Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Sabriel

(The Old Kingdom #1)

Garth Nix (Goodreads Author)

4.16 · Rating details · 178,629 ratings · 7,523 reviews

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.

With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen seri ...more

Get A Copy

Mass Market Paperback, First American Edition, 491 pages

Published September 30th 1996 by Harper Collins (first published May 1995)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Sabriel, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best "Strong Female" Fantasy Novels

3,401 books — 18,085 voters

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Best Young Adult Books

11,452 books — 79,490 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.16 ·

Rating details

· 178,629 ratings · 7,523 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1)

May 30, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of LOTR and Fantasy Genre

Shelves: fun-fantasy, australian-writer, kat-s-book-reviews, favorites

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 fucking think so!"

In the end, we brought it home and I sulked the wh 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 fucking think so!"

In the end, we brought it home and I sulked the whole way. However yesterday I opened it up and thought I'd actually give it a try and I'm really glad it did.

It actually managed to have more romance in it than Darkfever did, and that bloody book has NAKED people on the front cover, for crying out loud!

I thought this was going to be a story about a young girl on a magical adventure with a sword and a bad hair-do. But it turns out it's about an eighteen year old woman with dark, deadly skills being chased and hunted by a terrible and deadly enemy.

Sabriel has a good, clear head on her shoulder. She's smart, she's strong, she's a well-balanced and interesting character. The characters in Sabriel are all interesting and capturing in their way. Mogget was just pure win. He cracked me up. Touchstone was annoying at first but quickly won me over.

The world is interesting and complex, filled with enough creepy things that go bump in the night to really freak me out.

That's the best thing about this book. It's not TRYING to be a children's book. The rising action, climax and VERY short denouement had me on the edge of my seat. I was actually on the edge of my seat throughout most of the book.

In some parts it's really freaky and quite scary, in other parts it's sad.

This is the second male author I've come across lately that has written female characters BETTER than the women have been writing them lately. You can't even compare Sabriel to a character like Bella. Unless you were to really dumb it down into this: Bella - sucks, Sabriel - awesome beyond all belief.

Give this book a go. It was fun, scary, action packed and I absolutely can't wait to read the sequels! ...more

flag 584 likes · Like · see review

Sep 02, 2018 Miranda Reads rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook

3.5 stars

Death and what came after death was no great mystery to Sabriel. She just wished it was.

Sabriel and her father have a very unique brand of magic. They can communicate with the dead and the damned from the Old Kingdom.

Only they can confront such creatures and send them back to the gates of death.

Then, during the first semester of Sabriel's school, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing and Sabriel is unwittingly promoted to the Abhorson.

Does the walker choose the path, or the path

...more

flag 250 likes · Like · see review

May 08, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, young-adult, fantasy-all

UPDATE: $1.99 Kindle US 8/22/19

Tim Curry rocks the narration 😊💕

"Yes," said Abhorsen. "I am a necromancer, but not of the common kind. where others of the art raise the dead, I lay them back to rest. And those that will not rest, I bind-or try to. I am Abhorsen . . ."

He looked at the baby again, and added, almost with a note of surprise, "Father of Sabriel."

Oh, what a wonderful little book. I loved Sabriel so much. She was so tough and just got things done.

She received a message from her fa ...more

flag 243 likes · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2009 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, 21th-century

Sabriel (The Old Kingdom #1), Garth Nix

First published in 1995. It is the first in his Abhorsen (Old Kingdom) series, followed by Lirael, Abhorsen, and Goldenhand.

The novel is set in two neighboring fictional countries: To the South lies Ancelstierre, which has a technology level and society similar to that of early-20th century Australia, and to the North lies the Old Kingdom, where both Free magic and Charter Magic exist — a fact officially denied by the government of Ancelstierre and disbeli Sabriel (The Old Kingdom #1), Garth Nix

First published in 1995. It is the first in his Abhorsen (Old Kingdom) series, followed by Lirael, Abhorsen, and Goldenhand.

