Language : English
Hardcover : 416 pages
ISBN-10 : 1529100917
ISBN-13 : 978-1529100914
Synopsis
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 that impossible dream has somehow come true for El and her classmates. And what’s more, she didn’t even have to become the monstrous dark witch she’s prophesised to become to make it happen. Instead of killing enclavers, she saved them, and now the world is safe for all wizards. Peace and harmony have enveloped all the enclaves of the world.
Just kidding.
Instead, someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in El’s stead, and everyone she saved is at risk again with a full-scale enclave war on the horizon. And so, the first thing El needs to do after miraculously escaping the Scholomance, is to turn straight around and find a way back in.
My Review
This is a book I have been waiting for with great apprehension, and had it delivered on publication day, although due to life problems I have only just got to read it. This is the third book in the Scholomance Trilogy which follows El through the Scolomance where young witches and wizards go to learn magic, a place a lot darker than Hogwarts. The problem is not many students make graduation and fewer still survive the graduaion gauntlet with a monsters and evil sent to stop them. But El helps get the whole of her class and the rest of the school through and sends the school into the void so no more children have to face the cruelty. The Golden Enclaves picks up the story after everyone returned home, or to their enclaves. What some return to however is the destruction of certain enclaves, with blame being placed on other enclaves putting the magical world in threat of war.
I was so excited to read this book, to find out what happened to El and her fellow students after the Scholomance. It was fascinating to see all the characters in their home environments, many in enclaves where they have a good life, and El whose mother doesn’t live in an enclave but away from magic in a commune. El has always eschewed enclaves, preferring to be out on her own, but even powerful enclaves need help occasionally and it’s El they come too.
El has not fulfilled the prophecy of destroyer of enclaves, and instead is the one saving them. El really comes into her own in this book, but also learns that she needs friends, people to have her back, which she finds difficult as she has trust issues. El is heroine whom I took to my heart, brave, bolshy but ultimately brilliant as a character, seeing her grow and gain confidence in the face of her prophecy has been such an joy, especially in this book.
Where the first two books were set in the school, in The Golden Enclaves takes us to London, New York, Dubai, Beijing and Maharashtra, a cultural jourbey for El and the reader. Naomi Novak captures the sights, sounds and atmosphere of each location, and the beauty of the enclaves. The world building is wonderful, with magical gardens, enclaves in ancient temples, magical train stations, but these are set against the darkness of the maleficaria, wanting to suck the power out of young wizards. There are pelnty of surprises in this book that I didn’t see coming and the development of the story had me gripped and unable to put the book down for long.
The Golden Enclaves is a brilliant and fitting end to the Scholomance Trilogy, although I am in hope that at some point Naomi Novak may retrun to El and her friends. The attention to detail, especially in the fantasy element is amazing. She paints a picture with her words so you can see these magical places in your mind. I also love the fact that in the books are detailed drawings of the Scholomance and of the London enclave that I found fascinating. This is a trilogy I highly recommend for fantasy fans, young and old, or maybe this could be your first time reading this genre. Deliciously dark with a heroine with a heart and power, this is fantasy fiction at it’s best.
