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Sabriel [Paperback]

Garth Nix
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks; New Ed edition (6 May 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007137311
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007137312
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 12,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Garth Nix
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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

This may be the first book of yet another "cross-over" fantasy trilogy--theoretically equally appealing to both children and adult readers--but thankfully Sabriel has enough verve and panache about it to reach just such a wide readership and to ensure that author Garth Nix has created a bandwagon all of his own. Constantly rich and meaty, the story is intriguing from the off. Page by page the tension builds and draws you into a highly imaginative landscape that has familiarity and originality in equal measures.

Sabriel attends Wyverley Girls College in Ancelstierre (Nix's version of normal) and has recently graduated with runaway firsts in every subject. But her particular school has certain extra-curricular activities, like the learning of Magic, because of its proximity to the Wall which marks Ancelstierre's border with the Old Kingdom. Over the wall, life is very different and the use of magic is commonplace. Then, on the edge of death, Sabriel's father, Abhorson, sends her a cryptic message that means she must venture into the Old Kingdom and calm the storm that is brewing there, and which will surely multiply at her father's passing. Refusing to accept his fate, Sabriel inherits the tools of her father's trade and his name. Her new duty is to lay the disturbed dead back to rest with the help of seven powerful bells worn across the chest. Sabriel seeks her father's slayer in a mammoth journey that is hindered by dark magic, monsters-a-plenty and shadowy unsubstantial evils.

The narrative builds into a luxurious tale of good versus evil, with a re-assuringly likeable central character to take us through it all. Nix's writing is solid and well-planned, his prose convincing and rounded. Make a note to look up the sequels Lirael and Abhorsen in due course--they're unlikely to disappoint. (Ages 10 and over)--John McLay --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Sabriel is a winner, a fantasy that reads like realism. I congratulate Garth Nix.” Philip Pullman

“Fast pace, drama, vivid descriptions, excitement and humour… What more could you want?” The Guardian

"Every publisher thinks they have the next great children's fantasy writer. Harper Collins know they have." Nick Holt, AML

"Pacy, gripping and totally absorbing…I loved it." Wayne Winstone, Children's and Non-book Director, Ottakars

"An unputdownable book, completely fabulous." Claire Nuttall, Children's Fiction Buyer, W H Smith

"This 'good versus evil' tale is raised above the rest of the fantasy genre by the quality of Garth Nix's imagination and the beauty of his writing…destined to become a classic." Helen Davies, Books Etc

"Captured the mood of fantasy with such realism that I was enthralled from beginning to end, a really cracking story!" Diane Sinclair, Sales Promotions Manager, Askew's Library Services


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Customer Reviews

140 Reviews
5 star:
 (109)
4 star:
 (18)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (140 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Glad I took this one home!, 28 Feb 2004
This review is from: Sabriel (Paperback)
I work in a book shop and Sabriel grabbed my attention the second I saw it. However, I was a bit apprehensive as it was in the young adult section which also contains all the 'girly' books which, being 18 and hating them, aren't really my type. But I thought I'd give it a chance as there was quite a fuss about it.
I'm so glad I did! I just couldn't put this book down! Nix' book is definately in the fantasy genre (which i was delighted about) but it is also unique from any fantasy fiction I've read. Sometimes it's easy to get lost in a book like this but Nix has amazing talent at making you understand and vividly imagine all the ideas he presents. Much easier read than lord of the rings and much more compelling too.
But don't let me tell you how wonderful it is, go and read it!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Sabriel - the best new book in a long time, 5 Sep 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Sabriel (Hardcover)
As soon as I saw the cover of Sabriel I was intrigued, and by the end of the prologue I was hooked. Lovers of JRR Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Lian Hearn and William Nicholson will love this book too.

Sabriel, the heroine has always known she wasn't like the other girls at Wyverley college, for a start she has journeyed into death. As soon as she realises there is something amiss, that her father Abhorsen is missing and possibly trapped in death, she knows that it is time to leave the safety of the college and the New Kingdom. Her journey takes her back into the Old Kingdom, where free magic is commonplace and the dead are returning in numbers too great for anyone but the Abhorsen to deal with...

Filled with truly original ideas and a plot which increases in intensitity right the way through the book, it is a story which will keep you transfixed, wrench your heart out and leave you gasping for more. I cannot wait for Lirael and Abhorsen.

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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant new voice in Fantasy, 23 Sep 2003
By 
This review is from: Sabriel (Paperback)
Garth Nix’s “Sabriel” is striking in many ways. Initially, it’s just the cover – ooh, isn’t it nice? And the book inside? Well, perhaps for once judging a book by its cover is not such a bad idea.

That Philip Pullman graces the cover of “Sabriel”, proclaiming it to be a fantasy that reads like realism, is telling. Reading “Sabriel” I was reminded time and again of Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy, which is widely acknowledged as a modern classic. Both take place in a fantasy world only slightly removed from our own, both centre around a young girl as she grows into a woman and discovers love, and both are absolutely, breathtakingly excellent.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this a children’s book. Again, like Pullman’s works, that may be what it says on the tin, but Nix doesn’t pull any punches in his presentation. There’s no patronising and talking down to children in his prose – several times I actually wondered if he’d even attempted to use simple word-choice. Because Nix refuses to sacrifice anything which will take away from his story – he tells it the way he wants to tell it, which is unquestionably a good thing for readers everywhere, even if they occasionally need to fumble for the dictionary.

“Sabriel” followes the eponymous heroine into the Old Kingdom, which is gradually falling apart after the breaking of many Charter Stones (magic that holds the Kingdom together), using the blood of the royal family. Blood is very important in this book, as Sabriel is to discover – she goes in search of her father, the Abhorsen (a necromancer whose task it is to make sure the dead stay dead and don’t come back to claim the living world as their own), and on the way has to come to terms with who and what she is, now that her father may be lost to her forever. On her journey she gains both friends and enemies, and although very occasionally Nix strays into the fantasy cliché area (returning Kings and talking animals), his powerful storytelling just keeps the reader from losing belief in his world.

Magic plays a big part in “Sabriel”, but Nix doesn’t just use it for the sake of it. The magic comes from within the characters, and symbolically it is often only strength of character and the support of others which enables even the simplest spell to be cast. This book is very much about growing up, banishing inner demons and having to make your own way through the often cruel world. Like all the best “children’s” literature, there’s an awful lot more going on under the surface than hocus-pocus and big men with swords.

The only real criticism I can make of “Sabriel” is that sometimes the pacing seems a little uneven. It starts out with a measured pace, drawing you into the mystery of the Old Kingdom and Sabriel’s journey through it. These early chapters are intoxicatingly good, reeling you in as Nix describes his fantasy world. But seemingly within hours of Sabriel entering the Old Kingdom, it’s gung-ho all the way. Incident follows adventure follows incident for the rest of the book, which although engaging offers no moments of pause for any real character analysis or assessment of where the story is and where it’s going. It reads very much like an adventure film with one big explosion after another with very little in between. However, I’m probably making this out to be more of a fault than it is – I know I thoroughly enjoyed the book. In the great panorama of “Sabriel”, this is only a minor quibble. I can only say that Philip Pullman should watch his back in the coming years, as Garth Nix gains further, much deserved, recognition.

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