The novel is set in two neighboring fictional countries: To the South lies Ancelstierre, which has a technology level and society similar to that of early-20th century Australia, and to the North lies the Old Kingdom, where both Free magic and Charter Magic exist — a fact officially denied by the government of Ancelstierre and disbelieved by most of Ancelstierre's inhabitants.

A wall separates the two countries. Near the border some magic crosses the Wall, especially on days when the wind is blowing out of the Old Kingdom. Since the fall of the Royal Family, dangerous entities roam, ranging from the immortal to powerful sorcerers and Free Magic elemental's.

“Let this be my final lesson. Everyone and everything has a time to die.”

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه مارس سال 2006 میلادی

عنوان: سابریل - سه گانه پادشاهی کهن کتاب نخست؛ نویسنده: گارت نیکس؛ مترجم: پریا آریا (پریا تجلی پور)؛ تهران، متن گستران آریا، 1383، در 291 ص، نقشه، شابک: 9648662002؛

مترجم: شهلا انتظاریان؛ تهران، افق، 1391، در 580 ص، شابک: 9789643698218؛

مترجم: پیمان اسماعیلیان؛ تهران، قدیانی، 1393، در 580 ص، شابک: 9789645369734؛

اگر هدف از ساخت را بدانی، اسم معنی خواهد داشت
کتاب نخست از سه گانه ی پادشاهی کهن، اثر «گارت نیکس» را چند بار خوانده ام. برای خوانشگر کشش بسیاری دارد. «سابریل»، دختر «ابهورسن» به دور از کشور کهن، زندگی کرده، به دور از جادوی آزاد، و مردگانی که مرده نمیمانند، مدرسه اش را همانند خانه اش دوست میدارد، در کشور کهن دشمنی وجود دارد، که جان او، و مردمش را تهدید میکند. به نقل از تایمز: «داستان سابریل مملو از شخصیتهای جالب، صحنه های جذاب و هیجان است، خواندن کتاب لذت محض است.»؛ پایان نقل. ا. شربیانی ...more

flag 108 likes · Like · see review

Oct 18, 2010 Lyndsey rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed-2010, reviewed-2011, audiobooks, reviewed-2-stars, about-necromancy

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 voraciously at danger.

...more

flag 108 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2013 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, brainsss, ya-fantasy, young-adult, library-has

Very good YA fantasy! The adventures of Sabriel, an innocent young woman, and her run-ins with various types of dead, undead, once dead, sorta dead and should-be-dead people and creatures. Luckily for almost everyone concerned (except the forces of evil and the dead ones they control), Sabriel is by heritage and training a necromancer, with a fair amount of power over death. Unluckily, some of these once-dead and should-be-dead creatures have apparently killed Sabriel's father, the necromancer-i ...more

flag 105 likes · Like · see review

Nov 05, 2016 Sh3lly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, favorite-narrators, fantasy, your-argument-is-invalid, read-2017, 4-stars, young-adult, gurrrl-power

$1.99 on Amazon Kindle: December 21, 2017

I'll be honest: this is a book I never would have made it through unless I listened to it. TIM CURRY did a fabulous and amazing job narrating this fantasy. I suppose it's "young adult," even though the book really begins with the main character being 18. Sabriel went to an all-girl school for magic. The story picks up near the end of her education. She leaves because a messenger from her father sends her his bells and sword and she realizes he is in t ...more

flag 79 likes · Like · see review

Nov 08, 2017 Charlotte May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, favourites, supernatural-paranormal, epic-fantasy

“Then Sabriel hears it - the massed grinding of Dead joints, no longer joined by gristle; the padding of Dead feet, bones like hobtails clicking through necrotic flesh.”

Now, I’ll admit a book involving the dead (or zombies if you will) wouldn’t be a normal pick for me. Despite this, Sabriel kept my attention and there was plenty of magic and world building to hook me in!

Sabriel’s father is the Abhorsen - a necromancer with a difference! He returns the dead to their resting place, sends creature ...more

flag 71 likes · Like · see review

Jun 24, 2013 Merna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, my-2013-reads

“Let this be my final lesson. Everyone and everything has a time to die.”

