Today I’d like to talk about a fantasy novel I recently finished, The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Choskshi. I apologize if I butchered the name with my pronunciation. This novel took the heist aspects of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, mixed it with the creation of magical items from Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and added a dash of puzzle-solving reminiscent of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Set in an alternate 1889 Paris during the Exposition Universelle, the world’s magic is granted by Babel Fragments, pieces of the biblical Tower of Babel. Severin is the rightful heir of House Vanth, but because he was a bastard, the results of his lineage test were forged by House Cort, who had once treated him like a nephew.
Now, Severin is dedicated to convincing The Order, the body that monitors and regulates the use of forging, that he is the heir by discovering a truth that will force their hand. Joining Severin are his motley crew: Tristan, the orphan he grew up with side-by-side, Layla also known as Le’nigma who uses her job as a dancer to gather information. She desires to find a book that will lead to clues as to why she is a forged person and able to read the history of objects but is told she’ll die at the age of nineteen. Enrique, a forger who desires to gain notoriety and become a person of import whose opinion will be valued, Zophia, nicknamed the Phoenix for her penchant to use flame, is a mathematician and expert forger who has trouble connecting with others, and Hypnos, a patriarch of another house that Severin is forced into an uneasy alliance with.
The characters come from mixed backgrounds or nationalities make it difficult for them to exist in Paris society. For instance, Zophia is Jewish and Enrique is of Filipino descent. Each character has their desires, but they align in restoring Severin’s place as patriarch because his access to greater wealth and influence will allow them to achieve their separate goals. For this reason, Severin has denied himself a normal life in pursuit of this goal, and although all these people are his friends, he also knows that when he becomes patriarch his friends will go off to do their separate things and leave him by himself, all except Tristan and Hypnos.
The cast was not only diverse in their nationalities but also their sexuality and neurodivergent. Zophia is on the autism spectrum and has trouble understanding when others are telling a joke and is terrified of being touched. Two of the characters are bisexual, Enrique and Hypnos. Booked as a YA fantasy, I felt like it dealt with darker themes and added stakes that made you worry about the character’s fates. Often with YA, I feel like the main characters are never in danger of dying in book 1, but with this book, I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t even know this novel was classified as YA until I was looking up awards and nominations the book received. The book was full of Egyptian, Christian, and Greek symbology and mythology.
Mock Beta Review – Minor Spoilers about character interactions and motivations
Setting: I was always aware that the book was taking place in Paris. With the references to the Exposition Universale, we are reminded that not only are the characters in Paris but at what period they are in. The use of Egyptian, Greek, and Christian symbols and mythology was always present and I really enjoyed the inclusion of Egyptian artifacts like The Eye of Horus, and the crocodile-jawed Sphynxes that the order uses as a policing force.
Magic systems: It is always a pleasure to see a magic system that doesn’t involve casting magic, but rather creating items with magical properties. It gave the magic system an almost scientific bent and made the characters feel like blacksmiths and inventors instead of mages. I think that’s why the term Forger was used to describe them and it very much felt like they were using the world around them to craft fantastical creations.
Themes: There were several recurring themes I noticed in the book, but the most prevalent had to be that of friendship. Despite all of Severin’s team being bound to him, they had a comradery not only with Severin but also with each other. There were several interactions with characters outside of Severin that I was really enamored with. Layla and Tristan’s interactions, especially regarding his pet tarantula Goliath were both comical and sweet. I got the feeling that they felt like a family. The scene with Tristan hanging out in Layla’s room was probably one of my favorites. I also liked Hypno’s interactions with Zophia, Enrique, and Severin. Despite the uneasy alliance that brought him into their fold, I got the feeling that he saw the special friendship that Severin’s team enjoyed and wanted to be a part of it, in his cocky way. Zophia and Layla’s relationship as the two women in the group passed the Bechdel test despite both characters having some romantic feelings (Layla’s spurned and Zophia’s developing) they never really talk about it with each other, making their friendship feel genuine and devoid of the trope of women only discussing boys. But hands down, my favorite relationship had to be between Zophia and Enrique. Enrique seemed to make her feel accepted by everyone else when she felt like a fish out of water most of the time.
