Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Sep 23, 2008

Ceridwen rated it:

Often in fantasy, magic is either arbitrary or stupid. It's either, let me put this plot point/metaphor in a bag that can only be awakened after these ridiculously specific things happen, or the magic in Eragon. Even Tolkien, who of course rocks, had pretty lame magic. I mean, really, a ring of power? Does it come with earrings? Maybe a nice broach, one that looks like a cat or something? But hobbits would look pretty stupid walking around with the super-boss heavy-metal belt buckle of power, en More...

35 comments like (89 people liked it)

Mar 10, 2011

Lyndsey rated it:

This book really should have been exciting but I actually would have had a much better time had I just blared Monster Mash from my stereo and danced around like a zombie with chicken skin pasted to my face.

Jedi knight of the living dead!

I feel like this was probably really cool in the 90's and if I had read it then, as my pre-Harry Potter 10 year old self. I probably would have loved it. But now, my brain has descended into different forms of oblivion and I laugh vo More...

23 comments like (24 people liked it)

Nov 11, 2010

Suna rated it:

Alright: I was completely wrong about this book, for it sucketh not at all.

Mainly because of the incredibly clever idea of Sabriel's magical inheritance: She is a Death Witch. Huzzah and once more huzzah, because the Dantesque set-up of the Underworld is just brilliant, Styx-you-like and all.
It's clear what traditions, myths and legends are drawn on, but the result is lovely.
And how wonderful that Death is such a well-established and accepted concept in this story, with i More...

8 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Judith rated it:

When an otherworldly visitor tells Sabriel that her father has been trapped in the world of the dead, she has no choice but to leave her student's life in Ancelstierre and venture into the Old Kingdom to save him. There, in her father's absence, she must take up the mantle of Abhorsen, a necromancer charged with making sure that the dead stay dead.

Although she does not believe herself to be up to the task, Sabriel must make the journey, with only a mysterious talking cat named Mogg More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Moontail rated it:

Possibly one of the greatest fantasy adventures of our times, Garth Nix's first novel is a lush, magical, dark-witty adventure about a young woman's battle with the hideous Dead.

The story starts with a flashback in which a special necromancer named Abhorsen saves his baby daughter Sabriel from a creature called Kerrigor, in the spiritual river of death. Many years later, at an English-esque boarding school, Sabriel must take up her father's magical sword and bells and try to find out More...

0 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2010

Becky rated it:

If you don't know already, I love zombies. Because of this, I was really, really looking forward to reading this book. And I really enjoyed it.

Sabriel, the character, is a bit complex. One the one hand, she's 18. She wants to be young and pretend responsibilities don't exist. Unfortunately, she can't do that. Her dad kills Dead things, and is bound to complete this service at the sacrifice of his own life (the kind with kids, a wife, a dog, white picket fence, etc), and from a young More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 09, 2011

Annalisa rated it:

I found Nix's world where Sabriel is born to step into death and enforce the boundary of death and life very intriguing. The nine gates to death, the bells that control the dead, the different forces set to keep control over death, Mogget forced servitude, Sabriel's excursions into death, all very vivid in my imagination. It did take Nix a while to get into the story and at times I was confused by his descriptions, but when the story got intense, I found myself very involved and anxious for Sabr More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2011

Hiroshi rated it:

I had originally rated this YA fantasy at 4.5, but now find it a full 5 stars. Why the change? The world this book creates is so fun to think about. I'm delighted that the goodreads.com YA F&SF Discussion group is exploring this yarn as March's group reading: it's Nix's debut (jealousy!), and while it can stand alone (as it provides lovely closure), it's also followed by two other books rounding out a trilogy, which means I'll get to hang out in this world I love so well with characters so vivid More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2008

Terran rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 26, 2010

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

I shall write a wee bit about my thoughts on this book as I read, for I do not trust my foggy brain to keep up with them if I wait until the last minute.

*I like the juxtaposition of 20th Century (early) Ancelstierre with a medieval-esque world of the Old Kingdom. It threw me for a loop at first, how the prologue was very medieval (pre-Industrial), and the first chapter was modernesque. I was thinking, are they immortal or something? But further reading clears that up.

*I More...

