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

Spellbreaker by Charlie N. Holmberg

July 28, 2021

Spellbreaker by Charlie N. Holmberg

Elsie Camden is a spellbreaker - she can undo magic spells that are set by the wealthy or aristocrats to harm the common people. She receives her instructions from a mysterious handler that she has never met. Whoever it is leaves notes and instructions for her. But Elsie's biggest problem is that she is unlicensed to perform magic, which carries a hefty penalty. She has to work surreptitiously to accomplish her assignments.

Elsie works for a low-level magician who works as an artist. Things are going pretty well for her, until she runs afoul of a powerful magician at a nearby estate. To keep him from exposing her, Elsie must agree to work for him. But when a more powerful but unknown sorceror begins to kill wizards and steal their spell books, they must work together to undo the sorceror's dark magic.

This is book one of a duology featuring these characters. You can tell there's going to be a romance in the second book, but that's okay, the author keeps it low-key. Holmberg has another series that I tried and didn't like, but this one is a very enjoyable fantasy.

Spell book