Sabriel

Rating:
Summary: Complex and intriguing fantasy
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book for a number of reasons.

First, Sabriel's world was fleshed out in enough detail to provide a clear picture without being overwhelming. Too often, fantasy for the younger set provides too little detail (making it hard for the reader to use her imagination to fill in the blanks), or too much (making it hard for the reader to keep track of plotlines and characters). Garth Nix describes the colors, patterns, weather, atmosphere, smells, tastes and peculiarities of the Old Kingdom perfectly, providing enough information to satisfy the reader's curiosity and make the action coherent without becoming a book that simply describes another world. Providing just enough information as is necessary to explain the story, the Old Kingdom is gradually and matter-of-factly revealed as a wild place ruled by old and complicated magic, where electricity and machines don't work, where non-human creatures exist, and where Death is a physical place that can be visited. Details are mostly limited to things that bear directly on Sabriel's story, while at the same time suggesting there is much more to tell. This gives the sense that Garth Nix has created a complete history for the Old Kingdom, one that spans thousands of years and contains thousands of stories. Nix creates a satisfyingly three-dimensional fantasy world.

Second, I love books about capable women, especially capable young women. Sabriel's job is to move back and forth between Life and Death and make sure the Dead stay properly dead. Not a job for a coward.

Third, the plot was familiar (good v. evil) but the setting was completely original, and the back story was well established. so although you suspect Sabriel will triumph in the end, you have NO idea how she's going to manage it. The rules of Charter Magic and Sabriel's seven bells are incredibly imaginative, and the rituals described in such matter-of-fact detail that you almost forget it's fiction.

Fourth, it's dark. I appreciate a good scary story, and some books for the younger set are a little too "safe."

I also really enjoyed Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy for some of the same reasons, but I never quite saw them as children's books. I think kids (and adults) that started those and liked them but found them hard to digest because of the sheer abundance of weird magical details might really enjoy "Sabriel," "Lirael," and "Abhorsen."

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Sabriel is an excelent book. It is a hard to put down page-turner.
Sabriel is the first in a trilogy of books about Necromancy and Free Magic. The plot is well developed, and the charaters are personable. I highly recommed this book if you like the fantasy genre.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE GREATEST EPIC FANTASY BOOKS EVER CREATED
Review: This was just an amazing book...it's up there on my favorites, which also includes Tolkien, Pullman and Rowling...
This book, in my opinion, should totally be made into a movie. In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't gained enough popularity to be made into one. All I have to say is that more and more people should read this book...
I love the character of Sabriel; she's just amazing...Touchstone and Mogget are great, too. I didn't particularly like Sabriel's father, in my opinion he was sort of strange but I guess that's what happens to all Abhorsens...
IF YOU WANT MORE LIKE THIS:
1. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, all by J.R.R. Tolkien (please read them in that order!!!!)
2. His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
3. The Harry Potter books (especially the 4th and 5th-amazingly crafty and dark-love them!)
4. Sorcery Rising by Jude Fisher
well thats all,
Raeanne

Rating:
Summary: Sabriel
Review: 18 year-old Sabriel was raised in Ancelstierre and her dad, a necromancer, only came to see her during the holidays. It was during these rare visits that Sabriel read parts from The Book of the Dead, which is like a necromancer's Bible. However, Sabriel is not ready to become the Abhorsen and fight a Dead so great she never could have imagined actually existed. But when her Father is trapped in Death, she has no other choice if she is to save him from passing through the Ninth and final Gate of Death. By taking the necromancer's bells and her Father's sword, Sabriel is in for an exciting and dangerous adventure.

Since the book "Sabriel" takes place in this new world, it is a bit hard to understand the concept of Death and Charter Magic. However, Garth Nix pulls it off beautifully and explains these things without making the story boring and adding too much description. "Sabriel" is, in my opinion, an excellent book for fantasy lovers. Though it could be a bit dark at times, this just creates a scarier atmosphere. This is great book that might make you shiver in fright or disgust at times, but always keeps you coming back for more.

Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Read, a definate page turner.
Review: Sabriel is about a young woman that must battle the creatures of the dead and necromancers, all because of the death of her father. Now she is the Abhorsen, destined to live in battle all her life. She enters this world unknowinly, compared to her successors before her, learning of the house of the Abhorsen, of Mogget, and of the mysterious shadow known as Kerrigor. With Mogget, a free magic spirit imprsoned in the body of a cat to serve the Abhorsen generations, Sabriel must defeat what the last few Abhorsens could not. How will she accomplish this, bringing back the Old Kingdom at the same time?
With her talent, Sabriel shall rise to capture even the attention of even those who read little. Garth Nix has truely accomplished a majestic work of art. I reccoment this to all ages, whether child or adult or inbetween, this is one book to definately read. I have loved this book since I began reading it, many years ago and it has become an absolute favorite, right next to LOTR and In the Forests of the Night. As the first in the Abhorsen trilogy, it's a must read.

Rating:
Summary: A truly amazing book!
Review: This book i have read atleast 10 times over and over that my own copy is showing the gerenerous look of love. It is truly an amazing adventure from start to finish. Leaving you wanting more and more. I couldn't put it down the first time i read it, and since then i have suggested it to almost anyone who is looking for a great book. A Tolkien lover through and through I hold a special place in my heart for Sabriel. If you read any good fantasy book besides the Lord of the Rings it should be this. I promise, it will be hard for you to be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: An old favorite
Review: *laughs* I got into this book because of the cover. Seriously. The artist was the same as drew the cover to another of my favorite books, Wise Child, and the name intrigued me. So, I asked for it for Christmas my 7th grade year... and it's been one of my favorites ever since!

I've re-read Sabriel... oh, 3 or 4 times now and forced my friends to read it as well. Most liked it though a few found it too 'dark'. And for good reason. Sabriel is about Death, and the people who work in and with it, the necromancers. People die, dead things come to life, and blood is cruelly spilled.

All of this is made tangible through the beautifully wroght descriptions and characterizations, and all the fantastical elements are handled with such a normalcy that it is easy at times to believe there is a strange, magical kingdom to the north... where I would go in an instant if I could. Overall, it's one of the best written novels I've read in a long while, particuarly of this genre, and here I am a college student and still loving this book as much as I did the first time I read it, during classes even I was so enthralled. *guilty grin*

Read Sabriel. You won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly believable for a fictional story
Review: When I read this story I nearly cried. With her fathers ultimate sacrifice and the hardships Sabriel went through. I loved Mogget. He added alot to the story with his sarcastic humor and surprising actions. Sabriel was a very good character. Seemingly a regular teenager, well as normal as you can be as a charter mage in a city of magic and mystery, when her life takes an unexpected turn when finding her father becomes a journey of a lifetime that turns her into a responsible adult with the most important duty in the Old Kingdom. I loved this story. Email me if you did too!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Insight from a fan
Review: Don't you think that it is amazing that a school girl can change into an internationaly known hero? That is just one of the cool things about this book! SABRIEL ROCKS!

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This book was amazing. The reason I only gave it four was because it took a while to fully understand the book. A little confusing at the begining but then it all falls itto place. Great book,I would recommend this to anyone.