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.

Sabriel, by Garth Nix

Title: Sabriel
Author: Garth Nix
Target Audience: Young Adult
Pages: 496
Opinion: 10/10
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Fiction
Number: First in the series
Series: 1-Sabriel, 2-Lirael, 3-Abhorsen
Person: Second
Tense: Past



Blurb (quoted): "Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Abhorsen, is missing, and Sabriel must cross into that world to find him. With Mogget, whose feline form hides a powerful, perhaps malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage, Sabriel travels deep into the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life and comes face to face with her own hidden destiny."
Summary: Sabriel is only a teenage girl, but her heritage and untimely events force the girl to travel ‘across the wall’ from Ancelstiere into The Old Kingdom, a world of magical creatures and ‘the charter’, which makes up all that is. Sabriel is the daughter of the Abhorsen, and upon her father’s disappearance must take his place. The abhosren is a necromancer (someone who may walk in death and return to life at will) who uses the charter (magic) to keep The Old Kingdom safe from evil creatures.

Sabriel finds her father’s house and his talking cat: Mogget, a forced-servant of all abhorsen’s, who helps her to try find her missing father. Along the way, Sabriel comes to learn how to use her new bandolier of bells (magic bells to control the dead) and the danger her life is now in, for The Old Kindom is basically run by the dead! She also happens upon and saves the last remaining descendant of the royal blood line (therefore, the heir to the throne): Touchstone.

She soon finds herself facing a great evil: one of the greater dead, Kerrigor, who happens to be the enemy of Touchstone.

Sabriel, Mogget and Touchstone are forced to face an army of dead – with the help of her dead-but-temporarily-brought-back-to-life father.

“Does the walker choose the path, or does the path choose the walker?”

Judgement:  Well-written and enticing, Sabriel is a great read for all fantasy lovers. Definitely one of my favourite books now, it kept me glued the whole way through and left me desperate for the next book in the series.

The only thing I can complain about is that it has so much detail and factors that it’s incredibly hard to sum up and I don’t like the summary I’ve written. Despite this, the book is incredibly easy to read, remember, and follow – except – for me at least – when it comes to the seven names and uses of ‘the bells’, which I found hard to remember. And I’m very grateful for the map in the front of the books; it is the first novel with a map where I’ve actually used it and found it interesting to follow the characters journey.

It’s a truly magical book that, despite the danger, makes any reader want to visit! The story seems almost real and the writing pulls you into the moment, and the real world around you just seems to fade away.

My favourite aspect would have to be how magic is restricted to The Old Kingdom, and ‘across the wall’, in Ancelstiere and further it is a normal, perfectly average world.

Some may think it’s quite a long book, but believe me, if it were any shorter then it just wouldn’t be as good; there is no way to shorten it and I wouldn’t want to! I wished it would go on and on.

Definitely a favourite book, and one I highly recommend!

Characters: deep, well developed characters are what make a story, and Sabriel sure has it! With a range of personalities, conflicts, dramas, and friendships, it’s a great story. There weren’t too many characters, there weren’t too many details; they were well described and definitely evolved through the story, though perhaps it could have used another character continuously present to antagonize?

Effect: If you want to be emotionless and not get attached, this isn’t for you. The characters seem to become your friends and the storyline lifts and crushes your heart with the ups and downs of the storyline – it’s impossible to remain indifferent.

NOTE: Sabriel MAY be coming soon in movie form!