Sabriel by Garth Nix is an entertaining fantasy novel for
young people with a strong female protagonist. Young Sabriel is forced to
battle the lord of the undead and his minion in order to find her father, save
the kingdom, and win the heart of the young man of her dreams.

Sabriel
is set in a fantasy world that has
strong elements of contemporary English life. Sabriel is a young woman studying
at a magic boarding school when she learns that her father, a famous
necromancer, with the title “Mage Abhorsen”, has disappears. Because she has
been given his sword and magical bells, Sabriel realizes that her father must
have crossed into the watery world of the dead. In order to save him, Sabriel
must find his body within one cycle of the moon and cast a saving spell on his
body. So it is Sabriel sets out on a journey to the Old Kingdom.
The Old Kingdom is a magical world filled with free
magic wielders – some good and some very evil – called “charter mages”, undead
zombies known as “hands”, and spirit trackers known as “mordicants”. At her father’s house in the Old
Kingdom, Sabriel is warned that her father’s enemy, an evil necromancer
named “Kerrigor” is responsible for her father’s disappearance. Kerrigor is
bent on
controlling the world and has been systematically destroying the charter
markers that keep good and evil in balance. Also at her father’s house she is introduced to her traveling companion
a magical talking cat named “Mogget”. Mogget is a free magic creature
imprisoned in the body of a cat and thus is the unwilling servant to the
Abhorsens. He will be quite instrumental for her journey, but she is warned to
never remove his collar. As her journey progresses, she also encounters the
handsome Touchstone, a mysterious young “Charter Mage” who is very silent about
his past. As the trio move deeper into the Old Kingdom
they meet a variety of powerful creatures including a host of the undead, the
evil servants of Kerrigor and the Clayr,
a mysterious clan of beautiful women with psychic sight but with no sense of
time. The novel concludes with a major battle between good and evil, the living and the dead.

Sabriel
is a complex fantasy novel. Like many fantasy works, it is filled with magical
elements (in this case magical swords, bells, and charter marks). The reader is
asked to suspend believe and wander through a world filled with the undead as
well as a world with fishing villages, army sergeants, and slow moving jeeps.

Sabriel is also significant
in the growing field of female fantasy heroines. She is strong, yet she has
fragile moments. She is a tomboy yet is well aware of what a nice gown can do
for catching a young man’s fancy. She worries about being wise enough to best
the chief undead but also whether she should kiss the young man of her dreams.
Like Harry Potter the work blends the elements of a coming-of-age story with
humorous moments.

Sabriel
is a tightly knit story. It is well crafted with well developed characters. I
must admit as well developed as Sabriel and Touchstone are I find the secondary
characters much more endearing. I loved the characters of Moggett, Colonel
Hoaries and the Clayr twins. Moggett is all cat. He is irascibly smug and
switches between being a friend or a foe as the mood suits him. The Clayr are
not the usual fodder for fantasy novels. They are the epitome of drop dead
gorgeous, some what flaky “valley girls”. It is easy to picture them flipping
their long shiny blond hair with a casually expressed “whatever.” Lastly, the
colonel is the stereotypical British officer ala Monty Python. He is thoroughly
serious even against outrageous odds and yet warmly paternal.

Garth Nix was born and raised in Canberra,
Australia. He earned a
writing degree from the University
of Canberra. He served in the
Australian Army Reserve in the Assault Pioneer platoon for four years. He has worked
as a book publicist, a publisher’s sales representative, and editor. He is now
a full-time author. Ragwitch (1988) was his first book. Ragwitch (1995) was voted
among the
Notable Books of 1991 by the Children’s Book Council of Australia and Sabriel
was the winner for the ‘Best Fantasy Novel’ of the 1995 Aurealis Awards. He
is also the author of Shade’s Children (1997); Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday (2003); and the five books of the Seventh
Tower series: The Fall
(2000), Castle (2000),
Aenir (2000), Above
The Veil (2001), Dark
Revelation (2001), and The
Violet Keystone (2001). Sabriel (1994) is the first book of a trilogy ‘The Old
Kingdom’ trilogy. The second
book is Lirael (2002) and the third is Abhorsen (2003). (The Listening
Library audiobook of Lirael is currently available and Abhorsen
will be available in April 2003.) Nix currently lives in Sydney.

Tim Curry
is a multitalented actor with staying power. Although he is best remembered for
his role as Dr. Frank N. Furter in the cult movie The Rocky Horror Picture
Show (1975), Curry won an Emmy Award (Peter Pan and the Pirates),
was nominated for two Tony Awards (Amedeus and My Favorite Year),
an Emmy and a CableACE (Death of Some Salesmen). He was also nominated
for two Grammy Awards for his audiobooks (A Series of Unfortunate
Events—Book 1: The Bad Beginning and Lirael). Tim Curry does an
outstanding job narrating the tale. He captures the personalities of the
characters and wonderfully portrayed them through a myriad of unique voices. I
must also congratulate him on creating a believably female Sabriel. (Cross
gender voices are not an easy feat for many narrators!)

Sabriel by Garth Nix is an engrossing coming-of-age tale
setting against the backdrop of magic and the undead. This excellent novel is
also brilliantly narrated. Nix and Curry are a winning combination!  This book is rated “Ages 12-up”. Note: Some
young children may have difficulties with some of the graphic images of the
undead. I
highly recommend it. Chilling!

© 2003 Su Terry

Link: Publisher’s
web page for audiobook

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at Dowling
College, Long
Island, NY. Interests in Mental
Health: She is interested in the interplay between psychology, biology, and
mysticism. Her current area of research is in the impact of hormonal
fluctuation in female Christian mystics.

Categories: Children