Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2205 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 218 pages

Synopsis
First of a thrilling fantasy adventure series set on the Dark World, where society is ranked according to its colour clan and the most precious commodity is light. In all the world there is only one place that ever sees the sun. A seven-towered castle built upon a mountain high above the desolate ice lands below. Tal is getting ready for the Day of Ascension -- a day when all the 13-year-old Chosen from the Castle of Seven Towers enter the spirit world of Aenir. Then his father disappears with the family's Primary Sunstone. Without it, Tal cannot enter Aenir and bind himself to a Spiritshadow -- a guardian being, both protector and friend. Tal tries to steal a Sunstone, but during his act of thievery is thrown off the Castle of Seven Towers by a powerful Spiritshadow Keeper. He falls down to the iceworld below, where he is captured by Icecarls. To save his life, he must team up with Milla -- a Shield-Maiden-in-training -- and offer his aid to the nomads. Which complicates his task immeasurably!

Customer Reviews

Gets better as it goes along
I've already read this entire series. I was in America a couple of years ago and bought all six books in two volumes. You'll be pleased to that whilst it is not in the same league as the Abhorsen trilogy, it does improve as Garth Nix reveals more of the back story about the Sunstones and the Spiritshadows and the past of the Castle of Seven. The characters develop more and you actually begin to care about them and what happens to them. I recommend that even if you're unsure about this one, stick with it, they do get much better

A good start to the series...
I agree with the previous reviewer. Despite wishing that it had as much to offer as the Abhorsen trilogy, the story was enough to keep me reading and I read the whole book in one day. It's much thinner than the Abhorsen books and I found myself wishing the series hadn't been cut up into so many different books.

The characters lack some depth. Milla comes across as a blood thirsty teenager, but i'm sure there's more to her than that and this will be revealed in the subsequent books. I doubt someone who can write Sabriel and Lirael so well (as in the Abhorsend trilogy) would give us a one dimensional female character now.

I've seen reviews of the second book and it looks like things rev up quite a lot. Shame we have to wait for October to have it published in the UK. I'm keen to know the next part of the adventure.

I would recommend you buy this book, but perhaps wait until more of the series has come out.

Update: Set 08 - I decided not to wait for the UK publication of the remaining books, so I bought them all in America and had them shipped over. My verdict? Not in the same league as the Abhorsen trilogy but still very good indeed. I read the remaining 5 books of the series in a week. The plots and characters develop very well - Enjoy!

Its reasonable..but not in the same league as Sabriel
I think its a decent premise, but it feels rushed at times and lacking depth. Also, I found it hard to feel empathy with the characters. Hopefully book 2 will beef things up a bit!