Abhorsen

Title: Abhorsen

Author: Garth Nix

Rating: 3 stars

Summary: The Ninth was strong
and fought with might,
But lone Orannis
was put out of the light,
Broken in two
                                     and buried under hill,
                                     Forever to lie there,
                                     wishing us ill.

So says the song. But Orannis, the Destroyer, is no longer buried under hill. It has been freed from its subterranean prison and now seeks to escape the silver hemispheres, the final barrier to the unleashing of its terrible powers.
Only Lirael, newly come into her inheritance as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, has any chance of stopping the Destroyer. She and her companions -- Sam, the Disreputable Dog, and Mogget -- have to take that chance. For the Destroyer is the enemy of all Life, and it must be stopped, though Lirael does not know how.
To make matters worse, Sam's best friend, Nick, is helping the Destroyer, as are the necromancer Hedge and the Greater Dead Chlorr, and there has been no word from the Abhorsen Sabriel or King Touchstone.
Everything depends upon Lirael. A heavy, perhaps even impossible burden for a young woman who just days ago was merely a Second Assistant Librarian. With only a vision from the Clayr to guide her, and the rather mixed help of her companions, Lirael must search in both Life and Death for some means to defeat the Destroyer.
Before it is too late. . . .

Review: The third book was kind of unnecessary. It would have been better to have just added the final battle onto the end of the second book, rather than have this big long journey and then the fight. Abhorsen was just Sabriel with different characters: there's a horrible ancient evil breaking free, we have to hurry through a long journey before we can defeat it. A dissapointing ending to such a good series.

Lirael

Title: Lirael

Author: Garth Nix

Rating: 5 stars

Summary: Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr's birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.

Review: I really wanted to continue with the story of Sabriel and Touchstone, but instead I was introduced to Lirael and Sameth, their story taking place fourteen years after the first installment of the Abhorsen Chronicles. At first I was annoyed at the absence of the two previous main characters, though as the book went on, I grew to enjoy these new characters better. Sameth reminds me of Shirley from the Icemark Chronicles; the baby of the family who feels inadequate and goes on a journey to save his kingdom. His older sister, Ellimere, is very similar to Cressida of the same series; they are the oldest, completely capable and can do no wrong, while their younger siblings are constantly making mistakes. This series has some seriously awesome animal sidekicks, the one in this book being the Disreputable Dog. After meeting Sanar and Ryelle in Sabriel, I wanted to learn more about the Clayr. I wish that the Great Library of the Clayr was real, because I would spend all my time there. At the beginning, the magic is more conventional (spells that make, break, seal, that sort of thing), though it gains necromancy as it goes on. I was actually surprised by the twist near the end. The next book is the last one, and continues right where this one left off. (We'll get to keep the same characers!)

Sabriel

Title: Sabriel

Author: Garth Nix

Rating: 4 stars

Summary: Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him. She soon finds companions in Mogget, a cat whose aloof manner barely conceals its malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories. As the three travel deep into the Old Kingdom, threats mount on all sides. And every step brings them closer to a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own destiny.

Review: This is a high-fantasy book, but there is a wall separating the magic world (The Old Kingdom) from the semi-modern world (Ancelstierre). Sabriel must battle the Dead, which are these shadow zombie things. The magic is mainly focused on necromancy: the powerful magic user is the Abhorsen (a necromancer); some can travel into Death, which is a river flowing through nine gates; the main enemy is an evil guy who gave up his Life for power and his army of Dead. The Abhorsen has a powerful sword, but mainly uses seven bells to get rid of the Dead, and each bell has a different power. I know that in another book I thought it was stupid when they just rang a bell to get rid of a demon, but this is much better. Each bell does something different, and they are very powerful. Using the wrong one at the wrong time would have catastrophic effects. There was a tiny bit of romance, but it was, thankfully, simply a side note to the story. Though Mogget can be annoying sometimes, I thought he was pretty awesome, because wise talking cats who are actually evil things are always awesome.