even an interesting one. Sasha is completely insufferable, and the rest of the characters feel flat and hard to root for, though I can’t say I felt compelled to root against them either.

In all, I loved all the high-concept stuff here and I love that these books really make you think about how language evolves through use and what that might mean in a world where it manifests in a very literal sense. But the story and the characters aren’t especially winning (nor are they, say, fun to hate), and as a result it’s hard to feel strongly about anything happening here as the series concludes.

I read this book several years after reading book 1, and somehow missed book 2. That said, the atmosphere of the book helped ease me back into the story, where the protagonist from the first novel holds an elevated role. The story itself is a continuation, but, really, felt more like a mood than a plot driven tale. There is a backdrop of students struggling to overcome educational barriers, time loops,and the like, and all the time being able to manipulate reality through this world's magic, the possibly self referencing word. I would recommend for people who like dark school fantasy, and who may want something different, but definitely start with the first book. I think I liked the first one better-not because of any failing of the author, but because the surprise and novelty enhanced my enjoyment.

It's always bittersweet to read the final book in a beloved series, and this was no exception. It's hard to review without so many spoilers for the previous two books.

I really enjoyed experiencing Sasha as fully actualized and in control of her power, using it freely without it feeling stressful over possible repercussions. While it was great to understand more (never everything) I did miss being more confused - but I know that the natural progression of a well-written and planned series would include things making more sense, so it is a good thing!

It was an adjustment getting used to the additional POVs, and Sasha's will always be my favorite, so I did miss more of hers. I'd have loved some more time with the other teachers, or Kostya at least. I felt frustrated with the students in this world without fear at their sheer audacity, the students in Sasha's day would never. Their actions are realistic, but the question of can a world survive without fear in my opinion after reading this is no. Taking away fear, plane crashes, child death, etc. seemed like a great idea to Sasha, but it didn't create the world she was hoping for.

Vita Nostra is an incredible series and I will always recommend it!

I will forever remember this series as one of the weirdest I've ever read (but enjoyed!).
Magical school and dark academia is a mix I can't resist and even if this last book wasn't as centred around the MFC, I still enjoyed it.
I'm not sure I'd be able to describe it in a way that could do it justice but I'll keep recommending it!

Finally, we have finished actualization and have witnessed the metamorphosis of Sasha; from Human to Student to Concept to [redacted] to Provost. It ends here. And the experience was wild, disorienting, and strange. I’m rating this a hesitant 4 stars. Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and Avon for this ARC. I appreciate this more than you know.

I’m so glad I reread Vita Nostra and Assassin of Reality right before I tackled this book. I think my experience reading School of Shards would have been materially worse if I wasn’t caught up on all the themes of the books. While it maybe a hard book to conceptually describe (HOW DO I CONVINCE MY FRIENDS TO READ A RUSSIAN MAGICAL DARK ACADEMIA BOOK THAT MAKES AS MUCH SENSE AS MODULE 1), at its core, the Vita Nostra Books are about academia. We follow Sasha as she becomes an academic. That’s it.

Sasha has always been the shining star of the books. I could write a whole essay about her (and who knows, I might). Her part feels diluted here due to the presence of 2 other POVs: Valya, Sasha’s brother, and Pashka, Yarosalv’s son. Their inclusion muddies the water a little. This has always been Sasha’s story, and while they may be a part of Sasha (grammatically or otherwise), they still didn’t feel quite… right. Maybe when I revisit this is a few years with fresh eyes, my opinions of their parts of the story will improve. But for now, they were simply fine. I wish we had more interactions/development for Kostya, hell, with all the other teachers. I love that messed up band of educators.

I still don’t fully understand “the magic” of this book, but it makes a lot more sense now. Which is a good thing, because this books feels a lot more “magic school” than the previous books. Time is constantly played with, claiming happens left and right, metamorphosis and change and reality and fear all collide in this book and it feels a bit more “fun” than the last two, you’re not stretching your brain as much. You’re rewarded for the work put in.

The plot in this book also feels a little more like a classic fantasy. We have a clear threat (reality unmade), we know what we have to do (make more Speech), we know what stands in our way (an assassin of reality). And I liked that. But I gotta say, I kinda miss being lost and struggling my way through a non-standard Western paced, Russian novel.

