Amazon.co.uk Review
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
Review
The Guardian
The Guardian
Book Description
Product Description
Who will guard the living when the dead arise?
Sabriel is sent as a child across the Wall to the safety of a school in Ancelstierre. Away from magic; away from the Dead. After receiving a cryptic message from her father, 18-year-old Sabriel leaves her ordinary school and returns across the Wall into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery, her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits, Mordicants, and Shadow Hands – for her father is none other than The Abhorson. His task is to lay the disturbed dead back to rest. This obliges him – and now Sabriel, who has taken on her father's title and duties – to slip over the border into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the realm of the living. Desperate to find her father, and grimly determined to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead, Sabriel endures almost impossible challenges whilst discovering her own supernatural abilities – and her destiny.
From the Publisher
What is your favourite piece of clothing?
My R. M. Williams elastic-sided boots
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you want to have with you?
I presume a satellite phone is out of the question, so:
1. "The How to Survive on a Deserted Island Manual"
2. A knife or machete
3. A very large clear plastic tarpaulin
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Absent-minded writer guy
What time do you get up in the morning?
Usually between 4:45am and 7:00am depending upon my young son. Preferably closer to 7:00am!
Do you have any pets? What are their names?
No pets, unless you count the two swallows that are building a nest under the canopy above my office door. Maybe I should give them names.
What are 3 things you love about where you live?
The sea, the trees, the birds
What makes you most happy?
A cup of tea, a good book and my family around me
Did you like school? What was your favourite subject?
I sometimes liked school. My favourite subject was History. Or maybe English. Or Drama.
When did you start writing and what gave you the inspiration to start?
I started writing stories when I was six or seven, but didn't seriously try to write and get published till I was nineteen.
What do you like to read? And what book are you reading now?
I like to read all sorts of books. I'm currently reading a history of Venice by John Julius Norwich.
What was the first book you can remember reading?
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
What is your favourite TV programme and pop band?
My favourite TV program is an old one, Dr Who. My favourite pop band changes, but I guess my all-time favourite would be The Beatles.
What is your perfect holiday?
Taking it easy at a beach house on the NSW South Coast in late Spring, before lots of people go there
If you could travel back in time, who would you be and why?
I would like to be all sorts of people, but I wouldn't mind being a long-lived, healthy medieval king who died in bed at an advanced age, mourned by all.
What is your favourite food?
Sausages and mash
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Give some of it away, invest the rest in interesting projects like making films, or producing a play, or re-publishing some old books that have disappeared
What is your favourite sport?
Fishing
If you could be invisible for the day, where would you go?
The Invisible Club, though it's a pain to find and you keep bumping into people
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Where I live now, near the beach in Sydney
What is your ideal Saturday/weekend?
To be at home with my family, with no obligation to do anything or be anywhere
If you had 3 wishes from a genie what would it be?
That would depend upon the nature of the wishes. If I could make really big wishes for other people I would wish:
* For everyone in the world to be healthy and vigorous (and if that was too hard for the genie, then I'd try for all children to be healthy and vigorous)
* For all the weapons in the world to turn into flowers
* For everyone to be able to experience compassion and understand kindness
If the wishes had to be for myself, I would wish for:
* A really good singing voice
* Extremely good health for my whole family
* A small very comfortable castle on a large private island in Sydney Harbour
From the Back Cover
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…
'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?'
'Guardian'
About the Author
Garth Nix was born in 1963 and grew up in Canberra, Australia. After taking his degree in professional writing from the University of Canberra, he worked in a bookshop and then moved to Sydney. There he sank lower into the morass of the publishing industry, steadily devolving from sales rep through publicist until in 1991 he became a senior editor with a major multinational publisher. After a period travelling in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia in 1993, he left publishing to work as a marketing communications consultant . In 1999 he was lured back to the publishing world to become a part-time literary agent. He now lives in Sydney, a five-minute walk from Coogee Beach, with his wife, Anna, and lots of books. Sabriel is his first book for young adults.
Excerpted from Sabriel by Garth Nix. Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
And the disadvantage of losing her magic could possibly be offset by a lessening of her affinity for death and the dead… Sabriel was thinking of this as she waited, book in hand, half-drunk cup of tea balanced precariously on the arm of her chair. It was almost midnight and Abhorsen hadn’t appeared. Sabriel had checked the almanac twice and had even opened the shutters to peer out through the glass at the sky. It was definitely dark of the moon, but there was no sign of him. It was the first time in her life that he hadn’t appeared and she felt suddenly uneasy.
Sabriel rarely thought about what life was really like in the Old Kingdom, but now old stories came to mind and dim memories of when she’d lived there with the Travellers. Abhorsen was a powerful sorcerer, but even then…
"Sabriel! Sabriel!"
A high-pitched voice interrupted her thought, quickly followed by a hasty knock and a rattle of the doorknob. Sabriel sighed, pushed herself out of her chair, caught the teacup and unlocked the door.
A young girl stood on the other side, twisting her nightcap from side to side in trembling hands, her face white with fear.
"Olwyn!" exclaimed Sabriel. "What is it? Is Sussen sick again?"
"No," sobbed the girl. "I heard noises behind the tower door and I thought it was Rebece and Ila having a midnight feast without me, so I looked…"
"What!" exclaimed Sabriel, alarmed. No one opened outside doors in the middle of the night, not this close to the Old Kingdom.
"I’m sorry," cried Olwyn. "I didn’t mean to. I don’t know why I did. It wasn’t Rebece and Ila – it was a black shape and it tried to get in. I slammed the door…"
Sabriel threw the teacup aside and pushed past Olwyn. She was already halfway down the corridor before she heard the porcelain smash behind her and Olwyn’s horrified gasp at such cavalier treatment of good china. She ignored it and broke into a run, slapping on the light switches as she ran towards the open door of the west dormitory. As she reached it, screams broke out inside, rapidly crescendoing to an hysterical chorus. There were forty girls in the dormitory – most of the First Form, all under the age of eleven. Sabriel took a deep breath and stepped into the doorway, fingers crooked in a spell-casting stance. Even before she looked, she felt the presence of death.
The dormitory was very long and narrow, with a low roof and small windows. Beds and dressers lined each side. At the far end, a door led to the West Tower steps. It was supposed to be locked inside and out, but locks rarely prevailed against the powers of the Old Kingdom.
The door was open. An intensely dark shape stood there, as if someone had cut a man-shaped figure out of the night, carefully choosing a piece devoid of stars. It had no features at all, but the head quested from side to side, as if whatever senses it did possess worked in a narrow range. Curiously, it carried an absolutely mundane sack in one four-fingered hand, the rough-woven cloth in stark contrast to its own surreal flesh. Sabriel’s hands moved in a complicated gesture, drawing the symbols of the Charter that intimated sleep, quiet and rest. With a flourish, she indicated both sides of the dormitory and drew one of the master symbols, drawing all together. Instantly, every girl in the room stopped screaming and slowly subsided back on to her bed.
The creature’s head stopped moving and Sabriel knew its attention was now centred on her. Slowly it moved, lifting one clumsy leg and swinging it forward, resting for a moment, then swinging the other a little past the first. A lumbering, rolling motion, that made an eerie, shuffling noise on the thin carpet. As it passed each bed, the electric lights above them flared once and went out.
Sabriel let her hands fall to her side and focused her eyes on the centre of the creature’s torso, feeling the stuff of which it was made. She had come without any of her instruments or tools, but that led to only a moment’s hesitation before she let herself slip over the border into Death, her eyes still on the intruder. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
