Sabriel

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!

Rating:
Summary: Award Winner
Review: SABRIEL won both 'Best Fantasy Novel' and 'Best Young Adult Novel' in the 1995 Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction. It was also nominated for a 1995 Ditmar (Australia's major fan award). For reviews and other info, see my website at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~garthnix

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Fantasy
Review: Sabriel is the kind of fantasy book that glues your hands to the book. It draws you in further and further as the plot undergoes bumps, surprises, and spectacular twists. At times it can cause chills to run up your spine.
It's about an 18 year old girl who is just graduating college, but she's far from normal. She dwells in the dark and dangerous art of necromancy. Her family line is one known as the Abhorsens, who unlike most necromancers, who raise the dead, put those that should not walk in life, back to death. When her father doesn't show up for his monthly visit, Sabriel gets a disturbing message from a dead servant, telling her that his life is in danger, as he is trapped in the dark depths of death, itself. Sabriel ventures into the mystifying and dangerous Old Kingdom, where she grew up when she was little, in search of her father. Sabriel learns along the way a disterbing amount of information about necromancy, charter magic, and the dark world known as the Old Kindom.
Sabriel finds more then she ever thought she would while journying through the Old Kingdom, including deep love, dark magic, and an unspeakable evil.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Read
Review: As a book lover, my teacher, who shares the same interests in books as me, introduced me to the series. I read Sabriel, and loved it. When I found out there were two more to the series, I couldn't wait to get my hands on them. To anyone looking for adventure and mystery, I recomend this book, and the entire series to you. Please enjoy, as I have.

Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining!
Review: I read this book, including the other two that follows, it is a great adventurous story.

Rating:
Summary: Can Fantasy Get Any Better Than This?
Review: Seriously. I do not know of any other fantasy series that can beat this. The storyline is supurb, and everything is described so wonderfully. There isn't much else I want to say, besides that if you are looking for the best fantasy/adventure book out there, you found it. Buy Sabriel, and the other two books, Lirael, and Abhorsen.

I loved it, and you will too.

Rating:
Summary: Truly fabulous fantasy--Top of the Genre
Review: I have No Idea how I missed reading this fantastic book for so many years!

If you like Robin McKinley or J.K. Rowling, you will like Sabriel, it is Better than The Hero and the Crown.

Nix's fantasy world is detailed and wonderful, his characters are utterly sympathetic and cool, his writing is enchanting, and the plot, while it conform to the expected norms of young adult fantasy, contained plenty of surprises.

(This is really only Young Adult fantasy in that it features Young People and doesn't have sexual content. Adults should read this, while the descriptions of the undead may make this book scary for very young readers.)

I actually started listening to Sabriel on audiobook, which I highly recommend because Tim Curry does a magnificent job with the reading. Eventually, I couldn't handle just listening, so I had to get a text copy so I could read on lunch break.

I am really looking forward to reading the next two books!

Rating:
Summary: Another Blah Fantasy Book
Review: This book was exactly what i expected it to be: Another blah fantasy book. It had almost no character development, so the characters were all one-dimensional. Especially Touchstone, I couldn't even imagine him as a real person. I felt absolutly no attachment to Sabriel, and had difficulty remembering she was female. There were some good opportunities for interesting internal conflicts (like the relationship between Touchstone and Rogir), that were glossed over or completely bypassed.

The magic had a few creative elements, but often fell to cliches. Like a previous reviewer, this book reminded me of a video game. See monster, fight monster, go somewhere else, oh no there is another monster, fight that monster, etc. There was no explination as to why the dead don't like the living, apparently being dead just automtically made them bad people, and so they went around killing people. You could tell that, in the hands of a capable author, this book could have been amazingly good. However, it fell short.

The reason i didnt give this one star, is that it actually carried your interest by sheer force of plot. There was enough action going on (See monster, fight monster...) that I almost enjoyed reading it. almost.

I came away from this book entertained, but not moved intellectually, spiritually, or emotionally. It didnt teach any life lessons (or any lessons at all), didnt show me a new perspective on life, help me understand a new character, didn't make me laugh, cry, or feel any emotion but some suspense (there would have been much more if i had cared what happened to the characters).

So, another blah fantasy book. If you like magic and action and don't care that the book you are reading is trash, read on.

Rating:
Summary: Refreshing!
Review: Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others

STORY: Sabriel, daughter of Abhorsen the Necromancer, has to journey into the Old Kingdom and Death itself in an effort to find her lost father and find out why so many towns are falling to the undead.

MY FEEDBACK:

My first praise comes from the fact that this isn't your typical fantasy. No elves or dwarves or other "cooki-cutter" elements.

Second praise is due to what the author calles Charter Magic. A form of rune magic, the author creates a form of magic that is powerful but also has its limitations.

Third praise is the world he creates is vivid and imaginable. The conflict between the living and the dead is nicely handled.

Fourth praise is because the characters were interesting. Sabriel the protagonist I was envisioning as a 12-14 year old but towards the end she says she is 18 years old. Either 12 or 18, she is mature for her age but I understood this to be because of her unique background and raising.

Final praise is due to content. Not overly violent or gory and little if no sex. Marketed in several book stores as a young adult fantasy, this was appropriate for teens. I'd rather a teen read this than the content found in the ever popular Drangonlance or Forgotten Realms books.

Overall, it was a refreshing read in the midst of the 20+ mediocre books I read last year. This book really hit a note with me and I'd recommended it to any fantasy lover...and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.