Title: Abhorsen
Author: Garth Nix
Series: The Old Kingdom #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Fantasy, Necromancers
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Year: 2003
5th sentence, 74th page: And what part did his friend Nicholas have to play in it all?

WHEN THE NINTH GATE CALLS, WHO CAN RESIST ITS SUMMONS?

An ancient evil has arisen – freed from its subterranean prison and seeking to escape the binding silver hemispheres which prevent it from finally unleashing its terrible powers.

Lirael, newly come into her inheritance as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, knows that the fate of the world is in her hands. With only a vision from the Clayr to guide her, and the uncertain help of her companions – Sam, the Disreputable Dog and Mogget – Lirael sets out on her perilous mission. The answer must be found somewhere in Life or Death – but can a former Second Assistant Librarian possibly discover the means to defeat the Destroyer… before it is too late?

To me, Abhorsen is all about duty and honour; it’s importance and how difficult it can truly be to pursue such a calling in life. Saving the world from certain doom is a great calling, if you are not the one who has to shoulder that responsibility. Lirael grabs this responsibility and her birthright with both hands and clings on. The way that she takes on a world of pain and obligation that she never thought was hers is inspiring and beautiful. It is a great reminder of the ways in which we should all grow a backbone and take charge of our own lives and destinies.

Abhorsen, like Lirael, is very much a story about Sameth and Lirael. Sabriel and Touchstone appear occasionally, but it is Lirael’s footsteps that we follow in. Since Lirael is the character that I most identify with, this perfectly suits me. Likewise, Sameth’s new-found courage and place in life help to build upon this and the way that the two are able to relate to, and support one another is one of those great and seamless relationships that seem to only happen in books.

Throughout The Old Kingdom series, The Charter, The Beginning and Free Magic are elusive concepts that are briefly touched upon, but never truly explained. Abhorsen goes a long way to changing this, although there are no hard and fast rules outlined, the story goes back to The Beginning and allows a window into such a complex world.

This tale feels like an end of a series (which it was for a long time), so I can’t wait until I receive my copy of Goldenhand, and find out more about Lirael’s life after Orannis.

Image source: Garth Nix

Title: Lirael
Author: Garth Nix
Series: The Old Kingdom #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Fantasy, Necromancers
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Year: 2001
5th sentence, 74th page: But in the course of her regular duties, she often passed interesting-looking corridors sealed off with red rope, or doors that beckoned to her, almost saying, “How can you walk past me every day and not want to go in?”

WHEN THE FUTURE IS HIDDEN, WHO HOLDS THE KEY TO DESTINY?

Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. She doesn’t even have the Sight – the ability to See into the present and possible futures – that is the very birthright of the Clayr. Nonetheless, it is Lirael in whose hands the fate of the Old Kingdom lies, while Abhorsen Sabriel is engaged in conflict elsewhere.

As an ancient evil casts its shadow – one that opposes the Royal Family, blocks the Sight of the Clayr, and threatens to break the very boundary between Life and Death – Lirael undertakes a desperate mission. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, to help her, Lirael sets out upon a perilous journey and comes face to face with her own fate…

Lirael has long been one of my favourite literary heroines. She doesn’t quite fit in with her family, is immensely insecure, and is seriously struggling to find her place in life. Her multi-layered creation and the vulnerability in her tale pulls at the heart strings, and makes her all the more relatable to everyone who has struggled to find their place in life. From their teens to adulthood.

Not only does Lirael tell the story of its namesake, but it also follows Sabriel and Touchstone’s youngest child, Sameth. He is the epitome of a spoilt Prince. Whilst he isn’t a bad character, he is spoilt and naïve in his own talents. Like Lirael, he is trying to find his place in a world of expectations and political pressures. He’s still kind of whiney though, and it’s only towards the end when he faces up to his own sense of self and courage that he becomes more tolerable and admirable.

The complexities of The Charter and its creation continue to build in Lirael, and this, alongside the beautifully complex and intricate characters make it an unbelievably loveable book. This is one story that will sit on my bookshelf to be read again and again and again.

Image source: Garth Nix

Title: Sabriel
Author: Garth Nix
Series: The Old Kingdom #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Fantasy, Necromancers
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Year: 1995
5th sentence, 74th page: I will help lure others to you.

WHO WILL GUARD THE LIVING WHEN THE DEAD ARISE?

Sabriel is the daughter of the Mage Abhorsen. Ever since she was a tiny child, she has lived outside the Wall of the Old Kingdom – far away from the uncontrolled power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won’t stay dead.

But now her father is missing and Sabriel is called upon to cross back into that world to find him. Leaving the safety of the school she has known as home, Sabriel embarks upon a quest fraught with supernatural dangers, with companions she is unsure of – for nothing is as it seems within the boundary of the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life, and comes face to face with her hidden destiny.

I love that this is a series about necromancers – it is different and unique in a way that no other series I have read is. The binary distinction between life and death is echoed in the wall between ‘The Old Kingdom’ and ‘Ancelstierre’. The anti-necromancer, or Abhorsen, just made the entire tale all the more entrancing – partner this with beautiful writing and an entrancing storyline, and I dare you not to fall in love with Sabriel.

Nix uses Sabriel’s lack of knowledge and understanding to slowly feed through the details of the Charter, the Old Kingdom and the Abhorsen’s role in the world. This, combined with her innocence at the beginning of the tale takes the reader on an amazing journey. Her love for her father acts as a great driver in the story, undertaking a battle that she knows nothing about in his name. But, the character grows and as she does, so do her motivations.

The changes, both physical and mental that these characters go through within Sabriel are fantastic. Nix brilliantly takes the human’s psyche and places it under pressure, creating a diamond of a character.

Image source: Garth Nix