Fantasy Discussion Group…

Lirael (Abhorsen, #2)

Garth Nix

Start date: March 1, 2019

Finish date: March 31, 2019

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Goodreads Book of the Month, March 2019
[close] Goodreads Book of the Month, March 2019

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 81 topics — 202 comments total

Book of the Month

Sept 2025: The Bright Sword
By Megan · 1 post · 43 views

last updated Sep 04, 2025 08:00PM

March 2025: Neuromancer
By Megan · 1 post · 108 views

last updated Mar 04, 2025 06:56PM

What Members Thought

Dec 31, 2008 Ashley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: orphalins, not-quite-five-stars-but-sooo-close, here-be-dragons, treasure-and-adventure, a-cat-is-in-this, fantasy, a-dog-is-in-this, young-adult, violent-and-epic, world-lit

So there’s this girl, and she lives in a Glacier. Yes, a real glacier. It’s in a tall mountain at the very tip-top of her country, and she lives there with thousands of cousins, who are collectively called ‘The Clayr,’ most of whom are female and have the pale blonde hair and tanned skin that marks them as one of their own. They are entitled to this sobriquet because every single one of them can see the future. Every single one of them, except Lirael, that is. Most Clayr receive the Sight by the So there’s this girl, and she lives in a Glacier. Yes, a real glacier. It’s in a tall mountain at the very tip-top of her country, and she lives there with thousands of cousins, who are collectively called ‘The Clayr,’ most of whom are female and have the pale blonde hair and tanned skin that marks them as one of their own. They are entitled to this sobriquet because every single one of them can see the future. Every single one of them, except Lirael, that is. Most Clayr receive the Sight by the age of twelve. Lirael passes twelve. Then fourteen. Then seventeen. She is an adult, and she does not have the Sight. This is the main source of inner conflict in Lirael’s life.

Lirael is also different physically. Her black hair and pale, deathlike skin mark her immediately out from her fellow Clayr, but Lirael is also unusally quiet and reserved, because Lirael is very lonely. All the other Clayr have a purpose. They all take turns on the Watch, and they wear the robes of an adult, while Lirael still wears the robes of a child, simply because the main indicator of adulthood as a Clayr is the Sight, which, as discussed above, Lirael doesn’t have. What’s worse, none of the other Clayr have ever Seen Lirael. Not one. They don’t know what to do with her any more than she knows what to do with herself.

So instead of actually throwing herself off the highest peak of the glacier, as she almost did on yet another birthday without the Sight, she instead chooses to focus on learning the Charter (the magic system in the Old Kingdom), which leads to her creation of her companion the Disreputable Dog (who is THE BEST). This is the Disreputable Dog when she first meets Lirael:

“Suddenly, the dog stopped scratching, stood up, and shook itself, spraying droplets of dirty water all over Lirael and all over the study. Then it ambled across and licked the petrified girl on the face with a tongue that most definitely was all real and not some Charter-made illusion.

When that got no response, it grinned and announced, ‘I am the Disreputable Dog. Or the Disreputable bitch, if you want to get technical. When are we going for a walk?’”

Together, Lirael and the Dog explore the Clayr’s magical, GINORMOUS library and mine it for secrets, defeating monsters lurking in the corners, and all the while honing Lirael’s magic. Oh, yeah, did I mention that Lirael is a librarian? BECAUSE SHE IS TOTALLY A LIBRARIAN and the library is almost as terrifying and awesome as the Library the Doctor and Donna visit where the Library is an entire planet (and also the shadows are trying to kill them).

Now, I’m focusing on Lirael here because she’s my favorite, but this book has other stuff going on, as well. It takes place 14-18 years after Sabriel (depending on Lirael’s age), and Sabriel is barely in it at all. The two main characters are Lirael (obvs) and Sameth, Sabriel and Touchstone’s son. The narrative starts with them apart as we get to know them, but eventually they meet up and things are pretty much BOOM BOOM BOOM from there on out. Both Lirael and Sam have good character arcs, their inner lives and conflicts are way more realized than Sabriel’s were in book one. Sabriel can pretty much stand alone, but the second two books are basically one long continued story, with Lirael setting things up, and Abhorsen bringing them to a close. I think I prefer Lirael, though, because of the library, and because also Abhorsen honestly kind of scares the shit out of me. But more on that in the appropriate review.

[4.5 stars] ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Aug 03, 2014 Tyrannosaurus regina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction, young-adult, fantasy

It's the wee hours of the morning right now but once I started reading, I just couldn't put it down. Fundamentally this is just the first half of a story, but it comes to a satisfying enough conclusion that it feels complete(ish). I know there are much larger concerns at work in this world, but honestly I think I could spend an entire series of books happily just exploring the depths of the secret libraries; Lirael is wonderful, as are all the heroines of this series. ...more

Like · see review