{"product_id":"vita-nostra-a-novel","title":"Vita Nostra: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003eVita Nostra  a cross between Lev Grossmans The Magicians and Elizabeth Kostovas The Historian ... is the anti-Harry Potter you didnt know you wanted. -- The Washington Post Vita Nostra has become a powerful influence on my own writing. Its a book that has the potential to become a modern classic of its genre  and I couldnt be more excited to see it get the global audience in English it so richly deserves. -- Lev Grossman Best Books of November 2018 -- Paste Magazine The definitive English language translation of the internationally acclaimed Russian novela 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  shes 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 fictionbrilliantly translated by Julia Meitov Herseyis reminiscent of modern classics such as Lev Grossmans The Magicians  Max Barrys Lexicon  and Katherine Ardens The Bear and the Nightingale  but will transport them to a place far beyond those fantastical worlds.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946218319925,"sku":"ByrdShop_0062694596","price":31.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780062694591_f422a7f0-0cae-40bd-8379-d52f4ea3f7b6.jpg?v=1770149649","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/vita-nostra-a-novel","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}