The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

October 31, 2022

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

Galadriel Higgins, known as El to her friends, has escaped the Scholomance, the school for magically gifted children. Usually only 10% of the graduating class gets out alive, but El and her friends managed to turn the tables on the maleficaria who dwell at the school, and 90% of the students survived. El cast a spell to send the school off into the void with all the mals, but her friend Orion Lake stayed behind when everyone else left. Now El has to figure out how to get him out, while also saving the enclaves from the mals that are trying to destroy them.

This is the third book in the Scholomance series. It got a little long and winding, but it was good to reconnect with favorite characters. We also learn more about El's family and her own abilities and the consequences of her actions. There are some chilling details about how enclaves are built as well. The conclusion is satisfying and it leaves the way open for another book in the series, should the author choose to continue.

In Eastern European folklore, the Scholomance was a school for black magic in Rumania, in the Transylvania region. It was run by the devil and open to only a select few students. The school was underground and the curriculum lasted seven years (as opposed to the four years that El spends at the school). The Scholomance also appears in some online games such as Worlds of Warcraft and Minecraft. The Scholomance in Novik's novels is in a multiverse, attached to our world but sort of hanging onto the edge. It's like a mirror image of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels: at Hogwarts, there are excellent teachers, wonderful meals and accommodations, and the school works to help and protect the students; at the Scholomance, there are no teachers, the food is atrocious, the dorm rooms are dangerously open to the void on one side, and the school is filled with malevolent creatures and tries to kill off as many students as possible. Nice. The only thing the two schools have in common is being located in a multiverse attached to our world.

A depiction of the Scholomance from Worlds of Warcraft

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

October 27, 2021

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

El, the potential dark sorceress from Novik's previous book A Deadly Education, is now in her last year at the Scholomance, the school for magically gifted children. She and her friends have managed to stay alive for all four years, despite a variety of monsters and what appears to be the school's determination to kill them. But graduation is the most dangerous time, with only 10% of the students making it out alive, and those students are usually from the large wealthy enclaves who have the resources to assist them. El and Orion Lake (her sort-of boyfriend) are determined to improve the odds for their classmates, while also protecting the under-classmen at the same time.

This is the second book in the Scholomance series. At times, it's difficult to figure out exactly what is happening and what kind of monsters are attacking them. But it's still a fun and creative read and I'm looking forward to the next book.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

January 8, 2021

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Galadriel Higgins, known as El, is a student at the Scholomance, a special school for gifted magical children. There are no teachers, yet the school itself determines the curriculum for each student.  The school's main purpose seems to be to weed out about 75% of the students before graduation, but it's still safer than the outside world, where the only chance for safety is to belong to a wizarding enclave. The enclave kids at the Scholomance are the only ones who have resources and a chance of getting out alive. 

El is an indie kid - she was raised by her whimsical mother in a magic commune in Wales. They are poor as dirt because her mother gives away her magic for free. El was supposedly born evil and has the potential to become a very powerful sorceress. Although the school seems determined to test or kill the students at every turn, El slowly makes friends (for the first time) and even has a boyfriend of sorts who keeps saving her life against her wishes. She and her friends are determined to find a way for more students to make it out alive and to protect the younger students.

This isn't Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series - the Scholomance is far deadlier. It's a cliche, but the school itself is a character. There is a really creative collection of monsters and supernaturals that inhabit the school. El has a very funny snarky voice, adding sarcasm to typical teenage angst. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.