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Clariel

(Abhorsen #4)

Garth Nix (Goodreads Author)

3.84 · Rating details · 22,801 ratings · 2,406 reviews

Clariel is the daughter of one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen, and to the King. When her family moves to the city of Belisaere, Clariel finds herself at the centre of sorcery and intrigue: a plot is brewing against the old and withdrawn King Orrikan; her parents want to marry her off to a killer; and a dangerous Free M ...more

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Paperback, Australian edition, 432 pages

Published October 14th 2014 by Allen & Unwin

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May 14, 2010 Kcatty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nix, r-done

This book was hard to read, but not for the reasons you’re probably thinking of.

Garth Nix’s writing was the best it’s ever been. It’s not my favorite style, but I like it nonetheless. The plot was engaging, the pacing was good – not fantastic, but not widely variable or unbearably slow – and the worldbuilding was, as usual, wonderful.

This was hard for me to read because Clariel reminded me a lot of myself when I was younger.

My parents took me out of the public school system after 8th grade and e ...more

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Apr 27, 2018 Charlotte May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

“Anyone can go into death” said Mogget, with a smirk. “Coming back again is the difficult part.”

I am loving this series so much!
Clariel is a prequel to The Old Kingdom series, about 600 years earlier.

Clariel likes her life, sure her parents could be a bit more caring and pay a bit more attention, but she’s got her Aunt Lemmin and the wonderful forest she loves to explore.
So when her parents decide the family is going to up and move to Belisare, and send her to a ‘finishing school’ Clariel i ...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Catherine rated it liked it

Shelves: magic, reviewed, read-in-2016, ya-fantasy, young-adult

If I die before this book comes out, Garth, I assure you that no Abhorsen will be able to prevent me from coming back for it.

***

Oh My GOD! Can it be??? An actual cover?! And a release date?! What good deed did I do to finally deserve this?! Let's hope I manage to stay alive for a few more months...I'd rather not have to battle any Abhorsens if I can avoid it. ...more

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Apr 22, 2009 Kogiopsis rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, queer-stuff, needed-more-editor, pacing-pacing-pacing

First of all, let me get this out of the way: everyone calling Clariel - the character - names can shut the hell up. I'm pissed as hell at the number of people writing her off as a bitch, whiny, self-centered, etc., especially when that's the extent of their critique of the book. It smells of misogyny and it needs to stop.

Now, as for the book...

I've been waiting for this book for a long time - pretty much since I read the original trilogy and first came across rumors that this was in the works. First of all, let me get this out of the way: everyone calling Clariel - the character - names can shut the hell up. I'm pissed as hell at the number of people writing her off as a bitch, whiny, self-centered, etc., especially when that's the extent of their critique of the book. It smells of misogyny and it needs to stop.

Now, as for the book...

I've been waiting for this book for a long time - pretty much since I read the original trilogy and first came across rumors that this was in the works. It had a high standard to meet, as the Abhorsen books are some of the best YA I've ever read. The thing is, from the time the first few chapters came out as a sampler, I've had an inkling that this wasn't going to match its predecessors. And, sadly, I was right.

I came out of this book with the strong impression that I'd read an early draft, not a finished product. It has a lot of the hallmarks of an under-revised work: too many characters who wind up too under-used, uneven pacing, blocky infodumps, awkward and jarring switches out of the third-person-limited POV. Even on a sentence level it felt in need of editing: there were far too many "Clariel felt x because y" type lines, which with another pass could have been smoothed out into something much less amateur. Top that off with the fact that the book ends before the most interesting and novel part of Clariel's story and well, this wasn't at all what I've been waiting for. It felt like Nix had been writing himself back into the Old Kingdom as an exercise (he's not written in it for 10 years, after all) and somehow that freewrite got bound and published.

The thing that makes this all the more frustrating is that there is a lot of potential here. Clariel herself holds most of it: she's a berserker, she's got an aptitude for necromancy, and we all know she's destined to be Chlorr of the Mask in Lirael/Abhorsen - her story could be either a fascinating story of villainous descent or a tragedy of losing a sense of self, or both. (Also, she's canonically asexual and aromantic, which makes her dear to me in particular.) Then there's the world - we've actually never seen a fully functional Old Kingdom; even in Lirael and Abhorsen it's still being rebuilt, and in Sabriel it's the nation-wide equivalent of a ghost town. Nix had a distinct opportunity here to explore what an entire country filled with necromancers, Clayr, and Charter Mages would look like... and he wrote pretty much all three of those groups out of it. The only necromancers we see are the Abhorsens, none of whom actually go into Death (not even ONE antagonistic necromancer? anywhere?); the Clayr don't really show up at all, and Charter Magic is out of fashion in the society, so doesn't play a part. (furthermore, Clariel doesn't have a strong aptitude for the Charter, so even though she's supposedly learning it the reader never really gets to see it used.) Ancelstierre plays no role in this story at all, which is... understandable but regrettable. The land beyond the Rift has the potential to be involved, but isn't. All this leaves the Old Kingdom feeling a great deal more generic than it does in the original trilogy, and instead of the sense of coming back to a fantasy world I loved, I wound up with the sense that a bait-and-switch had been performed.

