Rating: 
Summary: Excellent work
Review: Garth Nix really deserves a 10 on this book. It's excellent. I really liked the Disreputable Dog, and also all the other characters. I'm really glad that I got this book, and I recommend you do too.
Rating: 
Summary: Sabriel was Better!
Review: Sabriel was a gem-and Lirael is...not quite as good as Sabriel. It seemed to be me as if the whole book was tinged with predictability. Lirael's so-called secret birth isn't exactly so hush-hush and readers, if they have read Sabriel before, can easily guess at her true lineage. Everything from her looks to her abilities to her platonic relationship with Sam hints at--well, I don't want to spoil it yet! And although I haven't read Abhorsen yet, I can almost guarantee that Lirael will have fond feelings for Sam's friend Nick. The ending was also disappointing; it left me with a sense of incompleteness and dissatisfaction. I realize that this is where the third book comes in but the skill with which Lirael was rounded off was lacking. The only reason I give it 4 stars is to save Sabriel face.
Rating:
Summary: a must read
Review: If you have read Sabriel and liked it then you must read lirael. I rate this book a four because it has a slow beginning but if you get started you wont want it to stop. If you have not read Sabriel it is better to read it before Lirael. Lirael is about a girl called Lirael who is a clayr and has lived all her life on a mountain. But she is different from the rest of the clayr and looks it. Soon she is made to leave and there starts her journey fighting evil and the dead and finding her father.
Rating:
Summary: Read this review... I'll try not to Gush too much!
Review: Oh where to start!
I couldn't possibly explain the plot of this marvelous trilogy, for it is amazingly complex. I will say however, that you should definetley start from the beginnning with Sabriel. As a teenage girl myself, I enjoy any books with a strong female protagonist. However, when that girl is just like me, but faces the dead, and kicks some serious butt- I love it that much more!
The trilogy takes place in a world a little like ours, but with a large wall drawn down the center. On the other is a dark place where people can cross into the dead. The Abhorsens are in charge of protecting the people.
For those that have read Sabriel, and our wondering about the sequal Lirael,you will NOT be disappointed. I like it more than the first, as the girl Lirael is a very complex and intelligant character.
These are those rare books you stay up late into the night reading under the covers with a flashlight. Where doing school you find your mind drifting back to what type of Sitch Lirael will get out of next, or laughing at the Disreputable Dog's jokes.
Oh shoot, I promised not to Gush too much.
Well, need I say more?
Buy the book!
Rating:
Summary: Even better then Sabriel!
Review: This was my favorite book in the whole trilogy. Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr is told by two main characters, Lirael a Clayr without the Sight, and Samwise prince of the Old Kingdom and son of Sabriel & Touchstone. The characters do whine a little bit in some parts, and seem a little too sorry for themselves, but its really a part of the character development.
Lirael is a 14 year old Clayr whom doesn't have the Sight, which is the unique gift that make the Clayr what they are. Most Clayr have the sight by the time they are about 10 years of age. Lirael is worried that she will never get the Sight and remain an outcast forever. On her 14th birthday she goes to work in the library. There she able to learn all sorts of interesting magic and things. I don't want to spoil things for you though, so that's all I have to say, other then READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: May surpass the first
Review: Garth Nix changed the face of dark fantasy (usually just horror with a prettier cover) with his instant hit "Sabriel," which provided fans with a unique magical system, a well-crafted alternate world, and talking animals that were anything but cute. "Lirael" follows closely in "Sabriel"'s footsteps, and might be even better than the first book.Lirael is a daughter of the Clayr, but she won't be a full Clayr until she gains the Sight. But now she's fourteen, and is the oldest girl to not yet have gained the Sight. After contemplating suicide, Lirael is assigned to work in the library. She inadvertantly sets loose a hideous Free Magic creature, a Stilken that will call other Free Magic creatures and destroy the Clayr. Desperate to deal with her mistake, Lirael calls up the Disreputable Dog (somehow made both of Free and Charter Magic) and soon ends up finding out more about her past -- and her future. Elsewhere, Sabriel's son Sameth is pursued by the Dead, and is almost killed in the process; the only thing he gets for his trouble is a threat from a mysterious necromancer. Sam is supposed to be the future Abhorsen, but the problem is that he's petrified by the things his mother handles easily. And he's helped loose Free Magic on a world increasingly torn by a mysterious masked necromancer... Nix takes the rich world he created in "Sabriel" and makes it even richer. It's a bit like a melding of typical high fantasy with an early twentieth-century setting (phones, buses, cricket matches, electricity, guns). Old faves like Sabriel, Touchstone, and Mogget appear here (although Mogget's appearance is a bit brief), along with new and equally likable characters. Some readers may not like Lirael as well as they liked the more self-assured, kick-butt Sabriel, but Lirael is in a vastly different position. Sabriel knew who she was, where she was coming from, and knew what she needed to know, while Lirael is only learning those things. She becomes stronger and more self-assured as she learns more about Charter magery and her background. The Disreputable Dog is a lot like Mogget, in that she's more than she seems and a handy source of info, but not as quietly menacing as Mogget was. Sam is endearingly unsure of himself, and is one of the few fantasy characters to be genuinely terrified of his "duties," not just apprehensive. His sister was the one character who fell flat; she seemed a little too "bossy princess." "Lirael" has the same balance of humor and horror as the first book. We have things like the bodies of refugees being turned into decayed Dead Hands, the clawed insecto-human Stilken, or just the aura of darkness around the Book of the Dead. But we also have funny things like Nick or the running joke about the Dog and food. The biggest problem with "Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr" is that it ends on a "to be continued" note. So be sure to have the concluding novel, "Abhorsen," ready while you read this book. Dark, funny, creepy, and immensely well-written.
