This is the perfect crown to an excellent trilogy. Nix utilizes one of the great and well-known formulas of bringing together all of the elements of good to fight against the greatest evil, who is threatening to destroy all of life. It’s overused, but it works well in the hands of great writers like Nix. He is able to unveil the story and the mythology in a way that keeps readers interested as well as informs and educates them about the world he’s created.
My only gripe would be that he’s left himself very little room to write anything else of equal caliber within this world, yet I want more stories written about the Old Kingdom. There is one other companion story in Across The Wall, but it’s mostly about Nick and Ancelstierre. The fact that “A Tale of the Abhorsen” is part of the title is misleading as Lirael only shows up for a brief stint at the end. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that anything else will emerge from the world of the Old Kingdom, although I wouldn’t begrudge Nix if it did. I recommend this book to anyone ages 12 and up.
Critique
This is the perfect crown to an excellent trilogy. Nix utilizes one of the great and well-known formulas of bringing together all of the elements of good to fight against the greatest evil, who is threatening to destroy all of life. It’s overused, but it works well in the hands of great writers like Nix. He is able to unveil the story and the mythology in a way that keeps readers interested as well as informs and educates them about the world he’s created.
My only gripe would be that he’s left himself very little room to write anything else of equal caliber within this world, yet I want more stories written about the Old Kingdom. There is one other companion story in Across The Wall, but it’s mostly about Nick and Ancelstierre. The fact that “A Tale of the Abhorsen” is part of the title is misleading as Lirael only shows up for a brief stint at the end. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that anything else will emerge from the world of the Old Kingdom, although I wouldn’t begrudge Nix if it did. I recommend this book to anyone ages 12 and up.
For the full of the review, click here:
http://www.lindseyslibrary.com/2005/09/abhorsen/