It’s been a very long time since a series sucked me in as much as this one did. I was actively resentful, not just of having to go to work, but other fun things that took me away from finishing it. But finish it I did, and it was a fab and satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
We pick up immediately from where we left off, with El having been pushed out the gate of the Scholomance by Orion, to deal with Patience himself. Obviously, this is a bit traumatic, and despite her efforts, she can’t bring him back. But time is not on her side, so rather than being left to grieve, she’s pulled into the thick of things when there’s an attack on London enclave. And from there, it’s a whirlwind of jetsetting around the world, hopping from enclave to enclave (including a trip back to the Scholomance itself) as the revelations continue to pile on. And when we find out just what Orion really is and how he gained his very specific powers, it’s as heartbreaking for us as it is for El.
El reminds me of a mix of Wednesday Addams and Granny Weatherwax. She’s incredibly powerful, and very angry at having to be the good one. She could lean in to her power and nobody in the world could stop her, but she makes Granny’s choice again and again, having to rein in her dark side. In this she’s helped and kept grounded by her friends, particularly Aadhya and Liu, who have become not just allies, but BFFs. Liesel from the second book plays a much bigger role here, joining El’s circle of friends, almost despite herself. but Liesel clearly does likes El, even if I wasn’t entirely keen on the leaning into stereotypes of German efficiency.
One issue I had was that for the first half or more, it felt like El had very little agency. She was just jumping from one crisis to the next, without ever getting time to sit and decide what she wants to do. And by the end of it, I honestly didn’t think it was going to end well. When we find out the truth of how enclaves are founded, and the truth of Orion, I was sure that there could only be one outcome. But Novik sidestepped that and gave us something more hopeful.
I like that there’s no clear “bad guys” here. The closest that we get is Orion’s mum, but even she has reasons for what she does and can’t just be written off. When it comes down to it, her objectives and El’s aren’t that dissimilar. There’s lots of shades of grey, which honestly makes for a more interesting story.
I love the fact that sexuality basically isn’t a thing here. El turns out to be bi and nobody bats and eyelid, and she’s not the only one. In fact, there are several queer relationships that are just there and valid. This is, absolutely, the future that liberals want! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to search AO3 for fanfic of the El/Orion/Liesel polycule that is so clearly missing here.