I wanted to enjoy this book, really I did - but all the things that I enjoyed about the original trilogy were absent. My hopes are still up for the promised post-Abhorsen fifth volume, especially as it's less likely to have the 'writing onesself into the world' feeling that this did by dint of coming soon (hopefully) after Clariel. And hey - maybe Nix will get back into the swing of things and someday we'll get a sequel to this book, or a prequel about some of the fascinating history it mentioned (lady pirates on the Ratterlin? Mistress Ader as Abhorsen? I'd love more on both). I still want more from this world and from Nix as an author; it just happens that this didn't hit the mark at all.

A couple of final notes/quibbles under the cut:
(view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 26, 2014 anna rated it it was ok

Received an ARC of the book. Currently about 1/4 of the way through...initial thoughts: this book is suffering from the same thing that made me dislike Lirael--lack of action, too much build up.

Sabriel worked out so well because the beginning was quite fast paced. Problem arises, Sabriel makes the decision to do something about it and she's off to the races. I can't stand it when the protag is sort of wishy washy about going for his/her goals. I know situations change as more information is reve Received an ARC of the book. Currently about 1/4 of the way through...initial thoughts: this book is suffering from the same thing that made me dislike Lirael--lack of action, too much build up.

Sabriel worked out so well because the beginning was quite fast paced. Problem arises, Sabriel makes the decision to do something about it and she's off to the races. I can't stand it when the protag is sort of wishy washy about going for his/her goals. I know situations change as more information is revealed, but at least initially I wanted Clariel to be very clear about what she wanted and how she was going to get it. If she can't even come up with some feasible plans, then she must not want her goal badly enough and I don't have the patience to read her mopey inner dialogue.

Will continue update.

UPDATE: Finished book 7/1/14. The book gets three stars for interesting world building. I liked finding out more about the history of the Old Kingdom, the society of Belisaere, how Free Magic can be used and the agenda of Free Magic creatures. But if you didn't like Lirael very much (as I didn't), then you won't like Clariel for probably the same reasons. Most of the book is Clariel going "wah wah I just wanna do my own thing, leave me alone" and nothing really happens until the last 3 chapters. I get the feeling that Clariel is supposed to be a tragic, tortured hero, but mostly I'm just irritated with her.

Spoilers ahead, keep reading at your own risk.

(view spoiler)[So Clariel is pretty much the opposite of Lirael - while Lirael just wants to belong, Clariel just wants to gtfo. And that's fine. She doesn't want to be trapped, she wants to run wild and free and be alone, I get that. But Clariel just seems kind of dumb and selfish with a one-track mind. All she ever thinks about it running away--then fucking do it already. Afraid your parents will drag you back? Pull some shit until they realize you're serious, don't just throw tantrums. Life is full of people telling you what you should do, but until you get smart and learn how to play the game, you'll never be able to get out and do what you want. Just thinking you want to run and acting oh so rebellious while coming up with half baked plans won't get you anywhere. I guess I prefer my protagonists smarter and more devious? Clariel is just not a very good protagonist - she seems set up to be a support character.

And tbh, outside of Kilp (and maybe Bel) everyone in this book was kind of dumb. They're all stubbornly refusing to do what they are supposed to do for no real reason at all. It's very frustrating. I can understand one or two people who are all "no, I just want to do what I want" but all of them? And in the end I feel like no one has really learned a lesson from all this. If you ONLY do what you want, bad people take advantage, people (like your loved ones) suffer and die. But no one seems to have figured this out (except maybe Bel).