All in all, I have say I love this trilogy so much. I love the grammatical reality held within the pages. Not everything is a hit. But this series isn’t about being weird for weirdness sake. It’s a fascinating examination and deconstruction of academia and humanity. It’s delightfully dark and Russian. It’s beautiful. So I can’t help but verify my love of it through my reviews.

School of Shards brings the trilogy to a thoughtful and intense close, weaving together the threads of magic, identity, and sacrifice that the series has been building toward. The Dyachenkos have a way of blending fantastical elements with deeply human struggles, and this final installment continues that tradition with a focus on internal conflict as much as external threats.

I appreciated how the book didn’t rush the resolution, allowing characters room to grapple with their choices and the consequences of their powers. The narrative remains mysterious and atmospheric, inviting reflection on themes of belonging and transformation. At times, the pacing was deliberate — maybe a bit slow for some — but that patience rewards you with richer emotional payoffs.

While the ending felt satisfying, a few secondary plotlines could have used tighter wrapping, and some world-building details remained just a little hazy. Still, the complex character dynamics and the subtle interplay between hope and darkness kept me invested throughout.

Overall, School of Shards is a fitting, emotionally resonant finale that honors the trilogy’s themes and leaves room for contemplation. It’s a strong finish for readers who appreciate layered fantasy with a literary touch.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Book 3 and the final installment to the series. Bold and ambitious, the series manages to keep you puzzled and entertained long enough to grab you by the collar and shake you as bad as the first years of the institute have it.

I'm not sure if I quite like how this ended, especially since the focus shifts away from Sasha quite a bit. We still get her pov on things and the plot is still following her needs, but the introduction of the new students and what Sasha needs strays from what I liked about book 1 and 2. Being so deeply close to Sasha as she figured out what the institute was doing and what she was becoming made me enjoy book 1 a lot. Even by the end I still had no clue what was going on (in a good way). Book 2 expands on that and gives Sasha more. More power, more view, more ability to do. Then book 3 feels like it all came crashing down. An inevitable end.

We still get the same bits of unease from the students in book 3 as we did in book 1, but we don't follow them as closely nor do we follow Sasha as closely. I think the lack of intimacy given from the characters is a large downfall. I didn't necessarily feel connected with the brothers or Vanya. They were vehicles. Means to an end. And maybe that's the point; Sasha seems to almost use people as she needs.

I wish I remembered who Nikolay Valerievich was though. It's in the dark corners of my mind, but I only sort of vaguely remember who he was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the eARC!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This is the final novel in the "Vita Nostra" trilogy, which is one of the most unique and incredible fantasy concepts I have read in a very long time. The story led us into a new version of reality, where our previous protagonist, Sasha, has become the "administrator" of the university and implements her will on the world -- only to find her methods backfiring. Highly recommended!

I found this book to be the easiest to read of the trilogy. It’s still complicated but if you’ve made it through the weirdness of book 1 and the confusion of book 2, this one will be extremely rewarding. Do read these book in order and not jump ahead - nothing will make sense otherwise.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

From The Storytelling Blog
School of Shards by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: A Book Review

School of Shards concludes the story of Sasha Samokhina begun in Vita Nostra (reviewed here in 2019) and continued in Assassin of Reality (review here in 2023 ) by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko.  All books in the series were translated from the Russian by Julie Meitov Hershey.

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

School of Shards

In School of Shards, Alexandra (Sasha) must enlist help from the next generation of Torpa Institute of Special Technologies students to save the Great Speech and thus reality itself. The grand ambition she displayed in Assassin of Reality has led to momentous failure. The current crop of students aren’t developing properly, and the Great Speech is in danger of falling silent. Now, as the school’s head, she recruits three special students: her younger brother and the twin sons of her former lover, Yaroslav. Perhaps, Sasha can only hope, they hold sufficient shards of her special gifts to learn quickly. Can these young men prevent disaster?

“Are you planning to bring back prerevolutionary orthography?”

