This series about a Golem and a Jinni is one of my absolute favorites, and the final book in the trilogy didn’t disappoint. Wecker combines history and fantasy with fascinating characters and Jewish and Arabic mythology. This book picks up three decades after the last one, The Hidden Palace. If you haven’t read these books, you should absolutely start with the first one, and read them in order. And if, like me, you’ve been waiting for the latest book, I can certainly recommend it.
If there’s a downside to these books, it’s only that they came out pretty far apart, so it’s been quite a while since I read the first two. Wecker does a nice job reintroducing readers to the story, but these are very complicated plots with a lot of different characters, so it still took a while for me to settle in to the story.
Wecker continues the storyline of Kreindel, an orphaned girl with a golem of her own, who was introduced in the second book. She also introduces two new characters. Selma Radzin is the daughter of the baker who employed the Golem (Chava) for many years. As a child, Selma sensed something strange about Chava. Grown now, Selma is running a speakeasy during Prohibition, when she encounters a strange man who’s searching for Chava. Matthew is a boy who apprenticed with the Jinni in New York, but has been sent to his family in Syria. Matthew has strange powers – and afflictions – of his own.
The main story centers around the wizards who created Chava and enslaved the Jinni. The Golem and the Jinni face the constant threat of humans discovering who they are, and the threat of the wizards who would force them to do their bidding. They wrestle with their identities (are they monsters? can they control their powers? does magic corrupt?) and their feelings for each other and the humans they befriend.
Wecker has created characters that feel so real, you feel like you know them. They face many of the same insecurities we all do, as they try to figure out who they are and where they belong. Chava is one of my favorite characters. I love her strength and serenity, and her need for solitude and order, as she carefully tends her garden and helps those around her.
These are beautifully written books, perfect for readers who like historical fantasy with rich characters and stories that are slow-moving and complex. I’m trying not to tell you too much, so I don’t ruin the first two books for anyone who hasn’t read them. It’s hard even to think of another series that compares to this one (maybe Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale).
I’m sad this is the end of the story, but I look forward to whatever Wecker writes next.
Note: I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley and publisher Harper Books. This book was published September 15.
