Garth Nix

Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.

Sabriel

Sabriel (adult)

Zahra

Nicholas Charriere

** spoiler alert **
           The universe created by Garth Nix is very cool, with adjacent worlds in unclear times, where technology works only in one, magic throttling it’s advance in the other.
The characters quest starts quickly and the tempo never ends, making this a very compelling page turner. The skills & initial inexperience of the main character makes her growth fun to share, and some of the thoughts around elements (particularly water) is creative and imaginative.
However, the story feels a little too coincidental at times, making it predictable and a little far fetched, even for the world in question.

Sabriel is sent as a child across the Wall to the safety of a school in Ancelstierre. Away from magic, away from the Dead. After receiving a cryptic message from her father, 18-year-old Sabriel leaves her ordinary school and returns across the Wall into the Old Kingdom.

Sabriel (Old Kingdom Trilogy 1, Abhorsen Trilogy 1)

tina

hmm was i not paying enough attention or was the magic system and worldbuilding just really confusing ?????

Game of Thrones fans will love the New York Times bestselling Abhorsen series. Sabriel, the first installment in the trilogy, launched critically acclaimed author Garth Nix onto the fantasy scene as a rising star. Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Abhorson, is missing, and Sabriel must cross into that world to find him. With Mogget, whose feline form hides a powerful, perhaps malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage, Sabriel travels deep into the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life and comes face-to-face with her own hidden destiny. . . .

Connor 

4.5. YOOOOOO. the natural feel to all the world building in this book is ASTOUNDING.

I will probably never write a full review but I just want it noted that this reminded me a lot of a Ghibli movie.

Sarah Escorsa

It’s a wonder I managed to finish this book since it bored me from beginning to end. The average book rating for Sabriel is above 4 so I guess I must have missed something.

I had no idea Sabriel had been written in the 90s and that might be where the problem lies. The ya fantasy genre has evolved quite a lot since then (especially post Harry Potter) and Sabriel just feels like it lacks… something. I don’t know what exactly but the story and characters are just not engaging enough. Worse, they feel completely flat. The characters’ motivations weren’t clear and character development was sketchy at best. I finished the book and felt like I knew nothing about any of the characters. I wasn’t impressed with either the writing or the world building and the book felt desperately slow despite being action-packed. 

Lots of telling in this book but no connecting with the story or characters. I guess this just wasn’t for me.

** spoiler alert **            Review coming soon! But I was I surprised by how much I loved this book!

Laura Kehoe

Katharina Hoffmann

I knew this book was everything I needed it to be when I started reading it. After just having finished a rather mediocre read, I was hoping for a book that would capture my undivided attention and Sabriel didn’t disappoint. 

The book launched straight into the plot without explaining the world and I just loved that. I enjoy the sense of being a little lost when I start reading a new book; it makes the reading experience more tangible and real and definitely more exciting. I kept going and the world-building happened as the story started to unfold.

I think that Nix invented an absolute fascinating and hugely interesting setting with awesome ideas: the separation of the world as we know it (called Ancelstierre) and the Old Kingdom where the un-dead and free spirits roam and, most importantly, where magic and those who know how to wield it, exist. The idea of having necromancers who can traverse the seven gates of death and who have bells as their most powerful instruments is so cool and unique.

Another bonus can be awarded for writing a strong, patient, clever 18-year-old character who is not afraid to go out there and do what has to be done. I didn’t know what to expect of Sabriel, the book’s main character, but she turned out to be really pretty awesome. She was interesting, just like the book’s other characters, especially Mogget and Abhorsen himself.

The great thing about this book is that it is NOT a children’s book! Some descriptions were pretty graphic and intense, and I loved that Nix didn’t shy away from including them. His writing style is unique, unlike any other style I have read before. It is very detailed, describing people and their actions in close detail without making a poem out of it and without indulging in metaphors. It is very down-to-earth, something that I immensely enjoyed about this book. In fact I had been looking for a writing style like his for quite a while now and I’m glad that I enjoyed my first Garth Nix book as much as I did.

Sabriel is so much fun, a great book with lots of action, an absorbing finale and characters you want to see and read more about. What are you waiting for?

Alexandra Mellas

The first novel of Australian author Garth Nix, Sabriel was first published in 1995 and is the first installment in the Old Kingdom series. 

A YA fantasy novel, Sabriel explores themes of magic and death, right and wrong, through an adventuring, superhero-like necromancer called the Abhorsen, who instead of raising the dead, returns them to Death. Protector of the Old Kingdom, one of the old blood, the Abhorsen travels between life and death to keep the dead contained and the living safe and free from corruption.

Sabriel, an eighteen year old, at her school across the Wall in Ancelstierre, learns her father, the Abhorsen, is missing and has sent her the tools of his magic. The bells, strapped in a bandolier across her chest, are the tools of a necromancer, his sword marked by charter magic like the baptismal symbol upon her forehead, mark Sabriel, like her father, as the Abhorsen. With her father missing, Sabriel must take his place as the only one who can keep Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom safe from an old menace.

What I liked: I've been reading this series for a decade, maybe longer, and I always fall easily into the story. It is compelling, magical and full of tantalising characters.

Sabriel is a strong and determined protagonist, highlighted more by her dogged determination than by outlandish skills or magical ability. Driven by a desire to find and save her father, so they might save the Old Kingdom together, Sabriel is easy to sympathise with. 


