In its briefest summary, Sabriel by Garth Nix is a tale of two worlds and the girl who saved them. The Wall separates Ancelstierre (1930s England) from the Old Kingdom, where magic still operates – both legal Charter magic and illegal necromancy. Foremost in the battle against evil, the Abhorsen polices the Old Kingdom making sure that the dead stay dead. Only, no one is quite sure of the Abhorsen’s whereabouts when the story begins.
We do know, however, that the Abhorsen’s daughter, Sabriel, is finishing boarding school in Ancelstierre with top marks in magic. After a series of disturbing incidences, Sabriel returns to the Old Kingdom wielding her father’s bandolier of magical bells and heirloom sword. She discovers that much has gone awry and sets out for her father’s house. Accompanied by Mogget, the sleepy cat who is more than he seems, and Touchstone, a swordsman with memory troubles, Sabriel is hunted across the land as she begins a desperate adventure to save her father and restore the kingdom.
While the basic story may not seem terribly original, Nix simply excels at world-building and the craft of writing. The obsession with Death, which appears as a river that necromancers and the Abhorsen can enter as they please, will appeal to many teens. I enjoyed how each bell in the bandolier rings with an insistent and distinct voice. Sabriel’s wild ride from Ancelstierre across the Wall and through the Old Kingdom literally gave me goosebumps at times. This book builds tension quickly and whips you through a fraught (and sometimes frightening) story.
Acclaimed voice-actor Tim Curry narrates the audiobook, lending a lovely level of darkness and creepiness just by the tenor of his voice. The story of the Old Kingdom’s struggles continues with Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr, in which Mogget meets his match in the Disreputable Dog. The second installment introduces one of the best libraries ever invented — where the librarians have to go armed with daggers, whistles and ropes. The trilogy concludes with Abhorsen, which ties many seemingly disparate threads together into an original and cohesive whole.