Clariel

Garth Nix — 2014

Clariel is the daughter of one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen, and to the King. When her family moves to the city of Belisaere, Clariel finds herself at the centre of sorcery and intrigue: a plot is brewing against the old and withdrawn King Orrikan; her parents want to marry her off to a killer; and a dangerous Free Magic creature is loose in the city. 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 of power, escape the unwanted marriage and save the King? Set approximately six hundred years before the birth of Sabriel, 'Clariel' will delight Old Kingdom fans as well as new readers hungry for epic fantasy adventure. 'Beautifully written, magnificently imagined, and wholly original, 'Clariel' is Garth Nix's finest work yet.' - Holly Black, 'New York Times' bestselling author of 'The Coldest Girl in Coldtown' 'In this long-awaited prequel, Garth Nix shows us why his Old Kingdom books have influenced a generation of fantasy writers.' - Cassandra Clare, 'New York Times' bestselling author of the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series

Reviews

Charlotte Dann@chareads

Feb 6, 2023

Video review/discussion http://youtu.be/KipVcbWzKMM Talking about magical ethics, cartography and the beautiful lack of romance.

Tylar M@queenserenity

Jan 9, 2023

Knowing what this character becomes later on makes her motivations and actions in this book so much sadder, but it was missing something that the earlier books had. Clariel had no personality and all she talked about was the Great Forest over and over again. Also nothing really happened except in the middle and towards the end. Nix's next book in the series seems like it will be 10x more interesting.

Becky@afoolsingenuity

Jan 6, 2022

I was always destined to enjoy Clariel, because the Abhorsen series is one of my favourite fantasy series ever! It was one of the first fantasy series I properly read when I was younger and I adored it. Clariel is a fantastic prequel novel that is fantastic as it gives you an idea of what the Old Kingdom was like before the royal family disappeared and necromancers and free magic entities once more began roaming more freely. I loved that because I was always fascinated about what the world was like reading those books. I know you get hints, but you just don't give enough. I also loved about all the foreshadowing which occurs for the other books, although I did miss a lot of it because it's been a little while since I last reread the series. I kept trying to think back and recll and I thought I knew things but doubted myself. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the Abhorsen series and to anyone who is contemplating reading Nix's fantasy series, it is a definite favourite of mine.

Kaitee Tredway@kaiteeyaeko

Dec 17, 2021

I love the world of the Old Kingdom and Clariel does not disappoint. Anyone who is a fan of the Abhorsen trilogy will appreciate this prequel.

Ben Nathan@benreadssff

Sep 15, 2021

Really Good. Not on par with the awesomeness of the original trilogy. That said, it was fun and the characters were great. I now wait for the next with unabashed love.