The Golden Enclaves

 

Image credit: Book Depository

This is it. This is the one I’ve been waiting to read. A return to the most sinister school in fictional history. It came out months ago, but I had a pile already living rent-free on my bedside table that needed to slowly be evicted one by one. And now I have made it to the thrilling conclusion to Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series: The Golden Enclaves.

Galadriel Higgins is alive. Not only did she survive to graduate from the deadly Scholomance, she survived her graduating class’ plan to unhinge the school completely and send it tumbling into the void forever. But right at the last minute, Orion pushed her out and went back in. And now El is haunted by grief, rage, and despair. But nothing lasts forever. El is quickly asked to save the London enclave from a maw-mouth and so begins the start of the rest of her life. And in a wickedly ironic move, it begins with her having to find a way back into the Scholomance!

Like any middle book, The Last Graduate was compelling fun, but then left a lot of questions towards the end. Questions that now get answered with horrific, but satisfying conclusions. After a slow start, the book quickly builds momentum and the dramatic events are powered through with the force of a bulldozer breaking the land-speed record. Novik’s world of magic gets wider and much darker as the truth behind enclaves is shockingly revealed: the dark side of humanity given great power and becoming manifest, which brings a lovely contrast to the books title and inviting cover. 

El’s character arc becomes complete, though not in the way she or any of her readers expected, and it’s as happy an ending as can come from years of trauma, repression, isolation, and more recently, post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Image credit: Goodreads

The Golden Enlcaves is a fun, dark, twisted, and rollicking close to an unique and exciting trilogy, exploring themes of the dangers of human desire, desperation, and want and indentifying just how far some people will go to achieve their goals and justify their actions. It’s interesting because even though there are clear villains and very real evil sorceresses, the real horror and villain is human nature. 

It’s exciting, compelling, and a perfect end to a delightfully different and original romp into a new world of magic. For fantasy lovers, I would absolutely recommend The Scholomance series. 

Author: Naomi Novik, 2022

Published: Del Rey, London. An imprint of Penguin Random House UK, 2022