The unrequited love of Bel also bugged me. What exactly about Clariel made him fall in love with her? In the time they've known each other, she wasn't exactly all that friendly to him anyway. And Clariel even says that Denima is smarter and prettier - Bel disagreed, but he shouldn't have because it's true. (Well I don't know about prettier, but Denima is definitely smarter.) Either way, I could have done without Bel being all googly over Clariel. They could have just been friends the entire time. (Plus it's because of Bel's tender feelings that Clariel ends up becoming Chlorr. I'm sure if she'd been executed as planned, she would have simply died and gone on. But Bel lets her escape and she turns into Chlorr. Oops. Good job escaping, Clariel. 600 years down the line you end up becoming a slave to Free Magic.)

This book could have done a lot better with more action straight off. Instead of all this build up, with all these people LITERALLY not doing anything (the king who won't rule, the Abhorsens who won't fight, the girl who can't figure out how to run), I wanted more palace intrigue. I wanted more weird old magic. I wanted to see the Clayr go to war. I wanted Clariel to figure out that she was being a dumb stubborn child, to grow up and take responsibility for her actions, which would have made her turning into Chlorr a truly tragic end instead of just something that happens, nbd. (Can you imagine if Clariel had turned into a true heroine and was filled with hope for herself and her friends at the end? And knowing that somehow, she would end up Chlorr and meet a terrible end...that would have been heart wrenching. But instead I'm just irritated with Clariel so I don't really care. Bah.) (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Tegan marked it as to-read

Shelves: gimme-now, 2014-releases

AIDGIHOEIHIHSDHGODJFJS!!!

A cover and a synopsis?! Oh happy day!!! October hurry your butt up!! ...more

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Oct 30, 2014 Ashley rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I hate to give this one star because I really love Garth Nix and the Abhorsen books, but there were so many things I didn't like about this book.
1) Clariel. Wow. I don't think I have ever disliked a heroine more. So selfish, so self-absorbed, and just not interesting at all. No one cares about your stupid forest, move on.
2) What was this book supposed to be? Weird YA finishing school book? fantasy? All I know is almost all of it was dull. Reading about the guild outfits and the clothes in gener ...more

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Oct 18, 2014 Andrew rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Much like the Legend of Korra, this long-awaited sequel follows the ostensibly dramatic and exciting adventure of an uncharismatic and constantly whining main character in a setting that is nostalgic until you realize its rather whiny as well. Wonder how a setting can be whiny? Supporting characters fade into the background, until you look around and wonder "is this inn haunted by a complaining ghost or what?".

The story somehow fails to convey the sense of urgency and humor that characterized t ...more

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Jul 08, 2014 First Second Books added it

Shelves: gina

Garth Nix wrote a new Abhorsen book! And not only that, there’s going to be yet another new Abhorsen book after this one! How exciting is that?

One of the things I really liked about the book was the portrayal of the main character’s sexuality. People keep running around and being like, ‘marriage! dating! these are the most important things!’ and instead, she’s, ‘how do you have time for this; people are trying to kill us!’ and also, 'my career is far more important to me than any possibility of ...more

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Aug 29, 2014 Kat rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, awful-time-sucks

THANK GOD IT'S OVER!!!! That was one of the most painful reading experiences I have had in a long time. I honestly have not idea why the author felt this book needed to exist.

It really didn't.

Now, it was a long time ago that I read the Old Kingdom trilogy, but I am vaguely aware of liking it, if I can't quite remember the details. For example I have no idea who Clariel is supposed to become in the original series. Her name is mentioned at the end of the book, and it rings a bell, but considering ...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Gergana added it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, horror, first-book-was-better

IF I hear one more word about Clariel's stupid forest, I am buying a chainsaw ^_^

Ok, so with THIS out of the way, I can safely say - I enjoyed Clariel. But ...it didn't feel like a part of the Old Kingdom series. In fact, it felt more like a pretty good YA novel, with an angsty teen trying to fit in the world while being misunderstood and hindered by the ignorant, unreliable adults.

The first 25% were absolutely amazing and filled with so much potential! The setting was interesting, the world bu ...more

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Dec 10, 2014 Eric Allen rated it liked it · review of another edition

I loved the first two books in the series during high school, and I believe Abhorsen came out when I was in college, but ask any woman on earth and she'll tell you that men never really grow up, so there you go. It's been a long, long, loooooooong wait for more stories that take place in this world, and I'm excited to see that Garth Nix has more plans for it in the future.

Unfortunately, Clariel was a little disappointing to me. The other books are just so good, and this one, while not exactly ba I loved the first two books in the series during high school, and I believe Abhorsen came out when I was in college, but ask any woman on earth and she'll tell you that men never really grow up, so there you go. It's been a long, long, loooooooong wait for more stories that take place in this world, and I'm excited to see that Garth Nix has more plans for it in the future.

