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175 of 179 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Go across the Wall, 19 Jul 2005
Garth Nix changed the face of dark fantasy with his tales of Sabriel, Lirael and the gruesome enemies they defeated. Now he provides not only a novella in the world of the Abhorsen Trilogy, but several other short stories that he has penned over the years -- dark, chilling, beautiful and amusing.
After the events of "Abhorsen," Nicholas Sayre has decided that he wants to go to the Old Kingdom, to be near Sabriel and Lirael. Unfortunately, he gets sidetracked at a secret government base. Then a maddened official steals his blood to awaken a hideous Free Magic creature, which has lain dormant inside a clear case. Now the creature is on a rampage, seeking more blood to increase its power -- and Nicholas has no way to stop it.
That novella, called "The Creature In the Case," is the main draw for this collection of short stories. But it's also not the only one -- Nix includes several other stories: A pair of Arthurian stories, one about Nimue and the other about the Lady of the Lake; a man comes to the island of Lisden as its new owner... not knowing that he's been duped; and a young boy is enlisted by his grandfather to help save a forest from his greedy dad. Nix also shows off his more playful side in "Down to the Scud Corner," a hilarious spoof of those "choose your own adventure" books.
There are also darker stories in here as well. One story focuses on sex and death, as a young man tries to save the local girls from a lover who can call down lightning. And "Charlie Rabbit" is a surprisingly harrowing story about two boys hiding in a flooded building during a war. And the fairy-tale adaptation "Hansel's Eyes," while not unusually dark, has a rather macabre ending.
In all these stories, Garth Nix shows all his writing talents -- he's funny, he's chilling, and he's good at adventure stories and likable characters. It's wonderful to check out his earlier stories, and see how he has matured as a writer. But the main novella is perhaps the best of all, giving the underrated Nicholas a chance to shine. It also hints at possible future adventures for Sabriel, Lirael and their friends.
The stories are not completely even, since Nix wrote them at different times in his life -- apparently some of his earliest work, including a story written when he was six, were not deemed worthy. But apparently he's had his rich, detailed writing style for a long time now, best evidenced by the internal monologue of the Lady of the Lake. While a few like "Lightning Bringer" feel rather underfleshed, most of his short stories feel satisfyingly complete on their own.
"Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories" adds to Garth Nix's impressive list of dark fantasy. This collection is well-worth reading, for some chilling, vivid storytelling.
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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating insight into Garth Nix, 19 April 2006
I am a huge Garth Nix fan; I love his variety - for example the power of the Old Kingdom series to the relatively light humour of the Keys To The Kingdom series. I am not blinked in my admiration, I thought Sir Thursday could have been better as could the Ragwitch but overall a truly excellent author.
As a book, Across The Wall has been on my wish list for sometime and I just hadn't gotten around to reading it, I had read The Creature In The Case as a stand alone book some time ago so I couldn't see the benefit to reading this - thankfully I finally got around to it.
The bulk of this collection is dedicated to Nicholas Sayre and TCITC and is - for me - the most polished book in here. You can really feel connected to how Nicholas is growing with his new found power, infused as it is with the stiff upper lip that a public school life gives one. Whilst back in Ancelstierre Nicholas is battling his fears about the old Kingdom, he realised after some soul searching that the only way to conquer them is to face them head on - and return. His Uncle offers to help in return for spending some time at Dorence House with the secret department 13. However more than a few armed policemen and a jovial old man lurk in the bowels of the old house...
I loved the story for the connection it gave me to the Abhorsen trilogy and a taster to what may never be written but to what I truly hope will be. As I mentioned it does feel polished and is a real stand alone novel, the book is worth purchasing for this story alone.
Thankfully though, there is more. Much more - 12 more stories in fact. Some are quite a bit longer than others and they are so varied that I couldn't put my finger on one thread that runs through them other than that Garth Nix wrote them! I really enjoyed the Arthurian stories Under the Lake and Heart's Desire - I found these such interesting twists on novels of this ilk. As a previous reviewer mentioned, Charlie Rabbit is brilliantly, but harrowingly written, how we hold on to the small things in a crisis. I loved the humour in Down to the Scum Quarter and My New Really Epic Fantasy Series, the latter being frankly complete genius and I won't ruin any of it for you.
Overall this is an excellent insight into how the mind of such a great author works and as I am in the middle of the Keys to the Kingdom series it feels like an excellent reminder that Garth Nix is so much more than one character.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating insight into Garth Nix, 19 April 2006
I am a huge Garth Nix fan; I love his variety - for example the power of the Old Kingdom series to the relatively light humour of the Keys To The Kingdom series. I am not blinked in my admiration, I thought Sir Thursday could have been better as could the Ragwitch but overall a truly excellent author.
As a book, Across The Wall has been on my wish list for sometime and I just hadn't gotten around to reading it, I had read The Creature In The Case as a stand alone book some time ago so I couldn't see the benefit to reading this - thankfully I finally got around to it.
The bulk of this collection is dedicated to Nicholas Sayre and TCITC and is - for me - the most polished book in here. You can really feel connected to how Nicholas is growing with his new found power, infused as it is with the stiff upper lip that a public school life gives one. Whilst back in Ancelstierre Nicholas is battling his fears about the old Kingdom, he realised after some soul searching that the only way to conquer them is to face them head on - and return. His Uncle offers to help in return for spending some time at Dorence House with the secret department 13. However more than a few armed policemen and a jovial old man lurk in the bowels of the old house...
I loved the story for the connection it gave me to the Abhorsen trilogy and a taster to what may never be written but to what I truly hope will be. As I mentioned it does feel polished and is a real stand alone novel, the book is worth purchasing for this story alone.
Thankfully though, there is more. Much more - 12 more stories in face. Some are quite a bit longer than others and they are so varied that I couldn't put my finger on one thread that runs through them other than that Garth Nix wrote them! I really enjoyed the Arthurian stories Under the Lake and Heart's Desire - I found these such interesting twists on novels of this ilk. As a previous reviewer mentioned, Charlie Rabbit is brilliantly, but harrowingly written, how we hold on to the small things in a crisis. I loved the humour in Down to the Scum Quarter and My New Really Epic Fantasy Series, the latter being frankly complete genius and I won't ruin any of it for you.
Overall this is an excellent insight into how the mind of such a great author works and as I am in the middle of the Keys to the Kingdom series it feels like an excellent reminder that Garth Nix is so much more than one character.
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