Sabriel

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: This book is purely magical and very hard to put down! The plot is unique and the story a fabulous new classic.
Its about a girl, Sabriel who's father is a Abhorsen, (necromancers) captured in death. Unlike other necromancers, who plays with dead and brings them back to life, the Abhorsen keeps the dead . . .well dead. Because Sabriel has the bloodlines of the ancient Abhorsen genes she also had the abilities to put the dead to rest (like her father) and she now uses her special abilities to save her father from death. To do this, she must cross over the "Old Kingdom" which is now no longer in peace. The dead is stirring and the young girl must do everything to save destruction for she is the Abhorsen, the greatest Mage of all, its her duty to bind things in place.

The story is truely awesome and I found Sabriel ability to sense death in any form, whether its leaving a body or coming back as evil, very detailed in feelings and adds a touch of "realness" to the character.
Our whole class is currently reading Garth Nix's books, Sabriel and Shade's Children.
I will deffiantly be following up on his other books!=)

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: I had seen both "Sabriel" and "Lirael" and had not given them very much thought. It was not until I was getting ready to leave for a trip to the Carribean, so of course I stopped into Borders for a book. I am education major and love to keep up of the books that I might use in the classroom with kids. So I came across "Sabriel" and decided that it was one of the books to take on the trip. I started it on the flight back and fell in love with the book. It is a great mesh of magic and thrill, along with mystical countries and peopeles. You are guided through a young girls coming of age as a necromancer. You follow the main character from her leaving of all that she has come to know and heading out into a world that is: 1). out to get her and a stop to her bloodline of Abhorsen, and 2). not the same as it was. Her fight of the undead and their controller is epically fought. Leaving readers to wonder through out the book if good will triumph over evil.

In general this is an excellent read. I would put it right on the shelf with the "Harry Potter" series, and the "The Golden Compass." Both adults and children can get into this fantasy book and will walk away wanting to read the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: a parent's surprized opinion
Review: Well--Imagine my surprize when I found out this book was mostly being read by teens & pre-teens! As a 40 yr old mom of 4 I can tell you this book is GREAT!! It totally kept my interest and I went crazy trying to find the sequel " Lireal" as soon as I finished it.
Fantasy lovers will enjoy it and the world Nix has created is intriging. You will find yourself caught up in the heroines life & world immediatly.
I think people of all ages will enjoy this book immensly!!

Rating:
Summary: Sabriel is Super!
Review: Wow. Garth Nix has really outdone himself. I picked up this book and did not utter a sound until two hours later when my only words were "That is the best book I have ever read" If you have not read this, you are truly missing out. You will LOVE this (and without Saraneth, who can control the Dead, either)

Rating:
Summary: Fresh and Original
Review: I'm surprised I haven't seen more reviews of the "this book is not for children!" variety here. I have to admit, I myself have been surprised to find this volume, and its companion, on the youth shelves. Some of the subject matter is quite grim, with a lot of death and dying, the loss of a loved parent and a teenager forced to become an adult far too quickly. Oh...on second thought, I really could have related to that from about eleven on!

18-year-old Sabriel has spent most of her life in the Kingdom of Ancelstierre, at a school just south of the wall that divides the south from the magical Old Kingdom in the north. When she receives a strange message from her father, she knows she must go "across the wall" to discover her destiny. The north turns out to be a lot more dangerous than she imagined or suspected: There is no Royal Family holding it together and some evil force is calling the Dead into Life where they prey upon the living and make things alltogether unpleasant. With the help of family familiar, Moggett, Sabriel must use her powers of necromancy to battle the evil and save the kingdom.

The writing is very stark and simple -- it took me only a couple hours to read _Sabriel_ -- but nonetheless clear and elegant. The magical system is truly unique; I have never seen necromancy treated in quite this way before, if at all. The characters and situations are believable, and the juxtaposition of fantasy and dark realism is moving. The fantasy Britain of _Sabriel_ is a place where both Magic and Technology exist but never the twain shall meet and somehow the treatment of this old theme seems fresh rather than reconstituted.

_Sabriel_ is a really good book, but it's not for anyone who requires sweetness and light. Though there is a levening of humour the overall tone is dark and the ending is ambiguous. If you like Phillip Pullman or Neil Gaiman, you'll probably enjoy _Sabriel_.

Rating:
Summary: page-turner suspense
Review: From beginning to end i found this book to be exciting in every page. i love the characters and even the evil enemies that sabriel has to defeat. vivid imagination on top of action made this book so great. i absolutly couldn't put this book down. so i give this book the best possible ratings cos it deserves um all.

Rating:
Summary: The best I've read yet
Review: I read the Harry Potter books and I loved them, then I found Sabriel and Lirael. Sabriel was the best book I had ever read and I'm not a reader, now I can't get enough. It's really good, suspenceful. I could'nt wait till Lirael came out now I'm just waiting for Abhorsen

Rating:
Summary: Got me hooked!
Review: When I read this book for an english class I thought it was going to be one of those books that so descriptive that it had no story. This was not the case. I wasn't supposed to read all of it but once I started reading, well, you could say it grabbed me. I imediatly went to find a sequil and I read that to all in the course of a week!

Rating:
Summary: You Can't Just Read It Once
Review: I have to say, as an avid reader, that out of all the fantasy books I've read, Sabriel is my favorite. The world that Nix has created is truly stunning. The rich detail in the plot makes it so that new things are discovered with every re-reading. (And I've read it enough times to know!) The characters are very well done, with just enough mystery behind them to leave you guessing. Lirael, the next book in the trilogy, is almost as satisfying, but Sabriel is definately the one you need to read to get the best of Garth Nix's skills as a fantasy novelist. An absolute must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Sabriel
Review: I have read lots of books and science fiction literature is my passion, I think it must be the same for Nix. In this book he shows awesome detail, and takes you on a thrilling and adventurous journy. The main charecters seem so real and their story is one I plan to read again and again. Sabriel is everything a reader schould want and more. A real page turner. I know from expirience, it will really take you.