A review by justliketitanium
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

5.0

I really, really liked the first two books in the series, but I was obsessed with this one. I loved reading El navigating wizard society and politics after spending so much time with her in the microcosm of the Scholomance.

The entire series deals with class stratification and injustice, but this third book delves deeply into the violence and suffering caused by people amassing power and privilege over others. The text shows clearly how normal people are both complicit in and (often) ignorant of this violence. It hits home from my vantage point within the white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy, especially given current events.

And on top of all that the magic is really cool and the characters are just so, so good. The emotional arcs are satisfying, and there’s significant queer rep.

I just love it when books manage to deal intelligently with dark, heavy topics while being fun and engaging, and this trilogy has that in spades. (I’m looking forward to reading Novik’s Spinning Silver next!)