Unfortunately, Clariel was a little disappointing to me. The other books are just so good, and this one, while not exactly bad, doesn't really live up to its predecessors. Most of the reason that this book was rather mediocre was because of its protagonist. Clariel is just so unlikeable that it's hard to be invested in any story about her. All she does is whine and cry about wanting to go to the forest and live her life alone away from anyone that can bother her. She hits this one-note of personality about five billion times over the course of the book.

When you look at the other books in the series, you've got Sabriel who is a reluctant heroine drawn into a desperate fight against a monster that seeks to utterly destroy her homeland when she sets off to rescue her father. And then you've got Lirael, the outcast who finds and develops unexpected talents and abilities that lead her to a destiny far greater than anything she ever dreamed of as a child. Next to them, Clariel is rather bland, boring, and annoying. (view spoiler) When you don't like or don't care about the characters in a story, it's very hard to feel any of the tension and drama. Those things come from caring about the characters and genuinely wanting to see them triumph in the end. I didn't really care about Clariel throughout most of the book. I found her annoying and childish, and spent most of my time with the book wishing I was reading about Lirael (by far my favorite character in the series) instead.

It's not a bad book, but it is a mediocre one, made more so when it is compared to Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen, the previous three releases in this series. If you really want to know the origins of (view spoiler) give it a try. Otherwise, this is pretty much a story that didn't really need to be told. I was hoping for a bigger look at the past of The Old Kingdom, as this book takes place 600 years before Sabriel, but everything is from Clariel's point of view, and Clariel doesn't give a crap about anything but running away to her forest, so that's the only part of The Old Kingdom's past you really get to hear much of. Though not entirely bad, it just didn't live up to my expectations for this series. ...more

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Apr 08, 2015 Nicky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-and-ya, queer, fantasy

It’s a bit surprising to me to see the disappointed reviews of this, because I quite enjoyed it. Of course, it’s a different world to the one Sabriel enters, and different even from the world that Lirael and Sameth have to navigate as Sabriel and Touchstone work on restoring the Old Kingdom. This one doesn’t feature any contact with Ancelstierre, and is set before even Touchstone/Torrigan’s time. So naturally, the concerns of its people, the politics, are all quite different. It’s interesting to It’s a bit surprising to me to see the disappointed reviews of this, because I quite enjoyed it. Of course, it’s a different world to the one Sabriel enters, and different even from the world that Lirael and Sameth have to navigate as Sabriel and Touchstone work on restoring the Old Kingdom. This one doesn’t feature any contact with Ancelstierre, and is set before even Touchstone/Torrigan’s time. So naturally, the concerns of its people, the politics, are all quite different. It’s interesting to see an Abhorsen clan which is much larger than that of Sabriel’s time, but which is decidedly weaker; it’s interesting to see in Sameth the diffidence of earlier Abhorsens.

But in fact, I like Clariel herself rather more than Lirael or Sameth. She has goals and she pursues them, and she doesn’t have to take on responsibility, but she does. Of course, all her choices go wrong, unlike Sabriel or Lirael’s. If you think about the guiding words of these books, “Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?” — you could almost say that Sabriel, knowing her choices, chooses her path. Clariel’s path chooses her, because she’s not given the information she needs to make her own choice. In neither case is there really an alternate way, but Sabriel’s path is knowing and Clariel’s is forced.

It’s interesting to get a look at the bloodlines in the land and how they work out in a time of peace. Because of the strength of Sabriel and her father, and Touchstone and Sabriel’s rule, it’s easy in the trilogy to think that when the bloodlines are in the right place, everything will be alright. Clariel shows us that it isn’t, and gives us a picture of the other troubles of the Old Kingdom. There are no Dead creatures here in this book; instead we see the Abhorsens and Charter mages needing to deal with the other threat, of Free Magic.

One thing I really loved, on a character-level, is that Clariel is explicitly asexual. She’s not interested, she’s not going to change her mind for the right person or something, and like many ace people, she’s even experimented a bit to try and figure out how that all works. It’s awesome that she doesn’t really have conflict about this, and while people think she may be mistaken, nobody’s pushing her to “fix” it, or guilting her because she doesn’t want that.

In a way, the story feels very incomplete, because it’s just a fragment of a life, a tiny piece of the history of the Old Kingdom, and it doesn’t connect up the dots between this book and the original trilogy. There is plenty of room for many, many more stories, even ones featuring the same characters, should Nix choose. But we do have the shape of Clariel’s life sketched out for us, between this book and the original trilogy; I think it may be more satisfying seen that way, rather than read as a stand-alone.

