Sabriel by Garth Nix

Series: The Abhorsen Trilogy Book 1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 395

For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world.

Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful --- and perhaps malevolent --- spirit, and Touchstone, a Charter-Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories.

With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three of them must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death --- and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.

Nix takes a familiar quest/journey storyline and gives it a very unique flavour. I really enjoyed this dark fantasy but it did take me a while to read, I put it down and picked it up a number of times. Parts of the novel were a bit slow, but that may have been because it was an involved read with quite a few new concepts for me. (I actually read this 12 months ago, reviewed it but never posted. I think this would be a quicker read now as I've read so much more in the fantasy genre.)

The setting of 'Sabriel' moves from Ancelstierre, a modern society to the Old Kingdom a world of free magic. 18 year old Sabriel becomes the next Abhorsen, a challenging & dangerous job protecting the living from the dead, when her father is trapped in 'death' by a powerful, evil opponent.

Nix's magic system was enthralling - free magic; unbound, chaotic, dangerous magic & charter magic; used by Charter Mages, all those bearing a baptismal charter mark on their forehead. This was also my first involved reading about necromancers (usually free magic sorcerers who summon and control the dead with seven bells.) However the Abhorsen family necromancers use the bells to defeat the dead who won't stay dead and force them to return to 'Death' beyond the 9th gate, the point of no return.

I loved the description of the seven bells & their powers and the nine gates & precincts of death. I also loved the ending; it wasn't a 'get out of jail free' ending. You might think from all the mentions of death, dead, undead, raising dead, defeating the dead, that this is a dark, horror read but it isn't like that at all. Yes there are a few bits that are not for the squeamish and there are some concepts that are a little confronting but I didn't find it a dark, depressing read, the magic more than negates any nasties. I'm definitely intrigued so I'll be continuing on with the next book in the trilogy, Lirael.

Australian author Garth Nix has a fantastic website for The Abhorsen Trilogy which explains much about this unique fantasy world.

To celebrate my 1st Blogoversary two lucky readers can take their pick from a choice of 6 books in this month's spookalicious competition. Check this blog post for details. International entrants welcome.