Author: Garth Nix
Genre: YA dark fantasy
Pages: Oversize paperback, 382
ISBN: 978-0-06-156157-3
Opening Lines: "Old Marral the fisherman lived in one of the oddest parts of Belisaere, the ancient capital of the Old Kingdom."
Rating
"Clariel is the daughter of one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen and, most important, to the King. She dreams of living a simple life but discovers this is hard to achieve when a dangerous Free Magic creature is loose in the city, her parents want to marry her off to a killer, and there is a plot brewing agains the told and withdrawn King Orrikan.
"When Clariel is drawn into the efforts to find and capture the creature, she finds hidden sorcery within herself, yet it is magic that carries great dangers. Can she rise above the temptation, escape the unwanted marriage, and save the king?"
~ Jacket copy
In the Old Kingdom, Free Magic creatures roam the country, the dead rise, two different magic systems vie for control, and the old is unwilling to take control of his country. Stuck in the middle is a young girl who--despite her relation to the King and the famed Abhorsens--merely wants to live alone in the Great Forest.
I first stumbled on the Old Kingdom series in a little bookshop off of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh back in the summer of 2003. My ex-husband and I had every intention of buying the new Harry Potter book while we were visiting Rowling's home country of Scotland. However, Sabriel caught my attention, and it was actually half price! I devoured the novel while we took trains across the UK. The concept was new and different. And I adored Mogget. In fact, a later D&D character was loosely based on him :)
It has been over 20 years since I put the last book in the series down, and I completely lost track of them. Imagine my squeal of delight when I saw Clariel at our local Barnes & Noble! However, despite my excitement, the reviews online keep me from digging into it right away . . . Many readers felt as though it lacked the magic of the original Old Kingdom series and that Clariel was a repugnant character. After putting down another dud of a book, I entered into this one with trepidation. I was completely wrong!
This book is hard to explain without giving away too much. It is full of political intrigued and shows the reader a different side of the Abhorsens, Mogget, and Free Magic creatures. It also fills in some intentional holes in the original series.
In response to Clariel and her attitude, she is responding like a teenager. It reminds me of Yoda's comments in Star Wars: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."
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