Another theme I noticed is that power corrupts. I think that’s present from the very beginning when discussing Severin’s falsified inheritance test and the destruction of the fallen house. How interesting then that It is Severin who desires power. I was left to wonder whether his pursuit of power would alienate him from the others.
Severin: Strangely, I think Severin was the least favorite of my characters out of this group. I think that was because he had this forced separation that he thought he must impose. At the same time though, he longed for them all to stay together. For him, his choice seems to be between becoming a patriarch, the entire reason he got this team together, and keeping his friends. He knows they all agreed to assist him because they each have their own separate goals, and once he achieves becoming a patriarch he’ll be the key to them realizing their goals. He felt like he was constantly at war with himself about his wants and needs and unwilling to admit to himself and others that he’d rather just stay with his friends and continue what they had been doing for so long.
Layla: I really enjoyed Layla and felt like she was the glue that held everyone together. She had a very sweet relationship with Tristan and Zophia. Her relationship with Severin was charged and added to Severin’s theme of wanting to be with his friends, but also wanting to keep his distance. I wonder if Layla had confided to anyone about why she wanted to find the book she sought so desperately and why she needed to find it as soon as possible. Her dual role as Layla the baker, and Le’Nigma the dancer gave the duality of her character time to shine. I got the feeling that Layla the baker was who she really wanted to be but Le’Nigma the dancer was how she could gain and retain the things she wanted.
Tristan: Probably the most nebulous of the characters in my mind, Tristan seemed a mystery for the most part. He seemed to be defined by his relationship with the other characters outside of his concern over his pet spider and fascination with building little worlds. I think Tristan internalized his orphanism and was bounced around from house to house. While Severin used the troubled upbringing the two shared to fuel his desires, Tristan was deeply wounded by it and unable to process it outside of his gardens. I think his goal, to stay with Severin is the most mundane goal of all the crew, but that also fits with the idea of him being unable to deal with his trauma and latching on to the known as opposed to taking risks.
Enrique: Outside of Zophia and Tristan, Enrique’s goals seemed the least grand of the goals, but also that his goal wouldn’t necessarily be furthered by enabling Severin’s rise to patriarchy. Even if Severin rose to patriarchy, at most he could be a patron and provide Enrique coin while he writes his grand philosophies and ideas, but Severin can’t make anyone read or believe them. Homophobia wasn’t necessarily that present in the book, but with Enrique and his internalized guilt over liking both men and women, we do see that the world isn’t as accepting as Hypnos makes it out to be.
Zophia: My favorite character by far. Although everyone is dealing with their trauma and feelings of inadequacy, Zophia seems to be more plagued by them than the others. I think that’s because she’s on the autism spectrum (at least we’d say so in this day and age but there probably weren’t words for this behavior in 1889 France), so she’s unable to truly connect to the others in the group. That in turn makes her an outsider among outsiders. But she does appreciate the fact that the others make her feel like she belongs. I liked how she started to open up and become aware of her feelings for the others. I felt like she was a nuanced and thoughtful representation of autism.
Hypnos: Although he serves mostly as Severin’s foil (nonchalant where Severin is mistrusting, openly expressing his desire to want to belong, and embracing romance whenever it comes his way) I also felt he was one of the more comedic characters. Everyone had their moments of jokes and wit, but Hypnos’s attitude and pompous nature made for plenty of situations where he could surprise. I normally wouldn’t like a character like this, but he was just so likable. I found myself feeling like Severin, how can everyone just start liking him so much? His reaction to being pranked was so touching.
Plot: Although this novel was driven mostly by character interactions and growth, the plot did not disappoint. Every time the group overcame one obstacle, I felt like the success was short-lived as they would only be greeted by another more daunting task. There was a real push and pull to the plot. At no point did I feel like any of the characters were safe and was sure on multiple occasions that a favorite character had died. I liked the ending and I can’t say why without revealing spoilers, but it was unexpected and genuine.