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adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
This has been one of my favorite books for about 20 years. Enjoyed it as a teenage and it still stands up. Fleshed ouy magic system, in depth world building, characters with personality and growth... It's so good. I recently listened to the Tim Curry narrated audio books which were
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Book: What really worked for worldbuilding and plot execution (at least for me) ended up hindering the characterization. This is a simple fantasy novel. It doesn't drone on and on about complex magic systems and dragging backstory. It jumps right into the story with all the narrative details easily grasped along the way. Could it use more indepth info on the magic system? Yes. Does it need it? Not for this book. Looking forward to seeing how the world develops in the sequels. The major issue with its simplicity is that I had almost no feelings toward any of the characters. They were likable, but I didn't care much. I do get the feeling that if I had read this when I was younger, I may have felt differently. In which case, this book may have made it to 5 stars.
The Narration: When I start an audiobook, I rarely look at who the narrator is right away. So a couple chapters in, a new character is introduced, and suddenly, I'm hit with the voice of Nigel Thornberry. That's how I came to realize that Tim Curry narrates this series. This was jarring at times. (To me, Touchstone and Mogget sound like Nigel and Nigel's evil twin, and it's...an experience.) I am conflicted about continuing as an audiobook or a hard copy read.
Do what you will with this review. Heard about the series through Julia Drawfee. Will absolutely continue reading.
The Narration: When I start an audiobook, I rarely look at who the narrator is right away. So a couple chapters in, a new character is introduced, and suddenly, I'm hit with the voice of Nigel Thornberry. That's how I came to realize that Tim Curry narrates this series. This was jarring at times. (To me, Touchstone and Mogget sound like Nigel and Nigel's evil twin, and it's...an experience.) I am conflicted about continuing as an audiobook or a hard copy read.
Do what you will with this review. Heard about the series through Julia Drawfee. Will absolutely continue reading.
I'm going to cut my losses; this book just wasn't for me. I absolutely adore the writing style and world-building, but the story is very, very slow and I don't find the characters overly compelling. We have Sabriel, who is fairly passive, the cat who is just there and we got a new character introduced, but I don't really care for him. As a character-driven reader, I am just unble to attach to the cast, so that makes it really hard for me to root for what happens. So the score won't be too poor, as there is nothing really wrong with it, I am just not interested. I much rather read something else than this, so that means it is time to DNF.
I’ve had this one on my TBR since I saw this Unresolved Textual Tension Review of Sabriel and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. I think this is hands down the most efficient book I’ve read. First chapter – BOOM! Inciting incident! No time is wasted, world building is done as you go through perilous situations with Sabriel and as things pop up you gradually learn how this world works. Tbh, at one point I kind of wished for a breather because it was non-stop DANGER, DANGER, DANGER and I was getting fatigued by it. The editor or the author must have felt similarly because, just as I hit that point, I got my wish and things slowed down. Not completely, mind you, I don’t think this book ever pauses fully, but enough for me to get to know the characters better. Still, the narration always keeps its distance and characterisation is done as a side-effect of the plot. This is eminently a plot-driven book and it works great considering how world-ending the stakes are.
The only small point where I felt it didn’t work as well was the romance arc, if you can call it that. Touchstone and Sabriel are cute together, don’t get me wrong, but they barely had two full conversations before exchanging “I love you”s. If the “broody silence” would have been exchanged with at least the mention of some off-page conversations over dinner, I might have bought it. That being said, I still feel like a teenager would enjoy it, so it’s probably enough for its target audience.
Overall it’s a great book, the concept is nice, the description of the Gates and the Precints of Death are imaginative, the tension is maintained throughout and each thing that is set up has a payoff (well, maybe except one thing that I was expecting to happen, but perhaps it’s in one of the other books in the series).
I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a book focused on plot above all else!
The only small point where I felt it didn’t work as well was the romance arc, if you can call it that. Touchstone and Sabriel are cute together, don’t get me wrong, but they barely had two full conversations before exchanging “I love you”s. If the “broody silence” would have been exchanged with at least the mention of some off-page conversations over dinner, I might have bought it. That being said, I still feel like a teenager would enjoy it, so it’s probably enough for its target audience.
Overall it’s a great book, the concept is nice, the description of the Gates and the Precints of Death are imaginative, the tension is maintained throughout and each thing that is set up has a payoff (well, maybe except one thing that I was expecting to happen, but perhaps it’s in one of the other books in the series).
I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a book focused on plot above all else!