Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2507 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
This may be the first book of yet another "cross-over" fantasy trilogy--theoretically equally appealing to both children and adult readers--but thankfully Sabriel has enough verve and panache about it to reach just such a wide readership and to ensure that author Garth Nix has created a bandwagon all of his own. Constantly rich and meaty, the story is intriguing from the off. Page by page the tension builds and draws you into a highly imaginative landscape that has familiarity and originality in equal measures.

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

Publishers Weekly
"Rich, complex, involving, hard to put down, this first novel is excellent high fantasy."

Philip Pullman
"Here is a world with the same solidity and four-dimensional authority as our own, created with invention, clarity and intellience."

Customer Reviews

Excellent Traditional Fantasy with a Difference
I came across this book later in its history, as a fantasy & science fiction fan of some 30 years. Favourite books being Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Dune etc.

Sabriel isn't really like those books at all and not just `cause it's (allegedly) written for young teenagers.

It's different due to its more downbeat and sombre tone and the feeling that the evil forces might actually win.

It does remind me a little of C.J. Cherryh's "Chronicles of Morgaine" in that it has a totally believable & completely un-stereotypical heroine (Sabriel) and with a similar down beat tale of a dying world.

The book is also a little like Harry Potter in that there is some magic in the `real' world but there is another world next to it were magic is much more in evidence, with characters moving between both worlds.

This world is full of danger and unpleasantness and Nix does a really good job of drawing the reader into this nightmare world, where the dead's threatening presence prevails even when not specifically mentioned in the text.

The characters are interesting and well drawn, being recognisable and likeable (on the good side) with very human failings.

Essentially the story is the standard fantasy Good v Evil, with magic, demons, enchanted swords etc etc but Nix creates such a believable world that it all seems new and fresh.

The writing is good, moving the plot along at a pace that really encourages turning the pages. The two worlds - the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre are sketched in just enough detail and the book contains enough new ideas and unfinished business to make the remainder of the trilogy as essential reading as the first.

100% recommended to adults & children aged 11 ish and older.

Not enough depth for adults
I agree about the severe lack of character development. The story is OK, but it lacks the depth of Pullman and Rowling. It was OK and a pleasant enough read, but I wasn't able to engage with it enough in order to want to read the sequels.

A MUST read
This trilogy can be summed up in one word: unforgettable. I finished the trilogy a couple of months ago and was both exhilarated and upset (as there were no more books in the series). If you love to read you should definately get this book, along with all the others in the trilogy (Lirael,Abhorsen). Im personally not particular fan of science- fiction novels but these books really are something else- in a world of their own. I couldn't put it down so I really cannot understand why some have rated it 3* or less. The only problem is,along with any first book, that it takes a while (a few chapters)to get you hooked but do not let this stop you from reading it/them. If a fan of the Northern Lights trilogy(Philip Pullman)then these books will definately be for you as they are similar in quality. There is no doubt in my mind that this book, and the others, deserve 5*.