Review: 'The Golden Enclaves' (The Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novik

I fell in love with The Scholomance from the first book, A Dangerous Education, immediately. I loved the mix of danger, snark, and magic with which Novik infused the book. I loved the sequel, The Last Graduate, just as much, especially how it ramped-up the action and tension while also expanding the world. The Golden Enclaves is a powerful next step and I'm now kinda sad to have to leave this world behind. 

Pub. Date: 9/27/2022
Publisher: Ballantine; Del Rey

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. Someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in my stead, and probably everyone we saved is about to get killed in the brewing enclave war. And the first thing I’ve got to do now, having miraculously gotten out of the Scholomance, is turn straight around and find a way back in.

What I loved about The Golden Enclaves as a conclusion of this series was how much of it was about choices. El has had a prophecy of the destruction she will wreak hanging over her head for her entire life now and every choice she makes either prevents that destruction or brings her closer to it. But she isn't the only one who is faced with difficult choices, choices that form a point of no return. I liked how this was worked out and how it made the entire premise a lot more complex. The friendships and relationships she has, reluctantly, built up along the way also continue to matter a lot and I was so very happy that when it came to trying to create a better future it became a group endeavour. My heart low-key swelled at this entire generation of youngsters coming together to try and make something better. While El is undeniably the protagonist, she carries the lessons from The Last Graduate with her throughout this book: especially asking for help, listening to advice, and taking a second to think. I really felt like she had grown since the first book and had become more settled in herself. Since the plot of The Golden Enclaves takes place within a few weeks, rather than an entire school year, it was good to see these things come to fruition. 

This plot summary contains spoilers for the previous book, so skip if you don't want to read that! The plan to not just survive graduation but lure the entire mals population into the Scholomance and then yeet it into the void was a success. Unfortunately Gideon's self-sacrificial heroic streak came through at the last moment and now El is home with her mother, heart-broken and unusure of where to go. When Liesel and Alfie come calling on behalf of London, she might as well help them because she has no idea what to do next. When it becomes clear, however, that the attacks on enclaves are continuing and that Gideon may not be lost forever, El has to begin something of a race against time to save the enclaves and get Gideon back. Except that the question really is whether the traditional enclaves are worth saving or whether their destruction might pave the way for the Golden Enclaves. El and co. are on a whirlwind journey in The Golden Enclaves which takes them pretty much across the entire world. After having spent the last two books stuck in the Scholomance for an entire year, the fast pace of events in this book can be a little overwhelming, but I think that's part of the point. Suddenly our beloved crew is out in the world and now they have to deal with all the politics and rules that have been background noise to them for the past years. I really liked this expansion of the world and how we get to see our characters trying to adapt to their new lives. 

I've seen some reviews complaining about the fact that the romance very much comes second in the sense of how many pages are dedicated to it. And in a way I get it, but mostly I wholeheartedly disagree. While EL and Orion are separated for most of the book, her emotions towards him, in all their complexity, are a constant theme running through her narration. If what you're looking for is interaction then I guess yes, it's not enough, but if you're looking for the impact of a romance, for a depth of feeling, it is absolutely there. And as I'm personally not really looking for major romance in my fantasy, I liked how it worked and how other relationships were also shown to be very important. When the world feels like it's ending, when everything is crashing down, perhaps making out with your boyfriend is not the most important thing, even if it's nice. 

Naomi Novik is a brilliant writer and it's only really now, in The Golden Enclaves, that I realised just how brilliant the writing style of the book is. I really noticed how El is talking to us as readers, how we are basically in some kind of dialogue with her. Now that we know her well enough, we get to see a slightly different, more honest side to her, and I adored her the more for it. Novik also continues to excel at descriptions, which really comes to the fore in how the different enclaves are described. Each is different in its own, nuanced way and that really helped with the fast pace. I also appreciated how Novik didn't necessarily go for the easy answer of a big villain. The Golden Enclaves feels like a big, epic conclusion, yes, but its focus is not on big action scenes and evil villains and brilliant heroes. Rather it tries to tell its reader how important collaboration, recovery, and empathy are, but also how important it is to take a strong stance on misuse and abuse of power. While some of the void-stuff went slightly over my head, these themes absolutely didn't and I love a trilogy that doesn't pretend defeating the big bad fixes everything. It's continuous work, making a better world, and some of that work might have to happening the shadows. God I'm going to miss this world.

I give this novel...

4 Universes!

The Golden Enclaves is a fast-paced, expansive, and stunning conclusion to The Scholomance trilogy in which a lot of its themes come to full fruition. While not everyone might enjoy the choices Novik makes, I loved every page of it.