I really wish I had liked Sabriel more than I actually did. It had a decent idea, however, as I kept reading I continuously kept thinking about events in my life or my plans for the next day. My mind kept drifting off because I was purely so bored. I believe merely saying a book is boring isn’t a convincing or a valid reason to conclude that the book wasn’t good.

Have you ever read a book where endless things are happen ...more

flag 61 likes · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2017 destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries] rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, owned-physical, fantasy, owned-ebooks

#1 Sabriel ★★★☆☆
#2 Lirael ???
#3 Abhorsen ???
#4 Clariel ???
#5 Goldenhand ???

Five Great Charters knit the land
Together linked, hand in hand
One in the people who wear the crown
Two in the folk who keep the Dead down
Three and Five became stone and mortar
Four sees all in frozen water.

I first read Sabriel as a preteen, and while I know I loved it – I must have, as I asked my parents to buy me the second book in the series, too – I never continued the series, nor did I remember any of the details wh ...more

flag 60 likes · Like · see review

Mar 22, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of dark fantasy with female protagonist and horror elements

Shelves: fantasy, owned-copy, capable-heroine, favorite-or-autobuy-author, young-adult, heroine-i-adore, dark-fantasy, zombie, part-of-a-series, favorites

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 don't read as much pure f ...more

flag 58 likes · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2007 Heather Turner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Young Adult, Adult

Shelves: readandloved

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 what has ha ...more

flag 55 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2018 April (Aprilius Maximus) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

3.5 stars

flag 54 likes · Like · see review

Oct 07, 2015 Dannii Elle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantastic-fabrications, adventurous-acuity

Years before I was aware of the online bookish community, the YA genre was one I was never exposed to. I read primarily classics, fantasies, and thrillers for lighter relief. One day my auntie deposited a stack of books next to me and ordered to read them all. Some of the titles included were The Hunger Games series, the Divergent series, and the first two or three books in the Abhorsen series. There were others, that I have now forgotten, but these three series are ones I can vividly recall rea ...more

flag 49 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2017 Caz (littlebookowl) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

4.5 stars

flag 44 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2018 TS Chan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Sabriel is a captivating and original tale of destiny.

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?

I picked up this book because Brandon Sanderson recommended it in his review for Goldenhand, the 5th book in the Abhorsen series. He termed this as "one of the fundamental experiences that helped me shape my philosophy on magic systems and worldbuilding." With such an endorsement from my favourite author of all time, I cannot possibly pass over this book. And I am glad that I didn't.

As ...more

flag 35 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2018 Madeline rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy, kids-and-young-adult

"Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"

I’ve had a long-term project going for about five years now, where I try to hunt down and read all the YA adventure series that I was supposed to read when I was in middle school (instead, I spent those years re-reading the Prydain series, and also every single one of those Royal Diaries books – no regrets!). Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix, checks off another box on that list, although I’m pretty sure t "Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"

I’ve had a long-term project going for about five years now, where I try to hunt down and read all the YA adventure series that I was supposed to read when I was in middle school (instead, I spent those years re-reading the Prydain series, and also every single one of those Royal Diaries books – no regrets!). Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix, checks off another box on that list, although I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t even aware of these books until very recently. But I’m sure that they would have been right up thirteen-year-old Madeline’s alley – I can’t speak for the rest of the series, but Sabriel is sort of like a blend of Tamora Pierce and Lloyd Alexander, with a heavy dash of Goth elements. In short, a fun, coming-of-age adventure, featuring zombies!

The world of Sabriel reminded me a little of George RR Martin’s Westeros, because we have a country (here called Ancelstierre) that’s kept separate from the Old Kingdom – a land of magic and danger. Sabriel spent the first few years of her life in the Old Kingdom with her father, a necromancer known as “the Abhorsen”, but has lived in Ancelstierre for her entire adolescence. When Sabriel is eighteen, she receives a distress message from her father. He’s trapped somewhere in Death, and Sabriel has to use the skills she learned from him to travel back to the Old Kingdom and rescue him. Along for the ride are a cat that’s not a cat, and a man who was trapped as a wooden statue for two hundred years. Oh, and evil zombies who serve an undead demon are also tracking Sabriel.

