Author: Garth Nix
ISBN: 978-0007137312
Original image
Review:
Before I start this review, I’d just like to congratulate the author of Sabriel, Garth Nix on having the best name ever. Apparently it is actually his real name, which is pretty cool, and I think it really sets the bar high for any aspiring authors who want to come up with memorable pseudonyms.
Anyway, onto his book. I really enjoyed reading Sabriel, much more than I thought I was going to at about the ‘Chapter 2’ mark. This was mostly because the first couple of chapters are set in Ancelstierre, a much less interesting land than the Old Kingdom, which I’d been given a taste of in the prologue. It’s a pretty good job the prologue was there actually, because I may well have given up on the book otherwise, thinking it would just be set in Ancelstierre. It’s a difficult setting because it’s not quite Earth and not quite Old Kingdom and I found it hard to place in my mind. Nevertheless, once the story managed to get going into the Old Kingdom, I found myself getting into it a bit more; that’s when the magic and necromancy started really getting good. I thought the concept of the land of the Dead was really effective. It’s a simple system to understand, but manages to remain eerie and other-worldly which I think is quite a difficult balance to get right. I was also convinced by the end that Sabriel’s branch of necromancy actually required some skill, because at the beginning I was thinking ‘Bells? Really? Anyone can ring bells.’ (I’m aware I’m probably showing myself as being completely ignorant about the art of necromancy here, so apologies if anyone is offended by my stupidity.) In a nutshell, I think Nix did a great job of making ‘binding the dead’ cool.
Whilst there are some interesting characters in Sabriel, there aren’t actually very many of them. This isn’t because there are loads of boring, unnecessary characters; there just aren’t many characters in general. I wouldn’t say this is necessarily a criticism, it just means that a lot of the book is made up of Sabriel’s disclosed thoughts. However, out of the characters I have to pick from, Mogget is definitely my favourite. Although he’s frustrating at times, his sarcastic humour made me smile (I rarely lol at books) and I feel he’s a worthy companion for Sabriel. I was also very, very happy and excited when the character of Touchstone was introduced. The reason I was so excited? Well, sad, predictable and shallow as it is, I was crying out for a love interest. I’m actually very ashamed of myself for this and I was shocked at how easily I fell into the trap of wondering whether Sabriel and Touchstone would ever get together, but it made for an enjoyable read. Sabriel’s character was very well developed too, and Nix used the clever plot device of having one character who only meets her at the beginning and the end to demonstrate how much she’s grown as a person. Also, I never developed a strong dislike for her which is a plus for any main character (or maybe it’s just me that finds main characters get annoying, I don’t know).
The story itself was actually structured differently to how I expected it to be. There was an event a few chapters before the end that I thought would be the climax, but after it was over there was another climax. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but as a reader it really threw me off. If anything though, I think it helped make the final few chapters even more dramatic because I was ten times as shocked at every plot twist than I would normally be. The ending also left a suitable amount of intrigue in my mind as to what would happen in the two sequels. One question I really hope get’s answered: what was Sabriel’s dad’s real name? I shall keep you posted as to whether I find out this insignificant plot point.
ConscienceSarah
