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adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Prequel to Sabriel series. Origin story for Chlorr of the Mask.
An excellent addition to the Abhorsen series, rife with Free Magic, necromancy, Charter Magic, intrigue, and Mogget. Thankfully light on the romance, but wish some of the villainous characters were a little less predictable. Cannot wait for the next Lirael book, and so wish these were movies!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm the biggest fan of this book, and especially this audiobook version - so there are big biases below! :)
Clariel is (to-date) the odd duck of the Old Kingdom books - in setting, scope, plot and characterisation it stands solo. And if you're a fan of those books it'll likely stand or fall on that for you. Familiar locations, characters and lore from the Old Kingdom are explored and understood from a new perspective, and the role of the Charter, Free Magic and the history of the not-yet-ruined Old Kingdom is re-evaluated. But, like its sibling books (especially Sabriel & Lirael) - this is a book about a teenager, a destiny, and the question of her agency. Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker? But where Sabriel and Lirael each stepped-up to some greater destiny in a time of horrific peril - their 400 years distant ancestor Clariel lives in a time of peace & plenty, and just wants to go live alone in a forest. It's everyone else who wants her to embrace a great destiny, whether she wants to or not.
Several reviewers had trouble with this one because of Clariel's character. Unlike pragmatic, brave, loving Sabriel; or melancholic, misbegotten, genius Lireal; Clariel is hard to like as a 'fantasy protagonist' - and she means to be. She's uninterested in magic, uninterested in people, and uninterested in anyone's plans for her future as the key to power in the Old Kingdom. Alienated from her dysfunctional parents, separated from her beloved Aunt, and unable to break away from the comfortable, but unhappy life that's all she knows... Clariel might be brave, capable, honest and true-hearted... but she's also disdainful, selfish, and the poster-child for 'refusing the call'. She's surrounded by a myriad of people striving to live up to grand designs, heroes in their own stories as they fight for the power to change the Old Kingdom. But the question emerging from the heart of Clariel is, what will Clariel do if she actually gets the power to change her world? And what will power do to Clariel?
Clariel is a complex, flawed, wonderful character. She isn't endearing, but her griefs are so clear and deep its impossible to misunderstand where things are going wrong for her. If a person is a person through other persons, then Clariel kind of doesn't care about being a person. She just wants to be heself, alone, at peace. Her interplay with her parents is heart-wrenching, her introduction to her Abhorsen cousins (especially "delightfully enthusiastic" Belatiel) is compelling, and her encounters with Free Magic Creatures are dramatic, empathetic and startling. This isn't a feel-good tale, it's a story of the Old Kingdom's fall from grace - and I think it's wonderfully and boldly told.
Clariel is (to-date) the odd duck of the Old Kingdom books - in setting, scope, plot and characterisation it stands solo. And if you're a fan of those books it'll likely stand or fall on that for you. Familiar locations, characters and lore from the Old Kingdom are explored and understood from a new perspective, and the role of the Charter, Free Magic and the history of the not-yet-ruined Old Kingdom is re-evaluated. But, like its sibling books (especially Sabriel & Lirael) - this is a book about a teenager, a destiny, and the question of her agency. Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker? But where Sabriel and Lirael each stepped-up to some greater destiny in a time of horrific peril - their 400 years distant ancestor Clariel lives in a time of peace & plenty, and just wants to go live alone in a forest. It's everyone else who wants her to embrace a great destiny, whether she wants to or not.
Several reviewers had trouble with this one because of Clariel's character. Unlike pragmatic, brave, loving Sabriel; or melancholic, misbegotten, genius Lireal; Clariel is hard to like as a 'fantasy protagonist' - and she means to be. She's uninterested in magic, uninterested in people, and uninterested in anyone's plans for her future as the key to power in the Old Kingdom. Alienated from her dysfunctional parents, separated from her beloved Aunt, and unable to break away from the comfortable, but unhappy life that's all she knows... Clariel might be brave, capable, honest and true-hearted... but she's also disdainful, selfish, and the poster-child for 'refusing the call'. She's surrounded by a myriad of people striving to live up to grand designs, heroes in their own stories as they fight for the power to change the Old Kingdom. But the question emerging from the heart of Clariel is, what will Clariel do if she actually gets the power to change her world? And what will power do to Clariel?
Clariel is a complex, flawed, wonderful character. She isn't endearing, but her griefs are so clear and deep its impossible to misunderstand where things are going wrong for her. If a person is a person through other persons, then Clariel kind of doesn't care about being a person. She just wants to be heself, alone, at peace. Her interplay with her parents is heart-wrenching, her introduction to her Abhorsen cousins (especially "delightfully enthusiastic" Belatiel) is compelling, and her encounters with Free Magic Creatures are dramatic, empathetic and startling. This isn't a feel-good tale, it's a story of the Old Kingdom's fall from grace - and I think it's wonderfully and boldly told.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent
Edit: I changed my mind after sleeping on this a few nights. The plot essentially boils down to our main character really, really wanting something, everyone telling her she can't have it, and then bad stuff happening and everyone saying "Oops, guess we should have let you do the thing you wanted." That is not plot or character development. Oh Garth Nix, maybe you should stay away from the Old Kingdom for a while.
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Not as good as Sabriel, but better than Lirael, even if there were a couple places in the story that were just so...contrived. Glad I did finally get around to reading it though!
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Not as good as Sabriel, but better than Lirael, even if there were a couple places in the story that were just so...contrived. Glad I did finally get around to reading it though!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
I really liked this book and the MC was great. I loved that she wasn’t exactly the good guy and just how broken she was. It was pretty sad though I think her role that was explained was way to small. I think she could have had a much larger and villainous presence. I also loved that took place before Sabriel and lirael.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes