Sabriel

Rating:
Summary: it rocks!
Review: This book was an exallent mix of reality, primevil spirts, death, and life. I thought it was one of the best books that I have ever read. The bottom line is that this book totally rocks!

Rating:
Summary: Compact, engaging fantasy that's not just for "young" adults
Review: Funny that a novel should be shunted into the "young adult" merely because its protagonist is, well, a young adult. Sabriel is a fantasy novel with a highly original and compelling background and a tightly-controlled plot.

Sabriel is an eighteen-year-old schoolgirl in the faux-English country of Ancelstierre, but her pedigree hails back across the protective Wall into the Old Kingdom, where her father is the Abhorsen--one of a line of necromancers willingly bound by the Charter of all good mages. She undertakes a voyage into the Old Kingdom when her father sends a messenger through the otherworld of Death to give Sabriel the tools of the Abhorsen: a sword enscorcelled by Charter marks and a bandolier of silver bells that command the Dead. This could only mean her father is dead, or trapped in Death and requiring rescue. As it turns out, the problem grows to be much more complex and dangerous.

The young heroine's quest doesn't take her far, or terribly long--her ordeal is over after some weeks of adventures bring her back to Ancelstierre. The world of Nix's imagining could support much more. In this way, the straightforward and engrossing tale of Sabriel is a small, perfectly polished gem, just as, say, The Hobbit is. Which is, these days, a young adult novel that will leave adults poorer if they do not read it. So let young Sabriel into your grown-up parlours; you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read over and Over agian
Review: I've read this book 3 times now i see diffrent things every time. I loved how Mr. Nix Decribed how things happened, or came to life, or Metamophised into something diffrent. I can't wait to read the next book called _The Clayer's Daughter_, I'm sure it'llbe a hit!

Rating:
Summary: About "Sabriel"
Review: Fantasy is a wonderful subject and this book has loads of fantasy!
Not only is the dead coming back to life, but they're making chaos and only one family stands up to it. The Abhorsens.
Sabriel, a young girl that has been ushered away to a boardingschool away from her home and father never really knew love or big responsibilities or that one day she'd be slaying the dead.
One day, her father doesn't come for a visit and a dead messenger comes with his sword and the sacred bells and all of a sudden Sabriel knows she must go into the heart of evil and slay the dead to save her father if he's still alive...
Sabriel, a daring, beautiful young girl with feelings and pains go with her "cat" Meggot and Touchstone, a prince.
The author puts feeling in his character and all of a sudden you're there! Fighting with the dead and trying to find the Abhorsen, Sabriel's father, while keeping the all-evil dead away! The first book that makes Necromanciers actually good guys, a beautifully constructed land with myths, legends, and the dead and a story of a girl who can thrive over the dead and truimph!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Necromancer's Champion
Review: Sabriel is the first book I have ever read that sheds a kind light on Necromancers and the craft of necromancing. Whereas many books portray Necromancers as scum-of-the-earth evil villians, Nix has created a truely wonderful main character. Sabriel is a wonderfully sculpted story that features wonderfully alive, animated characters who make you want to believe that the story is real. Though it carries dark overtones, the story does not depress you or make you think dark thoughts. It keeps you on your toes, wondering what will happen next. Sabriel is a character who earns respect right off, and has adventures that suck you in and hold you, (not that you would want to get away). Over all I would have to say that Sabriel is one of the best books I have ever read. I hope you agree.

Rating:
Summary: An Affinity For Death
Review: Not to give anything away, but the book is about a young necromancer who leaves her boarding school and travels to the land of her birth in order to rescue her father.

I first encountered this title as an advanced reading copy at a used bookstore. The cover was intriguing, but having absolutely no clue as to what the book was actually about, I was wary of purchasing it. I picked it up. I carried it around, gave it the guided tour of the store. I put it back, then picked it up again.

-I have found that the best books are always impulse buys.

I liked this book. A lot. I liked it so much that I went right out and bought myself a real copy. I liked it so much that I pestered my local public library until they bought a copy. A fantastic read!

Rating:
Summary: Very Satisfying - compelling plot and engaging characters
Review: Garth Nix has managed to write not only a rivetting and original work of fantasy but also an excellent coming of age tale. This novel seems to be classified as a piece of young adult fiction. It is more than that. The scope and depth of imaginative detail cast a strong and persuasive lure for ANY reader who wants to plunge into a very well written and convincing alternative reality. The world of charter magic and necromancy that Nix has built his tale around is a refreshingly original perspective on what is often a poorly conceived avenue of fantasy writing. The theme of death's gates as both protection and threat is marvellously explored. This is a very satisfying read on all levels. It can be read as a simple tale of a journey, through to a mature exploration of need, trust and self. Sabriel's world is containment of fantasy, wonder, dread and engagement. I've just enjoyed it for the fourth time in two years - what more can I say ?

Rating:
Summary: Inventive potential but weighed down by standard plot
Review: _Sabriel_ by Garth Nix showed a good inventiveness in combining 2 cultural styles: medieval fantasy and turn of the century Britain as the cultures that inhabit two sides of the Wall - where magic and the dead are close at hand. Nix did well in adding new style to the coming of age tale of an 18 year old necromancer by creating a mythic structure of the dead and living's relationships. Usually in high fantasy dealers of the dead are a gruesome lot but Nix differentiates between those who deal with the dead for personal power and those who deal in it for duty sakes. One already knows which group our heroine belongs to. Sabriel and her family are exterminators of the dead. 'Pesky person won't stay dead? Call the Abhorsen - the dead will stay dead'. The better characters were the minor ones especially the cat, Mogget. Overall, high points for the inventiveness.

Now for the unpleasantness. I am afraid that the inventive world of _Sabriel_ is hampered by an all too conventional plot. Yes, the quest motif is standard and rescuing one's father is not a bad one, but the standard rescuing of the bastard prince, and the oh so expected romance was a bit tiresome. It was a nice way to tie up the plot but it showed a certain lack of development. _Sabriel_ is part of the fantasy genre that is good for coming of age and intro to fantasy, such as, McCaffrey's Harper Hall trilogy but like a bon bon it is pleasant but forgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book--evocative, provocative, haunting
Review: This is a great book, in a wonderfully realized universe, which really captures the mind & heart. The world, the society, the characters the magic, necromancy and other worlds are well developed, well thought out, well written and original. This book is unusual, it is thoughtful, original and imiginative. Best of all, it is a lot of fun to read! I loved the characters, & I really like the bells a lot (no, I am not alluding to Poe); if you want to understand the reference, read the book!

Rating:
Summary: God, I read this book, as was stuck in awe, a definite buy!
Review: I read Sabriel by Garth Nix, and it ias about a necro-macer, and his daughters journey to save him and the whole country. Buy this book, and the others to, they are just as spectacular!!!!!!! Kudos for you Mr. Nix! Signed, Lynn Seay Bentonville Arkansas, future Journalist for magazines and newspapers, you can say you knew me when!