As you can probably guess from the above description, there’s a lot of action and creepy elements in this book, as well as magic, sassy sidekicks, ghosts, and (my favorite) totally frank depictions of sexuality aimed at preteen audiences! (At one point, Sabriel considers all the implications of pursuing a sexual relationship with another character, and her mental list of Things to Deal With includes contraception! Hooray for you, Garth Nix!) Speaking of fantastic moments, I knew that Sabriel and I would get along as soon as Nix’s narration shared this tidbit with the readers: when Sabriel got her first period, she used her necromancer abilities to summon her mother’s ghost for advice. Which, frankly, why wouldn’t you?

Even though this is part of a multiple-book series, Sabriel doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, and it can easily be read as a standalone novel. However, if you’re like me, you’re going to want to continue with the series, if only to find out how Sabriel continues to explore her role as a necromancer, and what other adventures Nix has planned for his heroine.

(one more note: I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, which had two distinct advantages: first, I learned that Sabriel does not rhyme with “Gabriel”, like I assumed, but is pronounced “Sah-briel.” And second, the audiobook I found is narrated by Tim Curry. He’s not the best candidate for voicing an eighteen-year-old girl’s dialogue, but I didn’t even mind because his villain voices are on point. Voice like buttah, I’m telling you.
...more

flag 35 likes · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2008 Judith Arvesu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, girl-power, favorites

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 Mogget, and a re- 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 Mogget, and a re-awakened amnesiac guardsman, Touchstone, by her side.

Garth Nix is easily my favorite YA fantasy author of the moment, and one of my favorite authors full stop. Sabriel made him popular and respected among fans of the genre, and I can see why.

It's a brilliant, fast-paced book that is quite impossible to put down. This means a lot coming from someone like me, with an average attention span of 20 pages or less. It has a solid plot, realistic characters, and a unique world built so seamlessly, it's entirely believable.

Garth Nix is a good world builder in that he lays down the foundation of a brand-new world and lets the "fantastic" details seep through not by long-winded info-dumps but by winding them so neatly through the narrative that you hardly notice what he's doing. The world and magic of the Old Kingdom is unlike many magic systems I've come across, and it's great how he never once spends more than two pages to explain things away. Of course, this means that a number of things are left unexplored but I suppose since there are two more books in the series, there's still time to explore them there.

His characters are also some of the most human I have ever come across. Sabriel and Touchstone are competent as heroine and hero, but are flawed enough to be interesting without ever falling into the "emo" or whiny and melodramatic pits that adolescent characters are wont to do in this genre. For all the strangeness of the world they live in, the characters are as real as can be, and the relationship between Sabriel and Touchstone develops with taste and subtlety.

Most admirable is how Sabriel is portrayed as a normal girl with normal concerns rather than either a weeping, confused damsel or an overly masculinized (is that a word?) warrior woman. Also, she doesn't dissolve into a spineless, sex-obsessed sap when presented with a boy, despite clearly having the usual anxieties and feelings in that regard. She proves to be a quick-witted heroine, and Garth Nix doesn't cheapen her character and throws her into some really awesome, breathtaking conflicts.

As a last note, although this is the first book of a trilogy, it's a solid story all on its own so you can pick it up with no worries as to whether you should complete the series or not. ...more

flag 33 likes · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2014 Lindsey Rey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, young-adult, fantasy

Really enjoyed this one! Although there wasn't much character development, I didn't really care because Sabriel is a total badass. I'm very excited for the sequel.

flag 34 likes · Like · see review

Oct 28, 2016 nicklein rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Where was this book when I needed it?

5 stars!

Seriously, this book was GLORIOUS. If you want fast-paced, will-keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat, action-packed book, this one is for you.

Mogget is hands down my favourite character in this book. He's so sassy and sarcastic and morbid and fluffy and I just love him!

“It sounds like a terribly brilliant plan to me,” muttered Mogget. “The genius of simplicity…”

The character development of Sabriel and Touchstone was brilliant especially Sabriel's. Sh ...more

flag 32 likes · Like · see review

Jan 14, 2017 BAM The Bibliomaniac rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, fantasy, audiobooks, series-have-read

Tim Curry narration!!!!! OMG! Imma gonna pee my pants!