Rating:
Summary: Just a cool book . . .
Review: Lirael starts off differently than where Sabriel ended, so if you haven't read Sabriel I think you'll pretty much understand Lirael. Throughout the entire book, there are two stories going, one about Lirael and one about Sameth. Every few chapters Nix goes from Lirael's story to Sameth's, and almost everytime he ends the chapter on a cliffhanger and I wanted to know more! It sounds confusing, but it's really not and he ties the two together very well. Overall, this book was just great. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I read and I never wanted to put it down! It is definately as good or probably better than Sabriel, but that's just my opinion. It may be too dark for younger readers, but I'd say 10-12+ are good ages to start reading Nix. Parents may also want to preview the books first depending on the maturity of the child. These are not like any other young adult books! Read them all; they're good for you.
Rating:
Summary: The second in a great trilligy
Review: The setting of this book is in the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre, from the fourteenth to the eighteenth year of the restoration of the reign of King Touchstone I. Many of the places introduced in Sabriel, the first book in the series, are revisited, including the Abhorsen's house and the river Ratterlin.
The two main characters in the book are Lirael and Prince Sameth, the son of King Touchstone and Sabriel. He is expected to take up the profession of his mother, an Abhorsen, protecting the Old Kingdom from the dead and their servants. However, Sameth can't even bring himself to open the book Sabriel has given him to study, The Book of the Dead. Just thinking about Death makes him shudder. How will he ever become the Abhorsen, whose daily occupation is to go into Death?
Every morning Lirael says, "No mother, no father, no Sight." These are the words that she hopes to one day say, "No mother, no father, but I have the Sight." Lirael is an orphan that lives in the Clayr's Glacier. At fourteen Lirael has yet to receive the Sight, the gift of seeing glimpses of the future, which each Clayr has. Most Clayr Lirael's age already have the Sight, but Lirael still wears the blue tunic of a Sightless Clayr. This is the story of Lirael's destiny, one that will take her away from the glacier and all she has ever known. Lirael needed a friend, a companion, so she decided to make a dog-sending. She knew it wouldn't be able to talk or help her fight the Free Magic Stilken, but it would be someone, not a Clayr, that she could talk with.
Making the dog-sending would take four hours, so Lirael waits until the Fifteen Sixty-Eight watch was called, the time when all the Clayr come together to try to see a future, to start her sending. As Lirael started saying the Charter marks she would use for the sending, she realized that she didn't recognize any of the marks she was using at that they all were powerful enough to kill her. Once she started smelling the familiar reek of Free Magic, she tried to break off the spell, but she had gone too far.
After the sending finished, Lirael saw, instead of a transparent puppy, a waist-high, black-and-tan, fully grown, Disreputable Dog. Lirael is surprised when the dog-sending is real, but her surprise is nothing compared to her surprise when she learns her destiny.
This event is important to the story because the Disreputable Dog helps Lirael on her journey, warning her, guiding her, and helping her make decisions. All-in-all, the dog makes Lirael's trip less frightening and more fun. In this story Garth Nix shows what you expect in life doesn't always happen. Sometimes it does happen, but in a different way than what you expected. Being prepared and ready to accept anything is a good philosophy in life. For example, take Lirael's life; things don't always go as she expects or hopes, but she is ready to accept the changes and make the best of things, even when it means that she has to change her life's goal. We can take Lirael's example and apply it to our own lives. Are we ready for anything to happen? Are we ready to accept the things that do happen? I completely loved this book, partly because it was the sequel to a great book I had read two years ago, but mostly because it has just the right mix of magic, suspense, and perfect character development. I am a great fan of magic books and authors who develop their characters well. This is the third book by Garth Nix I have read, and now, I'm a fan for life!
The only things I disliked about the book were the facts that it was way too short, and it took Mr. Nix an excessively long time to write it.I think that this book is definitely worth reading. The plot is well thought-up, the characters are perfectly drawn, and all expectations gathered from the previous novel are met.
If you like books with magic, or you have read Sabriel or Shade's Children and liked them this is a must-read for you! If this is the first book by Garth Nix you are reading, I suggest you read Sabriel first because it is the prequel to Lirael.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars and a billion more
Review: OMI!!! this was the BEST book in the world. Only Sabriel and Abhorsen are at the same level as Lirael. With so much to read you just CANNOT stop until you are completely finished! With the brand new creature the Dog you are immediatly surprised and taken in by the magic. It was so good but it poses so many questions. How did Arielle die? Who is Mogget? and such.If you have read Sabriel than you should most certainly read this. It is kinda confusing at first but that alone is not enough to take away from such an amazing book. ENJOY!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful sequel to Sabriel
Review: Garth Nix is a great writer! I loved this book. It had me just page burning and now I'm so glad that the 3rd book in the series is out because, well I can't tell you as you will have to read it yourself. (Plus I love the use of the Clayr vs the Claryoint!) Also the dog really does steal the story once he appears.
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