16 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2009

Miss M rated it:

I've been on a bit of a fantasy kick lately, and Sabriel does not disappoint. The world Garth Nix creates is rich and expansive. It's darker fantasy, and the treatment of magic is much more deep and interesting than shouting a simple 'Expelliarmus!'

Sabriel is the daughter of Abhorsen--A man who is a 'Good Necromancer', of sorts. Rather than raising the dead, he puts them to rest. It's a daunting task, and Abhorsen is the only one who can perform it. Sabriel finds out that her father More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

Sabriel is at school in Ancelstierre when she receives a message from her father that he is in danger. He sends her his bells, the tools that he uses as a necromancer to send the dead back where they belong.
Sabriel must journey home to the Old Kingdom, where magic works, to reach her home and save her father. But danger lies in her path, and she doesn't know who she can trust.
Sabriel makes her way north, bravely wields her father's bells against creepy dead spirits, has a magic c More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Philip rated it:

this was a great yarn. i think of this trilogy as often as i think of harry potter. in some ways i like it quite a bit more. (of course it's apples to oranges - and harry potter rocks.) sabriel starts off dark though, and the darker harry potter books are better. (according to me) it could be because they are more developed. sabriel starts off dark. she doesn't take 3 years of hogwarts to get there.

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2009

Sarah rated it:

piece of trash. dont even bother starting this, i was bored the whole time. Its totally weird and what the heck. i never really got what they were doing and why they were doing it. I never got what the bad guys were. This book is confusing and so boring you dont even want to try to figure out whats going on. Dont waste your time on this, you have better things to do like hitting your head agaisnt the wall.

86 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2010

Kat rated it:

I picked this book up from the library and noticed stickers on the book declaring that it was part of a reading challenge here in NSW for grades 7-8.

"This book is acceptable to read for 12-13 year olds? Fuck me, can we turn around and go back to the library?" I asked my husband.

He shook his head and smiled at me. "Just try it. You never know."

"It's for twelve-to-thirteen year olds! No sex! No swearing! Minimum violence! I don't f More...

15 comments like (30 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2011

Milo rated it:

I took an extended leave from the fantasy genre; yesterday afternoon, I decided to come back to the world of witchcraft and sorcery. Highly recommended by fellow peers, I chose Garth Nix's well-known 'Sabriel'. Frankly, I was so impressed and drawn into the story that I finished it in two days and rushed to write an amazingly complementary review.

The plot was fantastic and fast-paced; there wasn't a moment I wasn't on the edge of my seat. Exhausting chapters of worthless garble is a co More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 25, 2011

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

Read this quite some time ago and have been meaning to get to the sequels for some time...so first I reread this one...:)

This is an interesting YA novel set in a world that is split. There is Ancelstierre, the southern Kingdom which is a technological society about at the level of World War I era Earth (that would be our Earth). It seems much like the UK (as they play rugby and cricket at the boarding schools). There is no magic in Ancelstierre. As a matter of fact they (mostly) rega More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2009

Libby rated it:

4.5 - I really enjoyed this book. It was a well paced and highly creative YA novel. The system of magic is especially unique and interesting. Sabriel’s magical abilities are channeled through bells. Sound and harmonics are a strongly woven theme throughout the novel. To me, it was reminiscent of the concept known as Music of the Spheres.

I have only two criticisms of this novel. Foremost, I was disappointed in the lack of character development in the main character. While I was More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2008

Virginia rated it:

you know how no matter how many times you have macaroni and cheese, it's still delicious? that's kind of how i feel about this series. it was a childhood favorite of mine, and occasionally coming back to it is like having a serious helping of comfort food. for anyone who's tried fried chicken, mashed potatoes and chocolate cake (like, ex. tamora pierce, phillip pullman, and yes, j.k.r.), and still has room for more, i suggest this dish to fill up the corners.

basic plot: sabriel is More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 24, 2008

Marci rated it:

I was trolling around the internet, looking for something to read after I finished the last in the Harry Potter series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, when I read a review of The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. This trilogy, consisting of the books Sabriel, Lirael, and The Abhorsen, received such high marks on Amazon, by adults and youth alike, that I thought I'd give it a try. I have now read the first in the series, Sabriel, and really enjoyed it. I've begun the 2nd, Lirael, and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 20, 2008

