Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Into Death, 8 Dec 2005
Garth Nix delves into the dark heart of high fantasy in the Abhorsen Trilogy, three interconnected fantasies about a family of necromancers who lay the dead -- and forces of evil -- to rest. Humour, detailed writing and deep characters, along with a richly-realize world, make this a classic-in-the-making.
"Sabriel" is the story of a teenage girl living happily at a girl's school, while her necromancer father (the Abhorsen) roams around putting the dead to rest. All that changes when a sending brings her father's sword and bells, meaning that he is dead or incapacitated. So Sabriel takes on her father's duties, accompanied by a Free Magic cat and a mysterious young prince, and battles the specter of a horrible evil creature that is reaching out from death to snare her.
"Lirael" takes us to the cold citadel of the Clayr, a race of seers. Young Lirael is depressed because she doesn't have the gift of Sight yet, even though everybody else her age does. But things take a sinister turn when she sets a horrifying, bloodthirsty creature loose, and must work -- with the help of the mysterious Disreputable Dog -- to get rid of it. But what Lirael doesn't know is that the outside world is in danger too, from a sinister new enemy.
"Abhorsen" brings the series to an explosive conclusion. Lirael and her nephew Sameth -- along with "cat" Mogget and the Disreputable Dog -- are in danger from the Dead. What's more, the Destroyer Orannis has escaped from his prison and is being assisted by an evil necromancer and the Dead called Chlorr -- and an unfortunate pal of Sameth's. Now Lirael must call on her destiny as the future Abhorsen, and kill the Destroyer.
Garth Nix had only written a couple of books, one of which was an "X-Files" novelization, when the first Abhorsen book burst onto the fantasy scene. Now he's one of the most respected, prolific and well-liked fantasy writers in years, with his single books in print and two hit series for younger readers. But despite his newer works, his tales of the Old Kingdom are still his best.
The Abhorsen Trilogy is a perfect example of dark fantasy, with its grotesque dead zombies that occasionally lurch out to attack the heroes, magical bells, and shadowy beasties that can (sometimes) be restrained. It takes the trappings of high fantasy and lets us see them through a mirror darkly. Not to mention the brilliant concept of the Abhorsen necromancers, who have power over dead and/or magical creatures, and bind them with Charter marks and bells.
Virtually all of Nix's characters are likable -- especially the gutsy Sabriel and nervous teenage Sameth -- and the acid-tongued animals and black humor add a wry spin to the fantastical stories. It takes a bit longer to warm up to Lirael, since she spends several chapters in the same-named book feeling sorry for herself, but once she gets moving she's unstoppable -- and very likable.
Garth Nix gave high fantasy a dark twist in the Abhorsen Trilogy. Full of magic, darkness, death and beauty, this is a classic in the making.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
compelling YA fiction for adults, 17 Aug 2005
By A Customer
I bought this book cheaply on a whim, and couldn't put it down. Groan, then there was the wait for the next in the trilogy, Lirael, but it was certainly worth the wait. It seemed centuries before the third book, Abhorsen, made its debut, and that, too, lived up to the anticipation. So what makes this series so compelling? Complex well-depicted characters, fast-moving plots, a magical world full of surprises. Mr Nix's ideas are just so clever, and he writes with simplicity, of a world that he brings to life. Having said that, I haven't liked much of his other stuff, just this series. There are 2 worlds in which these books are set - one is magical with necromancers, standing stones of power, walking dead and talking animals; yet over the boundary wall (with its barbed wire, and concerned military) is a country reminiscent of 1940s England. The first and second books both have strong, introverted teenage heroines who have to learn their inherited powers in extremis before disaster strikes, the third book is very much a tidy-up of loose ends, and an answer to background questions, but, by the time, you've read the first two books, you are so sucked-in, you want to know. The writing in all 3 is superb. So, to summarise, good writing, good characterisation, but you need to read them in series order. Oh, Nix has since written a couple of others set in the same world - The Creature in the Case, and Across the Wall - A Tale of the Abhorsen and other stories
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than His Dark Materials, 30 Jan 2007
I'm going to go ahead and say it: these books are better than HDM. The reason is that at NO POINT do these characters ever turn into mouthpieces for the authors own agenda, and therefore they are far more convincing to the end. Sabriel is an exciting, orginal piece of fantasy - Lirael and Abhorsen togehter fully deserve the name 'masterpiece'. Not only are we presented with an intensely real and multi-layered fantasy world which leaves you itching to explore, but also truly human characters with quirks, strengths, fears and flaws (even the non-human ones). Mogget and Dog are brilliant creations, at one time the essence of ambiguous cat and loyal dog and also of unhuman supernatural semi-deities. I think that Garth Nix changed the face of children's fantasy with these books, opening the door to the cross-over audience in a way that no other author, even Pullman or Rowling, have done. Complex, welll written and perfectly paced, these books are the cream of the cream of fantasy fiction, and have a permanent place on my shelf.
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