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. …
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.
A great way to end the series. It was nice seeing more of the 'real' world, without losing the connections to the hidden spaces walled off by the enclaves. Having invested a day or so with the previous 2 books, it felt important to read carefully and enjoy each experience as it came along. I did eventually feel that the use of the word wanker was a bit overdone, but perhaps I'm just getting old and conservative. The story, the arc of the characters and the way things wrapped themselves up was very good indeed.
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 …
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 & collaboration in order to effect radical change are of course present in Temeraire, but that feels like a lead-up to this in a few ways.
Anyway. Recommended! Time for me to see if I like Spinning Silver!
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 …
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 this book is that it was not long enough. Especially the concluding action at the final climax of the story. It was wrapped up so much more quickly than some of the preceding action. I suppose it's a truly excellent book when my main gripe is that it wasn't long enough.
Full and unapologetic 5 stars. This entire series is my favorite magical education series, with far more emotional depth and moral quandaries than anything like Harry Potter and more real life moral application than The Magicians
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.
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.
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.
