Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold
by Seanan McGuire
Fantasy | Novella
160 Pages
Released January 2026
Wayward Children’s Series # 11
Rating: ★★★★★
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Content Warnings
Every year I look forward to the next book in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series and this year is no different. There’s something indescribably comforting about being able to return to familiar places and faces year after year (while still discovering new doors!). I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of these books.
Since this is the 11th book in the series, let me touch on the overall concept. The Wayward Children books are about children who stumble across a door that whisks them away to a world that often feels more like home than their real homes. Some of the books focus on the discovery of these new worlds. Others focus on what happens when one of these children accidentally find themselves back in the “real world” against their will. These children end up at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a place for children displaced from their fantasy world. Each book focuses on a different child and their experience.
This book is a bit of a throw-back. In this book, we follow Nancy (who happens to also be the main character of the first book, Every Heart a Doorway), who has just escaped from her world called the “Halls of the Dead” - a place where people exist as “living statues”. Something is killing the inhabitants of Nancy’s world. Enlisting the help of her friends at the Home for Wayward Children, they set off on a dangerous quest to find out why the living statues are being murdered, and what they can do to stop them.
As with all the books in this series, really enjoyed this story! This one has much more of “mystery solving” aspect to it, which I think keeps the overall series fresh. It’s also always lovely to see some familiar faces from previous books.
Another thing I really loved was being able to visit Nancy’s world in more detail. Previous books touched on the Halls of the Dead but this really let us explore the world alongside Nancy’s friends.
These books are short and they always end up a quick and enjoyable read. I really cannot rave about them enough. And while you can technically start the series with any one of these books, I do still recommend starting from the beginning. As always, highly recommended!