We’re back for season six (!) of ‘The Dark Academicals’ and we’ve got a line-up full of spooks and scares for the best reading season of the year.

Our first pick takes us to a New York magic school and an obsession with a childhood fantasy book series in ‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman.

Does this portal fantasy have what it takes to also take the title of dark academia?

In this episode we discuss:

- The lacklustre magic system and world-building

- The numerous influences from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Harry Potter’

- Misogyny, ableism and fatphobia in the novel