The world building is given enough detail to feel real and vast, but not so complex that a casual reader gets lost within the names, number of steps and types of moss in the woods. Even the magic that populates the world has rules and can be exhausted, making each win or loss more substantial than some fantasy realms where the protagonist is endowed with limitless power.

What I didn't like: I don't have many complaints about the book. Everything comes together neatly without needing to be tied in the perfect bow. I do find that the mythos of the Old Kingdom is fascinating and leaves me constantly yearning for more that has not and will not be fulfilled in this novel. In particular, there are many questions about Mogget that remain unanswered and which will not be answered until the third novel, Abhorsen. This means that while Sabriel can stand on it's own without the rest of the trilogy (and more associated books), you need to complete all three books to get a thorough understanding of the history of this book.

Bryony Trump

I really enjoyed this book, perhaps even more than I did the first time I read it, quite some time ago. It is a compelling fantasy with intriguing modern elements, mixed with a captivating world, detailed lore, and an edge-of-one's seat plot. I highly recommend this to those who love fantasy.

Melody Izard

I listened to the audiobook version with Tim Curry reading. I'd give him 5 stars. What a delight to hear him read. 

This is kind of a Nightmare before Christmas with a twist just in case Disney wants another strong female story to use for it's next full-length animation. Sabriel is smart, beautiful, kindhearted and innocent and quick with her bells. She is just as much at home on this side of the ninth gate as she is at her exclusive school and now she is an orphan and has seen a naked man. I might read Abhorsen #2 if the opportunity arises.

Maria

Isa s

I "read" this as an audiobook. My general impression was that it was OK but somehow I couldn't really warm to it.

I liked the whole concept of the Abhorsen and how they used bells. The plot was quite good as well, although nothing really special. Sabriel herself was a very pleasant protagonist. She I liked at once.

The main problem I had with this book was the fact that somehow I couldn't quite picture the world. Some flickers here and there, but in my imagination it was mostly only a grey mess. I just didn't get a real feeling for it and that's why I couldn't really get into the whole story. Without feeling the world and being compassionate for it, it's just not easy to really like a story.

Perhaps I might change my opinion when I decide to read the other books in the series.

finley 🍄

Kate

Emily

Megan Lapides

This wasn't bad, I just didn't care about anything that happened. I know the romance in this book was not the main focus, but it really bothered me. I felt like the romance wasn't there until it was suddenly there and it just wasn't believable. Honestly, I've already forgotten most of what happened in this book.

Olivera Mitić

I don't really have a lot to say about it, so I suppose I won't be writing a super long review.

Sabriel was mostly an okay read for me. It mostly read like a 4 star book and there weren't necessarily any moments where I was like YES, OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO GOOD. I liked the characters and story well enough, with Mogget being especially interesting.

But, somehow, this felt as if it was written like 20 years ago, which it was, but what I'm trying to point out is the lack of timelessness. Aside from the complex magic system and world building, the characters, the plot and the romance weren't too fresh. I felt as if I'd already encountered them in other fiction.

What threw me off the most when it comes to this read are 2 rather specific things:

Number one, and this is my fault, not the book's, is that I wasn't expecting the setting to be so modern in a way. I expected to be going into a high fantasy medieval themed world, but what I came across were cars, guns and electricity. This was what made me put the book on hold for a while, but I did eventually get used to it. 

*mild spoilers ahead*

Number two is something I can rarely tolerate in any kind of literature- insta love. Totally didn't expect it, but somehow it sneaked up on me and hit me right in the face, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth for the rest of the book. It might just be me on this one, since no one ever mentioned this in their reviews, but for me it felt too sudden. The same day Touchstone looked at her as a woman for the first time, he also realized he loved her, after only having known her for like two weeks. Like come on...

Oh, and the scene where Sabriel thinks she heard Touchstone with another girl in the guesthouse was hilarious and probably my favorite part of the book.

Yeah, that'd be it. I'm out of opinions for this one. I might check the sequel out, but that won't be happening for a while.

Tom Turner

A Good Start.

I liked Sabriel a lot, but I did feel it could have done with pausing from time to time. Allowing both reader and character to take a breather and reflect on the happenings of the story. Action is great, but you also need to be allowed to absorb what is going on. I felt at times the book was so fast paced that I didn’t pick up on key plot points or explanations. Saying this, I very much enjoyed the book, and will continue on with the series. I may come back and even re-read Sabriel at some-point and see if the hindsight of reading the other books in the series helps with the understanding and enjoyment a second time around.

Eleanor Martin

I was really enjoying this until the rather abrupt 'romance' element.

For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that treacherous world - and face the power of her own extraordinary destiny...''Sabriel' is a winner, a fantasy that reads like realism. Here is a world with the same solidity and four-dimensional authority as our own, created with invention, clarity and intelligence.' PHILIP PULLMAN..'Passionately exciting, full of intriguing characters and stunning scenery, 'Sabriel' is sheer enjoyment.' THE TIMES..'Weaving horror and fantasy into a rich, original story ... a powerful, gripping quest.' THE AGE..

Nikki K

i really liked the blend of the modern setting with the more traditional fantasy realm of the Old Kingdom, it was a change from typical fantasy!!

Elodia

Heather Killeen

Just re-read this over 10 years after I initially read it and it is still just as amazing. Even for our currently burgeoning YA genre, there simply aren't many that reach this truly stellar "Sabriel" standard.

Sabriel

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