So far a strong 3.5 storyline 5 Tim Curry
His voice for the cantankerous cat spirit is superb!
This was quite engaging, especially the last couple of chapters. I can see why it instantly became a classic YA fantasy series.
Sabriel searches for her father, the Abhorsen, a sort of necromancer, who is lost in the land of the dead. Along the way she meets a spirit under the control of the Abhorsens for about fourteen centuries and a sailor nickna ...more

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

Mar 16, 2018 Katie.dorny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

Sabriel is one hell of a kick ass character. No whinging, no feeling sorry for herself - she gets shit done! Anyone who loves ya fiction, magic and dystopian universes definitely needs to give this book a try!!

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

Oct 30, 2015 Carolyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya

Sabriel's father is the Abhorsen, the most powerful of necromancers who can bind the dead and stop them breaking through to the real world.Since her mother died when she was born, Sabriel is sent away to boarding school and only sees her father twice per year. The Kingdom they live in is divided into two parts with a wall protected by strong magic. Ancelstierre, the southern kingdom, where Sabriel is sent to school is safe and people live uneventful lives without the use of magic but the norther ...more

flag 28 likes · Like · see review

Dec 11, 2014 Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)* rated it really liked it

Shelves: wings-and-smoke, bewitch-you-soon

Possibly the greatest compliment that I could give this book is to say that it reminds me, in a non copy-cat way, of the first fantasy series to really sweep me away in my teenhood! That would be none other than The Belgariad Series by David Eddings!!

Sabriel is a story about a badass heroine who is charged with saving the world! I love that shit, guys!!

The world building, although at times tedious, is amazing - I love the way this world is created, how death itself is portrayed AND necromanc ...more

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

Aug 16, 2013 Argona rated it it was amazing

Shelves: magic, high-fantasy, reviewed, next-to-read, fantasy, royals, all-time-favorites, romance, dark, favorite-romance

I have read many fantasy books and I can say with certainty that this is one of those stories that stand out. Sabriel is a very unique, interesting, complex story. Like many other fantasy books, it takes a little time to understand what is going on and really get into the story, but when that happens, you will most likely take a deep breath, dive in and refuse to come out before the end.

Sabriel is a young girl but she is an adult inside. A strong female character is a gem! She is not annoying or ...more

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

Sep 01, 2019 Anthony rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-group-2018, series, fantasy

This left me very unmoved throughout. I was initially somewhat intrigued by the original depiction of the realm of the Dead, and I’m always interested in an exploration of magic interacting with dead (and undead) creatures and beings. But I would hope that a story that has so much death in it would also have some sense of the impact of death on life, and on the living, and it barely scratched that surface for me.

The writing is competent, the dialogue mostly flows, but the plot just feels like on ...more

flag 29 likes · Like · see review

Aug 12, 2013 Mara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Wickedly amazing world building but sadly too little character portrayal, if that's even a thing? It was too adventure-driven for my taste and while the setting immediately fascinated me, I never felt like I knew the characters and thus could never rly connect with them.

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

Jun 24, 2011 Shayantani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book takes an excruciatingly long time to really pick up its pace. To be honest, if I had not bought this book about a year ago, I would definitely have quit. I have picked it up and abandoned it quite frequently over the year, mostly because about 50 pages through the book, I would start yawning. Now that is a privilege especially reserved for school textbooks, thus my reluctance. But, once you go through those first mind numbing 100 pages, this book is actually pretty decent.

The novel is This book takes an excruciatingly long time to really pick up its pace. To be honest, if I had not bought this book about a year ago, I would definitely have quit. I have picked it up and abandoned it quite frequently over the year, mostly because about 50 pages through the book, I would start yawning. Now that is a privilege especially reserved for school textbooks, thus my reluctance. But, once you go through those first mind numbing 100 pages, this book is actually pretty decent.

