Abhorsen – Garth Nix

What happens

This book concludes the series begin with Sabriel and Lirael. There’s another naughty necromancer trying to destroy the world, and various young folks have to join forces to stop them from doing so. It’s set about 20 years after Sabriel, and straight after Lirael, and stars Sabriel’s children and Lirael.

In the process Lirael discovers her true heritage, Sabriel’s son Sameth stops being a wuss, we finally find out what the Disreputable Dog really is and everyone spends a lot of time running away from zombies. It all ends satisfactorily, though not without some losses and a shed load of magic.

What I liked

After the rather drawn-out expository feeling of Lirael, this book gets back to the zippy ‘Oh shit, quick, run, there’s zombies coming’ feeling of Sabriel. The Ancelstierre boy Nick, who doesn’t believe in magic, is convincingly rendered as he struggles to stay in denial about the necromancer arch-baddy whose henchmen are all rotting zombies. There are more plotlines than in either of the preceding books, and the author skips nimbly between them, playing out various individual dramas before bringing everything together for an apocalyptic magical finale. It’s the most accomplished, nuanced and well-balanced book of the trilogy.

What I didn’t like

The quartet of Lirael, Sameth and their familiars start to grate after a bit, and some of the interplay between their familiars feels very laboured. Lirael’s parentage stretches ‘authorial convenience’ way beyond breaking point. The whole ‘who or what are Mogget and the Dog?’ mystery is stale by the time it’s revealed. But on the whole this is an enjoyable book.

Why you might want to read this on the train

You’ve read the other two and want to finish the series.

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Posted: February 21st, 2010 | Author: bookworm | Filed under: Fantasy, YA | No Comments »