Customer Reviews
No depth and no soul..... - By: Naikeri Zhun, 04 Jan 2009 
Throwingin together a number of disparate elements (a boarding school, Magic, a girlin mail & armour carrying sword & skis, a bunch of Dead & a bunch of bells) may create the illusion of originality but doesn't necessarily achieve true originality. And I didn't find "Sabriel" originalin any big way.
On the contrary, it is so predictable, dull & flat that the whole thing feels like a huge number of cliches cobbled together clumsilyin a story without soul. In fact, both the story & the characters feel like cold, empty creations emerging from its very own Old Kingdom. The narrative is very linear -not that this is necessarily a bad thingin some stories, but here you are there pages & pages before the author, & the only hint at a change of perspective with the introduction of Touchstone is abandoned straightaway. The characters -all-are so uninteresting & stereotypical that by the end of the book I found them grating & wanted them to stop delivering bad lines (that, or be eaten up by Kerrigor). And the style... well it just seems to be based on a set of basic formulas straight out of a creative writing course, unsurprising, full of ready-made metaphors & comparisons following one after the other with metronomic regularity & becoming a somehow tiresome mannerism.
If there was something that I found remotely inspiring & intriguing it was the idea, the image of the Wall, the way it is depicted at the beginning... & yet, again, there are so many more awe-inspiring, memorable Wallsin literature (George RR Martin's, Kafka,s...) that Sabriel's is more a wall than a Wall & it doesn't live up to its initial promise.
It may be a satisfying read for younger readers but still "Sabriel" is nowhere near the fantasy worlds, characters, tensions & complexities of Pullman, Ursula K Le Guin, etc. I read this book very slowly first & very fast from the middle, but only because I couldn't engage with anything first & couldn't wait to put it back on the shelf later... & even though I am 39 & not 13, I have to say that I find a lot more depth & mystery, a lot more character richness, humour & originality reading the Moomin novels with my 5 year old, where we often find sentences that we need to read over & over because things are so beautifully perceived & written...and characters display such marvellous, defiant personalities. Being a different genre, the Moomin series is still a great example of how to round up a work of fantasy for children (and adults) without compromising its depth.
Excellent Traditional Fantasy with a Difference - By: MJ King, 26 Aug 2008 
I came across this book laterin 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 & not just `cause it's (allegedly) written for young teenagers.
It's different due to its more downbeat & sombre tone & 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) & with a similar down beat tale of a dying world.
The book is also a little like Harry Potterin that there is some magicin the `real' world but there is another world next to it were magic is much morein evidence, with characters moving between both worlds.
This world is full of danger & unpleasantness & 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 mentionedin the text.
The characters are interesting & well drawn, being recognisable & 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 & fresh.
The writing is good, moving the plot along at a pace that really encourages turning the pages. The two worlds - the Old Kingdom & Ancelstierre are sketchedin just enough detail & the book contains enough new ideas & unfinished business to make the remainder of the trilogy as essential reading as the first.
100% recommended to adults & children aged 11 ish & older.
Not enough depth for adults - By: M. Cook, 02 Jul 2008 
I agree about the severe lack of character development. The story is OK, but it lacks the depth of Pullman & Rowling. It was OK & a pleasant enough read, but I wasn't able to engage with it enoughin order to want to read the sequels.
A MUST read - By: M. Reid, 24 Jun 2008 This trilogy can be summed upin one word: unforgettable. I finished the trilogy a couple of months ago & was both exhilarated & upset (as there were no more booksin the series). If you love to read you should definately get this book, along with all the othersin 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 similarin quality. There is no doubtin my mind that this book, & the others, deserve 5*.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too - By: TeensReadToo.com, 13 Jun 2008 The first thing that hit me when I finished reading this book was that I should have read it much sooner. I'd been meaning to read it for the past six or seven years but never quite getting around to it--and that was a mistake. In SABRIEL, Garth Nix introduces the reader to a compelling fantasy world that comes alive through the actions of the title character & others.
The Old Kingdom is a place of magic, both Charter magic, wielded by those with some connection to the ancient Charter that bound magic to benevolent purposes, & Free Magic, the creatures that escaped the binding & defy the Charter. Free Magic is also used by necromancers desiring to defy the Charter by animating dead bodies. Only one person, the Abhorsen, combines use of Charter & Free Magic for the purpose of returning dead spirits to their final rest & dead bodies to their graves. As the Abhorsen's daughter, & herself Abhorsen-in-Waiting, Sabriel must learn how to use the Abhorsen's tools to venture into Death & bind destructive spirits so they cannot cause harm to others.
However, thingsin the Old Kingdom are becoming more & more dangerous by the minute, & as a result Sabriel grows upin Ancelstierre, the Old Kingdom's southern neighbor, close enough to the border that she is able to learn & practice Charter Magic, but far enough removed that she is ignorant of the customs & traditions of her home country. The story begins when eighteen-year-old Sabriel, about to finish preparatory schoolin Ancelstierre, receives a messenger from her father, carrying the bells & sword of the Abhorsen, a signal that he isin danger & requires her help. Sabriel must cross over into the Old Kingdom, a place she knows little about, & somehow find a way to save her father from whatever fate has befallen him before his spirit is pulled too far into Death. Along the way, she meets a fickle magical spiritin the form of a talking cat named Mogget, the traditional helpmeet of a long line of Abhorsens, & a former Royal Guard called Touchstone who has been frozenin the form of a ship's figurehead for the past two hundred years. Together, Sabriel, Mogget, & Touchstone journey through the Old Kingdom as they learn more about the necromancer who has tried to kill Sabriel's father & who will wreak destruction upon the land on both sides of the border if they cannot stop him.
Nix's writing is lean & easy to read, creating characters whose thoughts are clear & whose motives are intensely human. The relationship that develops between Sabriel & Touchstone is emotionally real & rich, & I enjoyed reading about all of their interactions. Even secondary characters are detailed & have personalities of their own. I was also impressed by Nix's concept of magic, which is deeper & more textured than the point-and-spell world of Harry Potter or countless other similar stories (although this book will certainly appeal to fans of the former class of fantasy). In the Old Kingdom, performing magic depends upon a deep knowledge of the required Charter marks, &in Sabriel's case, upon her mastery of the seven bells that assist the necromancer's trade by helping command the dead. This book is truly original--I have not seen anything like it before.
Reviewed by: Candace Cunard