The novel is set in two neighbouring fictional countries: The Old Kingdom to the north, where magic works and dangerous spirits roam the land and the :Ancelstierre, to the south, the “muggle land” with people blissfully ignorant except for those few who live near the border between the kingdoms. The dead refuse to stay dead, and are often raised by evil Necromancers to do their evil bidding. Here the Abhorsens comes to the rescue and puts the dead to rest. Sabriel, our protagonist, is placed with this huge responsibility of being an Abhorsen, when suddenly her father goes missing, thus, likes all fantasy heroes and heroines, she is placed with the duty of saving the world and rescuing her father. Need I mention that great adventure, life threatening dangers, amusing characters and a little romance greet her on this epic journey?

In some aspects, Sabriel definitely follows all the fantasy clichés. Yet, with a powerful plot, decent writing, loveable characters and good pacing (again, not for the first 100 pages!), I cannot bring myself to complain. The world building is amazing, with a lot of care given to minute details. The ingenious concept of death by passing through the seven gates, Saraneth and the bells, Clayrs and free magic soon made me forget about the agony of the slow start, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying the book.

So, 4 stars for the book, although I don’t reckon I would read the next part basically because, there is going to be a different set of characters, and I can’t imagine this series without Mogget.

I did mention the talking cat, right?
description

MOGGET, BEST CHARACTER EVER!
...more

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

Jun 23, 2020 Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance rated it really liked it

Wondrous storytelling ♡

Sabriel will be the last Abhorsen/Necromancer, but not before escaping the gates of death.

Born to a mother gone cold at childbirth, the Abhorsen brings the blue infant back to life and saves Sabriel as his daughter. First via wetnurse and later on at a boarding school in Ancelstierre. Sabriel is a great student and interested in the subject of Magic. Her inborn ability to reach deep within herself to rescue others from death is something she keeps hidden for as long as po ...more

flag 23 likes · Like · see review

Sep 08, 2016 Veronica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya

This was a thoroughly enjoyable, fresh-feeling book about 18 year old Sabriel and her quest through the land of her birth. If more YA was written like this, I'd read more of it. Of course, I should point out that this book was published in 1995, well before the genre was Twilighted and, as such, there were no uber emo teenagers angsting over their melodramatic love triangles. And thank the universe for that! Instead we get a sensible and somewhat awkward young heroine who is afraid of the dark c ...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Wayne Public Libr...: Sabriel Discussion	1	1	Jun 26, 2020 08:49AM
Sabriel Discussion	1	3	Jun 26, 2020 08:46AM
Play Book Tag: (Poll Ballot Tally) Sabriel by Garth Nix - 4 stars	3	10	Jun 15, 2020 01:39PM
Discord Book Club: February 2020 - "Sabriel (The Old Kingdom, book 1)" by Garth Nix	1	12	Feb 07, 2020 11:17PM
YA Buddy Readers'...: Sabriel (Abhorsen #1) by Garth Nix - Restarting February 1st 2020	77	222	Feb 03, 2020 08:22AM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Fantasy

10,307 users

Young Adult

3,428 users

Fiction

1,321 users

Fantasy > Magic

626 users

See top shelves…

About Garth Nix

Garth Nix

11,425 followers

Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing 'Hail the Conquering Hero Comes' or possibly 'Roll Out the Barrel'. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter.

De ...more

Other books in the series

The Old Kingdom (6 books)

Books by Garth Nix

Mister Monday (The Keys to the Kingdom, #1)

Drowned Wednesday (The Keys to the Kingdom, #3)

Grim Tuesday (The Keys to the Kingdom, #2)

More…

45 Recent Hits of Speculative Fiction

Myths and mayhem, the fantastical and the scientifically plausible, these are readers’ most popular sci-fi and fantasy novels published in the ...

Trivia About Sabriel (Abhorsen...

64 trivia questions
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Sabriel

“Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?” — 1024 likes

“Touchstone watched, suddenly conscious that he probably only had five seconds left to be alone with Sabriel, to say something, to say anything. Perhaps the last five seconds they ever would have alone together.
I am not afraid, he said to himself.
"I love you," he whispered. "I hope you don't mind.” — 296 likes

More quotes…