Hank rated it:

This book took me a long time to read. Not so much because it was dense, which some parts are, but because the detail was the right balance of in the moment and the world at large. So the world unfolds in pace with the story, which made it fun to visualize and rethink what had already happened in light of what you learn about how the Old Kingdom and the Charter work. What made it even more fun to read was that the world was just fleshed out enough to feel like it had rules and ideas that w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 21, 2008

Elizabeth rated it:

This is a story about yet another young woman who sets out on an adventure to find a missing parent, along with a faithful family pet, and a magic sword. But Garth Nix has managed to take a very well-used idea and turn it into something quite original, and certainly readable. I've read the series several times now and I come back to it because of how well he tells the story and what little twists he takes to make something new out of an old plot.

What I find particularly interesting More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 26, 2007

Kathy rated it:

Sabriel is the first book of The Abhorsen Trilogy. Sabriel is a young woman just finishing up her studies at her prep school. Her father lives “across the wall” in a part of the country where magic and undead creatures exist. He visits her when he can and teaches her the arts of the necromancer, for that is what he is. When her time comes, Sabriel will be the next necromancer, or Abhorsen. When her father dies unexpectedly, Sabriel is suddenly thrust into her role sooner than she thought. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 25, 2007

Iqbal rated it:

esti told me she read a book about anti-necromancers that fought to put the dead back into Death. at the time i thought, "hm... an unusual premise, since i dont have anything to do at the moment, i think i'll read it". and read it i did, and the second book after it, and then the third book. and a year after i read Sabriel, i'm officially a fan of Mr. Nix's. The Abhorsen trilogy is absolutely, undeniably, the best fantasy trilogy on my list. the pacing, the character development, the s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 08, 2008

Eleven rated it:

You know in all honesty, the only reason I haven't reviewed any of the Abhorsen books is because I just... I just shouldn't have to. You should just go and read them and know for yourself how amazing they are. Just go pick Sabriel up at the bookstore. Go on. Start reading just a little bit. Then when you get past the prologue, buy it and take it home. Brew some green tea and see if you can't order some curry or a pizza. Then just read it, baby.

It's a little slow-going at first, so y More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Oct 01, 2007

Kelsey rated it:

One of the best fantasy novels I have ever read. I was sucked in from the first sentence, and I wanted to cry when I finished it because I couldn't imagine what I would read next. Its a journey of discovery and heroism through a beautifully detailed world, with a strong heroine. To one side of the Wall the world is like our own, with science and technology and a country a lot like Britain. On the other side of the Wall is the Old Kingdom, ruled by magic and ancient bloodlines, where even time is More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 23, 2009

Kasia rated it:

It's got some flaws (like very slow start) but it's not entirely hopeless either. That said, I've made it half way through and called it quits. I'll second what Susan said "the heroine didn't have a lot to distinguish her, and some of the plot elements seemed overused (the prince thing really made me groan"). To those grievances I'd add:

- Cat sidekick! Hehe! Hhahahaaa!! NOT FUNNY Sheesh, a bit of a cliché, way to cutesy, and reminds me too much of anime crap.

- More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2008

Kendrawesome rated it:

Okay, forget almost everything that you know about necromancers, because "Sabriel" does away with most of the conventions, such as:

-Sabriel is a young woman, not a decrepit creepo old guy

-her familiar (if it can be called such) is not a raven or a talking skeleton

-she uses bells to communicate with the dead (and sometimes her blood, so that's closer to the lore)

Zombies are still zombies.

Still, I really enjoy Nix's writing--it' More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2009

Brandy rated it:

Brain's not working for a real review, but I will say this is one of my favorite fantasy series, and I was very glad when the kids picked it for book discussion. I "read" it on audio years ago (<3 Tim Curry <3), but I was glad to have the chance to revisit it. Yay!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2008

Susan rated it:

I read this on David's recommendation.

I have to say that I enjoyed it, but it didn't grab me to start with. The worldbuilding was truly original, but the heroine didn't have a lot to distinguish her, and some of the plot elements seemed overused (the prince thing really made me groan).

But this book really grabbed its fire for the last 1/3. The final confrontation with evil was nothing short of brilliant. It was tight, unexpected, and riveting. I couldn't put it down. More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

reviews