★★★★☆ Yale University hosts another fantasy

Hell Bent

Leigh Bardugo

Hell Bent is the second, and (as of 25-Jun-2023) last published book in Leigh Bardugo's Alex Stern series. (There will be spoilers for Ninth House, so stop reading now if that is a problem for you.) These novels take place mostly at Yale University, and almost entirely in the neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, the city in which Yale is located. Bardugo graduated from Yale, where she was a member of Wolf's Head, one of Yale's notorious secret societies, and she is still associated with the university. This feeling of place and history is one of the best things about the books.

The fantasy premise of the series is that the Yale secret societies, particularly the most prominent, which Bardugo refers to as "The Ancient Eight", conduct secret magical rites in order to enhance their wealth and power. Furthermore, because these rites are dangerous, there is an even more secret ninth house called Lethe, whose job is to monitor and police the Ancient Eight. Galaxy (Alex) Stern was recruited to Lethe at the beginning of Ninth House as its newest and most junior member and was given a full scholarship at Yale, because she had the ability to see ghosts.

We learned in Ninth House that Alex's abilities go far beyond this. In fact, the book ends with a "Yer a wizard, Harry!" moment in which Alex's gift is named and defined in terms of a longer tradition. Alex is a Wheelwalker. She can communicate with the dead. More, she can take possession of the souls of both dead and living people.

Hell Bent is a quest novel. Ninth House ended with Alex's senior and mentor Daniel Arlington (Darlington) being sent to Hell. Alex and her Lethe colleagues' quest is to go to Hell (thus, they are "Hell bent") and bring Darlington back. It's a great story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

At the same time, Hell Bent lacks something that made Ninth House special. It was clear to me as I read Ninth House that fantasy was only a transparent mask over real problems -- the exploitation of vulnerable girls and the barely licit means used by powerful people to perpetuate their power. Ninth House is scarcely a fantasy. Hell Bent, in contrast, is full-on fantasy. Although there are connections to reality, they are less central in Hell Bent. The moment in which Alex's superpowers were named really weakened the story, for me. Hell Bent is still, however, an excellent fantasy novel, even if it does not quite measure up to the outstanding Ninth House.

While Hell Bent doesn't exactly end on a cliffhanger, it does leave some loose ends dangling. I am confident for this reason that Bardugo plans a sequel. Indeed, she has confirmed that she plans it to be a trilogy. I certainly intend to read it.

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