The World Beyond the Walls by Jean Gill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mielitta Queen Of The Warrior Bees and Mage-Smith Kermon are back living in the Forest and the Citadel respectively, Kermon is trying to teach the children magecraft while also keeping his dual role as a spy between the two parties, as he is carrying out his plans for the transition test where the children go into the world beyond the walls, the children he is testing are also trying to push the boundaries set by their genders, but they don’t fully know why those boundaries are there, in fact, only two people know that at all and Mage-Smith Kermon is one of them.

When Mage Smith Kermon is disturbed in his forge with news that one of his students has gone into the world beyond the walls and not returned, he is frustrated and annoyed, but he is also worried because of the evil which lies within them, he sends the young student away and has to attend a Council meeting to request permission to do this, however as they took the time to listen to all the opposing viewpoints and make a decision which appeals to all, he finds out afterwards that the other student has gone ahead alone, so now he has to go after both of the students with another mage at his side to be his anchor.

Mage-Smith Kermon gathers the children who have spoken to the two missing students to find out any information about what they had gone into the wall to decide, based on the little he is able to gather, he has a starting point for when he takes his turn to enter the mysterious world, he takes the time to gather provisions and goes to the water gate to connect with Mielitta to inform her of the situation and what he is about to do, including that the student was possibly following the story of Mielitta, however, he speaks to someone unknown instead and they say that they will pass on the message to her, when the connection is cut off, Mage-Smith Kermon is surprised to find where he had thrown some boots containing seeds into the mud at the base of the gate, now there are plants forcing their way through to the Forest, with this new knowledge, he sets off to find his students. Meanwhile, Mielitta and her two friends are being woken up after a long winter hibernation, but the news they receive on awakening is not what they had hoped and it means they need to return to aid another of their friends and the bees who rely on them, in this Mielitta shifts from bee to human and back to help the bees and the humans to communicate while the others help her, while the one with the nature of a bear replenishes his reserves in the way he needs to, but while he is resting in the cave, he has a vision which leads to a way to get back into the Citadel to help Mage-Smith Kermon.

When they follow the vision, two of them can enter the walls, however, Mielitta is not able to, so she decides to find another way in which she can help, but is distracted by her heart and the hurt the walls just caused her, she is prompted by her bees to think of and return to the homestead, however, her steps lead her to the water gate instead and she goes in to help the others in bee form, but she has no idea of the danger leaving the Citadel and heading in the opposite direction to her.

Will the four friends be able to solve the mystery of Mielitta’s history, find and protect the missing students from the evil within the walls and come out of the other end unscathed, or will the duplicity within the Citadel lead to their demise? This is a thrilling final installment to the series and you will not be able to put the book down until it is finished and you know how it ends.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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