Originally posted here. Some discussion in the comments! ...more

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Apr 11, 2014 Josh rated it liked it

Shelves: own, read_2014, fantasy

I've been waiting for another novel set in the world of the Old Kingdom for a long time now, and, despite having moments that brought back the enjoyment of LIRAEL and SABRIEL, the long ago prequel to SABRIEL doesn't quite live up to my expectations.

CLARIEL leans heavily towards the YA styling's of Garth Nix's other fantasy series targeted at that demographic. The toned down storytelling is evident, as is the teenage angst and constant reference to love despite Clariel's predicament (even though ...more

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Jun 15, 2014 Phrynne rated it really liked it

Out of the series so far I felt that this was one of the best ones. Clariel is a nice strong female lead character and although she makes lots of mistakes she never gives up. It was interesting to see much more of Mogget whose character I still have not really worked out. I wonder if a future book will feature him and explain what he actually is and why he is bound. I have really liked this series so far and really enjoy Garth Nix's world building. The idea of the Abhorsen is excellent as is cha ...more

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Sep 13, 2016 Nemo (The Moonlight Library) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, sts, beautiful-covers, 2016-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. SUMMARY
Clariel is better known as the centuries-old necromancer and later the Greater Dead creature Chlorr of the Mask in Lirael. This is her early story.

PLOT
Clariel wants nothing more than to live as a Borderer in the Great Forest of Estwael. So when she is dragged by her Master Goldsmith mother Jaciel to Belisaire, to marry the Governer’s son Aronzo and forever be trapped in a life she is desperate to escape, Clariel takes steps to ensure her own freedom – even if it comes at a great cost.
This SUMMARY
Clariel is better known as the centuries-old necromancer and later the Greater Dead creature Chlorr of the Mask in Lirael. This is her early story.

PLOT
Clariel wants nothing more than to live as a Borderer in the Great Forest of Estwael. So when she is dragged by her Master Goldsmith mother Jaciel to Belisaire, to marry the Governer’s son Aronzo and forever be trapped in a life she is desperate to escape, Clariel takes steps to ensure her own freedom – even if it comes at a great cost.
This is not your typical origin story. This does not detail how Clariel becomes Chlorr the necromancer – rather, it details the early steps taken by Clariel so that you can understand how someone from the ‘good’ side of magic can become so twisted and corrupted. Clariel is not gifted with strong Charter Magic nor much knowledge of the Abhorsens due to a family feud, but she is gifted with the beserk rage familiar in both Touchstone and Sam, and that is tainted with Free Magic. Through the Free Magic, Clariel works to get what she wants – but doing the wrong thing for the right reason is still the wrong thing, and that’s a lesson I Clariel doesn’t learn, and I suspect still doesn’t learn later in her life and contributes to her downfall as Chlorr.

CHARACTERS
Clariel is of course our protagonist. She’s strong-willed and knows exactly what she wants in life, even at only 17. She’s also trapped under her mother’s tyrannical reign. It’s super easy to identify with Clariel’s chafing need to spread her wings and be independent, knowing she will thrive in her chosen career as a Borderer, and feel the helpless obedience that comes with being a dependent child. She’s also asexual, which I think, for some, might be interesting. I couldn’t really tell if it was just used as a minor plot point to keep rejecting certain suitors’ advancements on her. It certainly was easy to feel her horror as news of her arranged marriage came through. She’s not particularly selfish but she is self-absorbed to the point where that’ll the catalyst, she’s abrasive to the horror of other characters and doesn’t want to take part in their charades.
We see little of Clariel’s parents, her father who does the admin side of the goldsmithing business despite being a talented smith himself, and Jaciel, who is more obsessed with her work than he own family.
Also appearing is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting-in-Waiting, Belariel, or Bel, who is Clariel’s cousin and friend from the Academy. Bel is concerned that the current Abhorsens, in a family of 300 strong, are too busy ceremoniously hunting to face the tasks required of the real Abhosren, so Bel’s been training at night and reading The Book of the Dead in secret.
Also popping up for a pretty major role in corrupting Clariel is Moggett, the wiley twisty little feline-bound Free Magic creature who cannot be trusted!

