Abhorsen, by Garth Nix

Title: Abhorsen

Author: Garth Nix

Target Audience: Young Adult

Pages: 426

Chapters: 31

Rating: 10/10

Genre: Fantasy

Number: third in the series

Series: 1-Sabriel, 2-Lirael, 3-Abhorsen

Person: third

Tense: past

Blurb (quoted):

“Beneath the earth, a malignant force lies waiting, greedy for freedom from its ancient prison. As the Old Kingdom falls into darkness and terror, people look desperately to the Abhorsen, scourge of the Dead, to save them. Yet Abhorsen Sabriel is lost, missing in Ancelstierre.

Only Lirael can confront the Destroyer. With her companions, Sameth, Mogget and the Disreputable Dog, she races across the Old Kingdom, battling Shadow Hands and dark necromancers, to reach Ancelstierre before it is too late. But what hope can one young woman have against an evil with the power to destroy life itself?”

Judgement:

I love this series – Sabriel, the first in the trilogy, was my first book rated 10/10 and now this one is added to the list. It draws you in, entrancing you in its alternate world; the descriptions are amazing, it creates a movie-reel in your mind and I found myself angsting to pick it back up every time I set it down.

The design and representation of the fictional world is consistent and enthralling; well-structured and put together.  I loved it. The creatures are probably my favourite part – this series is almost based on zombies I guess, but in a way most don’t think of, as they are portrayed somewhat different…

I loved the characters; even the sarcastic and brooding Mogget made me smile. Garth Nix has successfully created a connection and emotion between the reader and the characters within its pages.

As for the storyline, the first two or three chapters were average, but after that it set off running and within days I found myself in the final quarter of the book; the ending however was somewhat more difficult for me to read, not for lack of action or anything, but more because it’s all very stand-still for a large chunk, where you aren’t really moving forward or backward or going anywhere and you’re really just waiting – which is supposed to be tension-building, but I just saw it to be slush I had to push through before it picked up again in the last one or two chapters.

The writing is easy to follow, I found it easy to remember, despite how many different angles it is written from. The book actually jumps around from person to person, so it’s almost like three different books compiled into one, but in a way that works and weaves together to ultimately create a compelling, highly enjoyable read.

I really love this book, it’s a great contribution to the trilogy, and I highly recommend it to all fantasy lovers.