Customer Reviews

The Abhorsen Trilogy

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For those of you who feel that dragons, unicorns, and bards are a bit overdone nowadays, this fantasy trilogy offers up a heroine who binds the dead with a bandolier of bells. The Geography of Death is lovingly delineated, from the prologue where Sabriel is born and dies and is rescued from the First Gate of Death by her father, to the third book in the trilogy, where the new Abhorsen braves Death in the form of a river, a waterfall, pools of black water, strange currents that suck the spirit from the flesh.

Sabriel herself is an English schoolgirl, recently graduated from Wyverley Academy with a "first in English, equal first in Music, third in Mathematics, seventh in Science, second in Fighting Arts and fourth in Etiquette. She had also been a runaway first in Magic..." A visitation from the Dead sends Sabriel on a quest through the magical Old Kingdom, in order to reunite her father's body with his spirit which is trapped within the Fourth Gate of Death. She has to do battle with a really nasty necromancer-Adept, and rescue a prince who is a bit of a figurehead at first but who finally develops into a memorable character in his own right. Sabriel is both helped and hindered by a very non-cuddly cat named Mogget.

"Lirael" is the middle book this remarkable fantasy series. If I ever die and go to fantasy heaven, I hope it resembles Nix's immense library beneath glacier and mountain, where each door opens into a separate mystery. In the catacombs beneath the library, Lirael discovers how to turn herself into an ice otter or a barking owl, reads "The Book of Remembrance and Forgetting", and duels with the monstrous Stilken.

However, "Lirael" isn't just about Lirael. Prince Sameth, heir apparent to Sabriel as the Old Kingdom's champion against evil necromancers, also comes of age in this volume. There are plenty of evil necromancers to go around. In fact, at the end of this book, it appears as though they are winning the war to turn the Old Kingdom into a kingdom of the dead.

"Abhorsen" is a direct continuation of "Lirael," with the ex-assistant librarian and her companion, Prince Sameth carrying on the battle against Hedge and the evil he is digging up at Red Lake. Although Prince Sameth was meant to be the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, heir to the powers of 'The Book of the Dead' and the seven bells, Lirael now takes up that role, and Sam seeks his destiny as a descendant of the mysterious Wallmakers, who built the barrier between the magical Old Kingdom and the mundane kingdom of Ancelstierre. The two will need all of the magic they can conjure up against an enemy that threatens not only the Charter, but all living beings.

The swirl and cross-currents of life gradually ebb as the dead pass through gate after gate on Garth Nix's nameless river--a river like Styx or Lethe that runs through each of our subconscious underworlds as a legacy of our water-bound gestation. It is an eerie experience to remember that journey of birth--only this time in the wake of the dead--in this marvelous fantasy trilogy.

Garth Nix delves into the dark heart of high fantasy in the Abhorsen Trilogy, three interconnected fantasies about a strange family of necromancers who lay the dead -- and forces of evil to rest. With detailed writing and nuanced, likable characters, this is a modern fantasy classic.

"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... and 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 new evil threat.

"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 a pal of Sameth's. Now Lirael has to stop the Destroyer before he... well, destroys all life in the world.

The Abhorsen Trilogy is a perfect example of dark fantasy, with its grotesque dead, magical bells, enchanted and shadowy beasties. It takes the trappings of high fantasy and lets us see them through a mirror darkly. Not to mention that the characters are likable -- especially the gutsy Sabriel -- and the acid-tongued animals and black humor add a wry spin to the fantasy stories. "Lirael" is a bit limper than the first and third books, since it takes a long time to get going, but it's still a worthy and spellbinding book.

Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy is a thrilling fantasy epic, and not to be missed by anyone who enjoys a little chill down their spine. A must-read for fans of fantasy and horror.

This is an adventure that will keep you on your toes. You never know what will happen. Garth Nix develops the characters in detail and describes so well that you can almost feel what the characters are going through. It is a well balanced series that contains just the right amount of adventure, magic, and suspense.

If I were principle I'd make this required reading in my school. But then again I might require 50% of the day be reading vs "normal" schools.

These books are beautifully written books and I own this copy of all three in one. Although I think I'm going to miss being able to see all three different covers, I think it will save me some shelf space.

The Abhorsens use both Charter magic and Free magic to send souls thru the gates of death and to bring them back too.

The Abhorsen uses bells to fight the evil spirits. There are 7 bells, I won't ruin the book telling you all their names and etc though!
In fact Garth Nix has had the bells made for charm bracelets and Abhorsen book lovers alike!

Pick this book up at your local bookstore and read it ASAP! I promise you it's worth missing out on your sleep!

Great characters and imaginative story line bring this trilogy together. The final book made me want even more. Good news is that Garth Nix is still writing stories about the Kingdom. Enjoy!!

My absolute favorite book of all time is the first book in this trilogy, Sabriel. The second and third books (Lirael and Abhorsen) are almost as good. Sabriel, the first of the 3, could normally be read as either a stand-alone or as the start of the trilogy. The 2nd and 3rd books must necessarily be read together. Sabriel is the story of a girl who is from one world, a world of danger and magic, but who grows up in another world, a place amounts to an English boarding school in a town only a few miles from the border between those worlds. At the end of her final year at school, a creature of death from the other world shows up with a bag of gifts for her and the message is clear- something has happened to her father and she must find him and learn if he is even still alive. She learns the truth about her family history and she befriends the talking cat Mogget and the mysterious Touchstone on her journey. There are powerful beings doing everything in their power to stop her and kill her. Lirael + Abhorsen takes place about 20 years after the events of Sabriel. The story focuses on other members of Sabriel's family and a new villain that is one of the beings left over from the creation of the world... the destroyer and he will not stop until he has fulfilled his namesake in both worlds.

I really enjoyed the trilogy, but it's my in my preferred genre of fantasy. This trilogy is great and throroughly recommended if you also like fantasy, especially young adult fantasy. There's tons of action, coupled with the coming of age stories of two girls which are quite compelling.

It's not as strong as His Dark Materials trilogy (which I recommend to everyone). I wouldn't recommend this to all adults regardless of their interests. I wouldn't even recommend this to all adults who are interested in fantasy, because it really does read like a children's book (things I know are supposed to be revealed in the end were predictable because of foreshadowing). I would however recommend this to all children.