WRITING
The biggest issue I had going in was that I was expecting more of clean and cut origin story when really, it sort of hinted at Clariel’s weakness and her eventual downfall to come. Imagine writing a Joker origin story where at the end he’s just getting involved in crime but he doesn’t fall into the vat of chemicals that changes him forever; or a Batman Begins without Bruce Wayne ever making the Batsuit; or a Superman story that is basically Smallville where we never see Supes don the cape, but while that works for Smallville, it took me until actually finishing the book to realise I wasn’t going to get Clariel’s tragic fall into the Joker vat of chemicals after all. We don’t see her become a necromancer – we see her fight the urge. We don’t see her do anything evil, really – she still tries to save lives and even though she does murder people, that can be viewed through a justice or revenge lens.

PACING
This book tricks you. It tricks you into thinking it’s got a slower pace than it does. We follow Clariel around the city for the first third before anything of interest really happens, much like following Lirael in the library – it’s all a big set up that you don’t even realise is happening. Then it’s all go-go-go all the time until you’re screaming at yourself to stop reading so fast, it’ll all be over soon.

OVERALL
I certainly think Clariel is a book you’ll only get the most enjoyment out of if you’ve read the previous Old Kingdom books.

I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ...more

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Jun 18, 2014 Jscottlibrarian rated it it was amazing

I was lucky enough to get a ARC of this at BEA in New York and let me tell you it was worth the ten years of waiting. I can't get kids at my school to read the series, or if they do they don't tell me about it, but they are nuts is all I can say because this stuff is so good it makes my head hurt. I look into the air as I read this and look for Charter Marks. None yet but I am not giving up hope!

The story took some time to build but now I am bereft that it is over. I was hoping for more magic ea ...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Alexandria marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasy

I wonder if this book is really ever going to come out. I believe I first saw that is was to be published in 2010. Then 2011, now, I come back and make sure it didn't sneak up on me and I can finally read it and there saying 2012. Ugh! I really hope they put this book out soon. Or stop teasing us and take it off of here. ...more

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Oct 04, 2013 Susana rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: boring, series-gone-sour, arc, edelweiss, 2014-releases, not-my-cup-of-tea, tstlc, series-i-ve-given-up, talking-cats-rock, epic-fantasy

2.5 stars

Arc provided by Harper Collins through Edelweiss

It was my intention to re-read the previous books of this "Old Kingdom" series, before picking this one up.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to find the necessary time to do it, and I only got to read about half of the first book, Sabriel, before starting with this one.

And although I do still like Sabriel, I am afraid that time seems to have diluted my love for this series. :/
The writing never seemed to "flow"...

I read Sabriel for the firs ...more

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May 11, 2016 Sara rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: i-give-up

Obviously its not fair to review this since I didn't finish it but I just can't take it anymore. Garth Nix's "Abhorsen" books are just wonderful. I believe I waxed rhapsodic about Tim Curry's outstanding narration of the first three books in this series that chronicle two kingdoms; the Old Kingdom where the Charter (basically a magic that connects everything in the kingdom) rules and necromancer's, free magic users, and the dead are kept in check by the Abhorsen (basically a wizard who can walk ...more

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Jun 01, 2014 Grace Troxel rated it it was amazing

This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...

Disclaimer: This is a ridiculously early review.

When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with Garth Nix’s Abhorsen trilogy. I read and re-read Sabriel and Lirael until the paperbacks very clearly showed how much they’d been loved, and jumped for joy when Abhorsen was finally released. Nix’s stories had everything to love–undead villains, strong protagonists, sarcastic kitties, bardic weapo This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...

Disclaimer: This is a ridiculously early review.

When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with Garth Nix’s Abhorsen trilogy. I read and re-read Sabriel and Lirael until the paperbacks very clearly showed how much they’d been loved, and jumped for joy when Abhorsen was finally released. Nix’s stories had everything to love–undead villains, strong protagonists, sarcastic kitties, bardic weapons, and enchanted paper airplanes that you can really ride in.

Now, almost a decade later, Garth Nix is finally releasing Clariel, a prequel novel set several hundred years in the past. Clariel‘s release date is set for October, and clearly I’m writing a ridiculously early review. I’VE BEEN WAITING TEN YEARS FOR THIS BOOK AND COULDN’T WAIT ANY LONGER!

This review is going to be vague, brief, and spoiler-free, because I don’t want to give away too much before the book comes out. At the same time, there’s a lot of food for thought, and I’d really like to discuss it in more depth.

