The Golden Enclaves

A Novel

eBook, 407 pages

English language

Published July 8, 2022 by Random House Publishing Group.

ISBN:
978-0-593-15836-4
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (58 reviews)

The one thing you never talk about while you’re in the Scholomance is what you’ll do when you get out. Not even the richest enclaver would tempt fate that way. But it’s all we dream about: the hideously slim chance we’ll survive to make it out the gates and improbably find ourselves with a life ahead of us, a life outside the Scholomance halls.

And now the impossible dream has come true. I’m out, we’re all out—and I didn’t even have to turn into a monstrous dark witch to make it happen. So much for my great-grandmother’s prophecy of doom and destruction. I didn’t kill enclavers, I saved them. Me and Orion and our allies. Our graduation plan worked to perfection: We saved everyone and made the world safe for all wizards and brought peace and harmony to all the enclaves everywhere.

Ha, only joking! Actually, it’s gone all wrong. …

1 edition

A Satisfying Conclusion, Although I Miss the School a Bit

4 stars

The characters continued to be a delight and I enjoyed spending time with them.

The ending was strong and satisfying, although the middle third was a bit of a slog and less enjoyable than the prior two books. It took some time for the book to find its footing outside of the school setting.

The allegory was a little heavy handed and didn't always work, but I enjoyed what it was going for.

Retroactively upgrading Book 2 to five stars, because one book in the series deserves it and 2 was the best.

Liesel is best girl.

A Golden Ending

4 stars

This is the conclusion of Naomi Novik's Scholomance series. In the first two, El gets to realize she's not alone, she's connected. She realizes she needs help and that when she works with others, she can do more than she can alone. Her school learns the same. Massive battles are fought, huge sacrifices are made. El has grown powerful and early on was offered a place in an Enclave - which used to be her childhood goal. In the world of the Scholomance wizards are delicious to monsters. That's why they don't just rule everything. There are two ways to get the power for a spell - a hard way and an easy way. The easy way is.. dark. And that darkness makes monsters. And those monsters love to eat wizards. Wizard children are especially delicious - that's what drives the creation of a school for wizard children where it's …

:)

5 stars

Aw, I just really like this series. Thoroughly recommend it. I keep expecting it to be less polished, because a lot of Temeraire feels less polished and more, like, thematically aimless to me, but it‘s very well-thought-out I think. I enjoy how the protagonist‘s perspective on the world changes, and we get to see some of this world‘s politics and the inequities thereof. There‘s also a very effective horror scene in this book. Mostly it‘s really nice to read a well-executed series that leads the reader inexorably toward the necessity of working with others to change the systems of global & institutional inequality, in ways that will be frustrating and incomplete but are worth doing - what this rekindled in me is a sense of powerful urgency & drive to join others in this work, which seems like a sign of a successful series to me. Themes of personal development …

A satisfying conclusion to the series

5 stars

This book was full of gorgeous symmetry and symbology and dramatic irony. Novik is a master at dropping just enough hints for you to start putting together the bigger picture just ahead of the protagonist, making the next twist feel justified or somehow expected even if you couldn't have written a full prediction.

I especially appreciate how Novik continued to explore the unjustness of the enclave system in her world and how the protagonist El was forced to reckon with the practicality of her mission conflicting with her moral revulsion at the existing system. It is very easy to draw a parallel to activists trying to upend existing oppressive structures (racism, sexism, capitalism, etc). This book will help activists articulate their morals and wrestle with the realities of working with or next to an existing system while working to create a more just world.

The only critique I have of …

a satisfying conclusion

5 stars

a great ending to the great Scholomance trilogy. had some twists i didn't see coming while still bringing everything to a satisfying close.

like the other books in this series, it manages to feel kinda cozy while super dark 😅

i think it's the lovable cast of characters, particularly the primary protagonist who i find quite relatable as an outcast determined not to be the evil the world wants her to be.

also the darkness is offset by the fact that there is hope throughout, even when things get pretty bleak (though often that hope is more stubbornness than anything 😅)

strongly recommended to anyone who loved the first two entries in the series.

The Magic We Need

5 stars

You would be forgiven for looking at a pithy summary of the Scholomance series and thinking this is yet another magical school wish fulfillment story. There’s a magical school, an extra-magical misfit main character who unexpectedly makes friends, a prophecy, monsters and sinister forces. Yet, for all that, this is a tale with a spirit firmly planted in reality that bends all the tropes.

What do you do when you are the best at defeating monsters when the real monster is deep systemic injustice?

Naomi Novik is producing some of the most interesting and creative fantasy stories of this generation. They are well worth your time.

Review of 'The Golden Enclaves' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Not my favorite of the 3, but still a page turner. And anecdotally, it seems like really good source material to understand Gen Z point of view. Maybe it's just the recent midterm elections that make me see it through that lens but

Recent graduates (just the right age)
Magic (mana) as wealth that is zero-sum
Privileged enclaves of elites
A structural system designed to benefit the powerful at the expense of the weak

And so on. The characters interact with each other in that framework throughout, and it works.

Really strong conclusion to the series

4 stars

I think my biggest complaint about these three novels would be that the author does a lot more telling rather than showing, which I tend to dislike. There's no shortage of that in the beginning of this novel, but ultimately this might be my favorite book of the series. It finishes really strongly and I found myself more emotionally invested than I thought I would be. I can't say too much more without giving away some important plot elements, but defs recommend if you've read the first two books.

avatar for muffinista

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Heavyboots

rated it

5 stars
avatar for elwoodicious

rated it

4 stars
avatar for evanima

rated it

4 stars
avatar for drb

rated it

5 stars
avatar for chadkoh

rated it

3 stars
avatar for joeyh

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ajkerrigan

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Rigo

rated it

3 stars
avatar for MandolinDan

rated it

3 stars
avatar for LindseyB

rated it

4 stars
avatar for mpmurawski

rated it

2 stars
avatar for Ivia

rated it

3 stars
avatar for sam@books.theunseen.city

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Wyatt

rated it

5 stars
avatar for CSND

rated it

4 stars
avatar for satyajit

rated it

4 stars
avatar for DuncanWatson

rated it

5 stars
avatar for walker

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Ssyn

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Hyzie

rated it

3 stars
avatar for ChrisShanley

rated it

5 stars
avatar for greystar

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Rand

rated it

5 stars
avatar for piotr

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Martuparty8wii

rated it

5 stars
avatar for karlhungus

rated it

5 stars
avatar for broonie

rated it

5 stars
avatar for bentreegecko

rated it

5 stars
avatar for chrisw_b

rated it

5 stars
avatar for inti

rated it

5 stars
avatar for PineappleButtonUp

rated it

5 stars
avatar for schellenberg

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Njdevils95

rated it

3 stars
avatar for iamtom

rated it

5 stars
avatar for wildenstern

rated it

5 stars
avatar for anaulin

rated it

5 stars