Through Gates of Garnet and Gold is the eleventh entry in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. Nancy was one of the lucky ones. She was able to return to the world on the other side of the Door that chose her when she was a child. All of the Wayward Children long for this; some never find their Doors again and have to learn how to live in our ill-fitting world again.
Nancy’s world is the Halls of the Dead. During the day, she holds poses so perfectly that her breathing and heartbeat slow to hibernation levels. The Halls are a badly needed refuge from the chaos of her life in our world. She never expected violence. When a wave of angry ghosts rips through the Halls and kills many of her friends and fellow “statues,” the Lady of the Dead tells Nancy to flee. Nancy returns to her other safe harbor: Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children.
This lightning quick novella follows two tracks. First, Nancy and her friends from Eleanor’s school try to find a way to stop the old enemy who has whipped up every ghost with a grievance. McGuire doesn’t make anything easy for her protagonists (not that she ever does) and keeps the plot as tense as possible. The second track is Nancy’s internal questioning about whether or not the Halls of the Dead is really her true home anymore. She’s used to answering questions from friends who misunderstand the nature of the funeral Halls. Nancy very much wants to live. What she wants from the Halls is time. When she poses on her plinth, Nancy can think—truly think—about things. Nothing is rushed in the Halls (at least until the villain turns up).
Through Gales of Garnet and Gold is an excellent entry in McGuire’s series. Please note, this is not one of the books in the series that you can read out of order. I was surprised to see this villain again, to be honest, but even death and exile in an afterlife can’t stop one of the most stubborn antagonists I’ve ever encountered in fiction.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.