New fantasy series skewers higher education

Photo courtesy of Jonathan N. Pruitt

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Deposed academic superstar Jonathan N. Pruitt takes aim at the secrecy and elitism of academia in his new fantasy series, The Shadows of the Monolith, debuting last month with The Amber Menhir. The ambitious epic fantasy project is inspired by Pruitt’s own experiences at universities across the world, where he was once touted as a world expert in behavioural evolution. Pruitt’s unique and scathing perspective creates a playful but dark tone that beckons readers onwards.

Pruitt’s academic career was marred by scandal. He resigned from a post at McMaster University last year, after several of his papers were retracted due irregularities in subsets of the data. Pruitt’s university released limited details of the scandal, and Pruitt was branded a pariah by the academic community, after receiving confidential settlement terms. Pruitt appears to have since leveraged the scandal to craft a needle-sharp satirical tale critiquing academia for its culture of pressure, secrecy, and elitism. His first book, The Amber Menhir, came out last month with guns blazing. 

Not one to shy away from the past, Pruitt has embraced his controversy and has used its momentum to comment on the academic enterprise writ large. The Shadow of the Monolith will be a high fantasy pentology with dark academic undertones. Fantasy is an extremely popular genre at the moment, with authors like Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black dominating sales and internet trends. Dark academia has also become a popular aesthetic on TikTok and bled into literature, with novels like If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio and The Secret History by Donna Tartt having major resurgences in popularity. Combining the two genres seems to be a winning combination for Pruitt, whose debut novel sold thousands of copies in its first month.

The Amber Menhir follows three students newly initiated into the menhirs, which are towering institutions of magical research and education. Pruitt’s dystopian world is plagued by a mysterious entity known as “Calamity,” which threatens to destroy the planet. The five menhirs arose as the planet’s only chance of survival, hoping to devise magic that could help save existence. However, when main characters Tara Langcraw, Roland Ward, and Peony Bianchi are recruited to the Amber Menhir, they are abruptly embroiled in a culture of secrecy and lies, which they must fight their way through in order to survive.

The Shadows of the Monolith crafts a world not so unlike our own, really, but with stinging commentary that only a battle-hardened academic could deliver. Pruitt explores how the severing of the academic world risks corrupting its broader mission, and further highlights the dangers of allowing one’s philosophy of a utopia to spread unchecked.  Between his shapely world-building and a diverse cast of characters, Pruitt has created something unique and remarkable with The Amber Menhir, which has already succeeded in rendering delight and outrage in equal measures. 

The second volume of The Shadows of the Monolith, titled The Eggs Inside, is due next summer. In the meantime, readers can snatch their copy of The Amber Menhir and weigh in on the drama on and off the page for themselves. Reinvention has perhaps never looked so playfully sinister.