Clariel starts out in a very young-adulty kind of way. Yes, the whole series is YA, but Clariel is more what I think of when I think of YA. Clariel’s mother is a goldsmith, and when she’s offered a promotion through her guild, she uproots the whole family from their home in the country and drags them to the capital city. Being a high-ranking member of society means that Clariel is expected to marry or become a goldsmith herself, but she’s having none of it. All she wants to do is go back to the forest, which is the one place where she truly feels free. But of course, life doesn’t work that way, and people don’t always get what they want. The kingdom is crumbling because the king refuses to lead, the Abhorsen stops banishing the dead, and a free magic creature hiding in the city could be the one thing that makes the fragile peace fall apart.

My one criticism of the book is that there’s a lot of buildup to the action that occurs at the end of the book, and for a while, I wondered if anything was going to happen.

For the first few chapters, I felt a bit suspicious. I wasn’t sure that Clariel could live up to the previous books, or even that Clariel herself could compare to the later characters that I know and love. I was wrong. Clariel grew on me, because she’s the sort of protagonist who can both make mistakes and be heroic without being thrown into the false dichotomy of good versus evil. She’s a free spirit who’s been confined by societal expectations, and she rebels against it. Clariel makes questionable decisions, but in doing so becomes an independent force that I can’t help but like, even while knowing that the path she chooses isn’t what one would consider the “right” one.

Oh, and did I mention that Clariel is probably asexual? You don’t see nearly enough of that in literature, period. There’s got to be a romance, and opting out never seems to be an option. It’s unusual to see a character who knows and recognizes that she isn’t interested in love or sex. She’s a loner, and she knows it. It’s awesome.

Well done, Garth Nix. Clariel does not disappoint. ...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Ashley rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: class-gender-race, fantasy, treasure-and-adventure, young-adult, here-be-dragons

This is a prequel, and prequels can be dicey, so let me just start by saying: this could have been much, much, much worse.

Clariel is the story–not of how young Clariel becomes Chlorr of the Mask from the original series like I was expecting it to be–but of how the foundations for that eventual change are laid. Seventeen year old Clariel moves with her family to the city of Belisaere. Clariel’s a girl of the forest, so right away this makes her unhappy, but the city and the people she encounters ...more

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Jan 26, 2011 colleen the convivial curmudgeon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, dark-fantasy, sword-and-sorcery

2.5

I didn't hate this book, but considering that the original trilogy is still one of my Top 10 of all time, and how long we've been waiting for this prequel... I am all hella kinda of disappointed.

I feel like the biggest issue with this book is that Clariel is just so one dimensional. Well, that and the fact that kinda everyone sucks except Belatiel and Kargrin. (I kinda think the book might been better if it were written about Belatiel and Clariel stayed a secondary character, but we learned a ...more

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Jan 28, 2014 Roslyn rated it liked it

3.5

It's difficult for me to rate this novel. For a start, it didn’t engage me until nearly half-way through. This is partly because this is a prequel to the other Abhorsen novels and the world we are thrust into is not what it will later become. It's also because its protagonist, Clariel, is at first a difficult character to like and engage with. Until that half-way point, the novel felt static and I could have put it down at any point. (In fact, I accidentally left it on my work desk before a w 3.5

It's difficult for me to rate this novel. For a start, it didn’t engage me until nearly half-way through. This is partly because this is a prequel to the other Abhorsen novels and the world we are thrust into is not what it will later become. It's also because its protagonist, Clariel, is at first a difficult character to like and engage with. Until that half-way point, the novel felt static and I could have put it down at any point. (In fact, I accidentally left it on my work desk before a week-long period when I wasn’t going to be at work, and I didn’t miss it at all). However, I’m glad I persisted. Clariel gradually came to life as a conflicted, understandable character I sympathised with and ached for.

It’s hard to say anything meaningful about Clariel, either the character or the novel, without spoilers. Very mild spoilers below, but I think if you’re intending to read this, it might be best to avoid any information about it at all.

(view spoiler)
...more

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Dec 04, 2014 Yzabel Ginsberg rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: good-ideas-but, fantasy, annoying-characters, magic, young-adult

Not what I expected. The Old Kingdom looked like it was fraying, but I thought this wanted for more details about why everyone was shirking their duties, hiding their Charter marks, etc. What about the lost princess? Did everyone just run away because reasons/pressure/not wanting to bother?

Clariel wasn't a character I could push myself to care for (too whiny, too much "I want to go back to the Forest" too often...). The first half of the book was kind of boring, and then when things started to p ...more

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Mar 31, 2009 Janni marked it as to-read

I just found out about this and am giddily happy! More in Sabriel's world--yay yay yay yay!

Even if I do have to wait until 2010 ...