Important Shards

Like Vita Nostra and Assassin, Shards tells a compelling, high-stakes story while making the reader both care about the characters and think about the meaning of life, relationships, and the fabric of the cosmos.

The book opens with yet another student miserably failing an important assignment. Sasha realizes that she made a fundamental pedagogical error by sparing the students the terror her class felt as they struggled with the curriculum. “This issue isn’t just a matter of passing, but who is passing. The grammatical composition is unbalanced. There is a dramatic shortage of verbs…To put it bluntly, the Great Speech is degenerating, and the grammatical structure is declining,” Portnov said quietly.

And, outside of the protected space around Torpa, existence is vanishing. Life as we know it will soon wink out of existence. “The Great Speech did not tolerate simplification. Should the Torpa Institute…fail to produce a new generation of strong, well-prepared graduates, the world would go mute and cease to exist—it was that stark.”

Through good old-fashioned coercion, she and her colleague, Kostya, manage to recruit three promising students, and the reader follows them through their unique first year.

Socially inept, Sasha’s younger half-brother, Valya, shows remarkable mental talent, enough to get him in a great deal of trouble. The twin sons, Pashka and Arthur, of her pilot lover have special twin abilities, which can be both a help and a hinderance with what they need to accomplish to save the Great Speech.

Reader Experience

Definitely read the Vita Nostra series in order. While each tells its own story, they are interconnected such that you’ll want the experience to unfold before you and with you. That said, I found Shards to be a bit more explicit about what exactly is going on—the time for hints, mysteries, and guesses is over. We all know by now the real purpose of the school and the arcane curriculum the young people as tasked with mastering.

Readers who enjoy diagramming sentences (Me, it’s me. I’m the grammar nerd.) as well as stories like The Magicians (Lev Grossman’s novels and the Netflix series) will dive right into the depiction of cosmic issues at a magical school.

I keep wavering back and forth on how I felt about this. It took longer to pull me in than the first two books, but eventually it did become just as engaging. However, I found the characters a little thin this time around, maybe due to the fact that we were frequently bouncing around between multiple perspectives? The moving parts of the story didn't feel as deftly woven together as the previous installments, and the pacing felt a bit odd too. I am glad to have a conclusion to the series, but ultimately I think this suffers for a variety of reasons, some of which nobody could've controlled, and the fact that nothing will ever live up to Vita Nostra.

I was very fortunate to be given an ARC of School of Shards in exchange for an honest review. I was probably among the first readers to have read the first two books in the Vita Nostra trilogy, and I've been waiting for this entry impatiently. I'm so glad to see it finished. In my mind, it is the best book of the three - not only because the main characters are already developed - but because we get to see them reflected in the eyes of newcomers, the first year students at the mad magic school in Torpa. The story focuses primarily on the next generation of Words while describing the role of Sasha as the assassin and creator of realities. My heart ached for Valya, Sasha's brother, and the twin sons of Yaroslav, the brave pilot she had loved in book 2. The studies are back with a vengeance, and we get to follow our young heroes from acceptance to the institute to the conclusion of their studies. Their course of study is complicated by temporal loops, threats of arson, and impossible to complete homework assignments.
It was bittersweet to see Kostya, Sasha's first love, take the place of his father, Farit, who had terrorized Sasha and her fellow students into studying harder in the first two books. It gave me a glimpse of Farit's character in a way the first two books hadn't, and made me want to reread them. In all, I feel like rereading the entire trilogy, now that it's complete, is a good idea - I'm sure I will see things I haven't noticed before on second (or third/fourth look! I've reread them before).
This is just a magical book, suffused with affection for its characters, and I hope it finds more readers searching for fantasy and magical realism. Beyond the genre, though, it's a beautiful story of love, loss, and change, for anyone with a heart and a brain. It's been compared to Harry Potter for adults, but I'd say this is a far more complex universe, with multidimensional heroes, meant to engage you in ways HP never could.

Overall, a satisfying conclusion to a fairly intense trilogy! The stakes kept getting raised throughout, and this book wrapped it up in a way that was both logical and not too "just so," the way can sometimes happen. One major challenge was that this book got more and more conceptual as it went, which was enjoyable to a degree but less engaging emotionally. Still, quite good!