IGN has reviewed The Tower of Beggars: Stormfell Academy Book One, a new fantasy novel by Torsten Weitze released in the US and UK on 1 September 2026. Rather than following a conventional Harry Potter-style magical school template, the book centres on inequality and social hierarchy, told largely from the perspective of a beggar rather than a privileged student, which the reviewer says gives it a distinctive identity within the genre.

The story follows Niri, a 16-year-old girl of mixed Aeldae and human heritage who is despised due to historical enslavement of humans by the Aeldae before the fall of their god. Orphaned and working as a coal girl for her gambling-addicted uncle, she eventually gains admission to Stormfell Academy via a "Beggar Coin", though the reviewer notes the school itself features only lightly in this first instalment, with lower-class students largely trained as war fodder. The reviewer praises Niri as a likeable, courageous protagonist and singles out Grabbasnack, a gold-eating pocket dragon companion, as a highlight who keeps the tone from becoming too grim, ultimately recommending the book to fantasy fans.