ETA: it's 2014 and this is finally -out!- Internets, why did you not tell me sooner? ...more

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Jun 29, 2014 Maria rated it liked it

Shelves: to-read-again, galleys

Maybe I was in a bad mood. Maybe I read it too fast. Maybe I don't remember the Abhorsen trilogy well enough. Maybe, being no longer teenaged, I no longer resonate the same way with teenaged protagonists. Maybe time and nostalgia have rendered those books flawless in my heart, and nothing could stack up. (view spoiler) Maybe it breaks my heart, but my feelings are Maybe I was in a bad mood. Maybe I read it too fast. Maybe I don't remember the Abhorsen trilogy well enough. Maybe, being no longer teenaged, I no longer resonate the same way with teenaged protagonists. Maybe time and nostalgia have rendered those books flawless in my heart, and nothing could stack up. (view spoiler) Maybe it breaks my heart, but my feelings are hovering between "liked it" and "it was ok," certainly not "loved it."

As I mentioned, I couldn't resonate with Clariel in the same way that I did with Lirael, or to a lesser extent Sabriel. She seemed to have one dimension, namely, "but I don't WANT TO" (view spoiler) She's a "strong female character," but as far as I can tell, only in that she has a strong aversion to anything feminine.

I found myself much more interested in the secondary, even tertiary characters. (view spoiler) All far more compelling than Clariel herself.

Maybe this is because of the aforementioned mood, but I also had trouble visualizing a few locations in the book, like Nix's descriptions were rich, but ineffective. Just how big is Kargren's tower, anyway? And the Islet?

That said, it was still an exciting story, and I couldn't put it down. Anyway, because this is an Old Kingdom novel, and the world is still that strange, beautiful combination of order and chaos, and because this is only a galley, after all, I am not willing to write it off yet.

In time, I will re-read the trilogy, followed by this. With that context, I may find a new appreciation for Clariel. Or maybe not.

In the end, I guess while it doesn't hold a candle to the other stories, it's still worth a read.
...more

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Nov 01, 2014 Wealhtheow rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: queer-characters, ya, fantasy

Six hundred years before Sabriel was born, the Abhorsen family was large and the Old Kingdom so peaceful that they didn't even bother patrolling it. Clariel is the teenaged daughter of a famed goldsmith and related to both the royal family and the Abhorsen. Her bloodline pulls her into a political battle between the guilds and the king, but her personality draws her toward the solitary peace of the Great Forest. Although she is torn between expectations and her own ambition, Clariel's life narro ...more

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Jun 29, 2014 Karen rated it liked it

I’ll admit to having a fair amount of nostalgia for the original Abhorsen trilogy. Sabriel and Lirael were both books I read so many times in middle school/high school I’ve lost all perspective on their merits. Clariel is up against some pretty rosy colored memories, is what I’m saying. The world that Nix builds in these books is fantastic, and Clariel continues in that tradition, but it isn’t quite as exciting exploring Belisaere as it was to explore the levels of death, or the library of the C ...more

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Dec 30, 2014 Ari rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, australian-author, lgbt, female-protagonist

Summary: Clariel’s shitty parents make her move to the city where she is used as a pawn in political schemes, fends of threats of marriage and helps capture a free magic creature, all the while trying to get the hell out of there and get back to the forest that she loves.

Thoughts: I was really loving this, right up until the end, where the author takes our independent, stubborn female lead and undermines her story by(view spoiler) ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
YA Buddy Readers'...: Clariel (Abhorsen #4) by Garth Nix - Restarting November 22nd 2020	11	138	Nov 24, 2020 01:07PM
Goodreads Librari...: Wrong page count for Clariel	2	11	Sep 21, 2018 05:01PM
Book Giveaways: Giveaway - Clariel by Garth Nix	1	15	Jul 13, 2015 02:34PM
A Million More Pages: 4 - Clariel (Abhorsen): Apr 30	7	19	Apr 26, 2015 10:41AM
Nothing But Readi...: Nix, Garth: Clariel(Abhorsen #4) Informal Buddy Read; Start Date: December 05 2014	68	219	Dec 26, 2014 07:27PM
Basically Books B...: Clariel Read-Along	1	26	Oct 15, 2014 12:34PM

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About Garth Nix

Garth Nix

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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

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Quotes from Clariel

“I am a great believer that anything not expressly forbidden is explicitly allowed.” — 75 likes

“The most important thing is to be true to yourself, however you feel, and not try to feel or behave differently because you think you should, or someone has told you how you must feel. But do think about it. Unexamined feelings lead to all kinds of trouble.” — 25 likes

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