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The same year I read Harry Potter for the first time, I was also introduced to the Old Kingdom, Charter Magic, and Abhorsens. Sabriel was a strong, intelligent, resourceful character whom I immediately admired. The world written by Nix was rich, colorful, and completely believable. When Lirael came along a few years later, I found I loved her story even more than Sabriel's. I've read all three books in the Abhorsen trilogy many times in the last decade, and I've grown even fonder of the artful magical realism created as well as the consistently strong female voices that helped shape me as a young woman.
That's why Clariel was a frustrating character for me. After writing such strong women, it's perplexing to see Nix write a whining, self-centered brat. She was so single-minded through the entire book that I just wanted to slap her. For the first hundred pages I thought 'she's 17, who can blame her?' but as the behavior continued even as sage advice came from incredibly interesting supporting characters, I found her to be lacking in any maturity.
But even as the titular character, she didn't ruin the book. Is there a chapter where she says 'I just want to go back to the forest!' no less than 5 times. Yeah, there is. But there are also interesting plot lines, insights into Free Magic that had not been introduced in other books, trips to amazing locations in the Old Kingdom, and Mogget. I stayed up all night finishing the book, and I don't regret the read at all. Savvy readers will realize who Clariel is fairly early on (I didn't. It took me more than half the book), but it's still completely worth the read.
That's why Clariel was a frustrating character for me. After writing such strong women, it's perplexing to see Nix write a whining, self-centered brat. She was so single-minded through the entire book that I just wanted to slap her. For the first hundred pages I thought 'she's 17, who can blame her?' but as the behavior continued even as sage advice came from incredibly interesting supporting characters, I found her to be lacking in any maturity.
But even as the titular character, she didn't ruin the book. Is there a chapter where she says 'I just want to go back to the forest!' no less than 5 times. Yeah, there is. But there are also interesting plot lines, insights into Free Magic that had not been introduced in other books, trips to amazing locations in the Old Kingdom, and Mogget. I stayed up all night finishing the book, and I don't regret the read at all. Savvy readers will realize who Clariel is fairly early on (I didn't. It took me more than half the book), but it's still completely worth the read.
I liked the world building as a prequel, however was much slower than the original trilogy
I still want to like, get more books from this time.
I also think I need to re-read Goldenhand because was it Belatiel they found in the well? Or someone else? I wish names stuck out better for me or my memory was better. Or I'd read them in the right order because then I probably would remember for sure.
Either way. Or was it Goldenhand? I think maybe it was Abhorsen? See? Swisscheese memory.
It was interesting to see the decline of the kingdom, but this seems like it was well before whatever happened with Kerrigor, and before Orrannis, or was it the lead up? Tldr: I want more books from about this time, and would love to see more from further back or even before. When the charter was less lost, and more knowledge was a thing. Before the Hillfaire house etc.
I enjoyed this a lot, I enjoyed the representation I saw in there, and I am glad I got to reread it.
I also think I need to re-read Goldenhand because was it Belatiel they found in the well? Or someone else? I wish names stuck out better for me or my memory was better. Or I'd read them in the right order because then I probably would remember for sure.
Either way. Or was it Goldenhand? I think maybe it was Abhorsen? See? Swisscheese memory.
It was interesting to see the decline of the kingdom, but this seems like it was well before whatever happened with Kerrigor, and before Orrannis, or was it the lead up? Tldr: I want more books from about this time, and would love to see more from further back or even before. When the charter was less lost, and more knowledge was a thing. Before the Hillfaire house etc.
I enjoyed this a lot, I enjoyed the representation I saw in there, and I am glad I got to reread it.
I loved the characters. I actually liked how whiney Clariel was - she seemed like a real teenager to me. I liked the plot. But Nix's pacing problems have only gotten worse as he writes more books. This one felt like such a slog, and I couldn't understand why, because there was so much about it that I liked or even loved. But his writing can't hold my attention and it's really frustrating. The original trilogy also had pacing problems, but not on this level. I don't think I'm going to read the 5th in the series
Clariel is a believable teenager, and the story arc was cool, but something in the writing was just flat, it couldn't keep my attention
I don't think this one was as good as the original three in the series, or at least not as good as I remember them being when I read them over 10 years ago and when I was a teenager. I found Clariel a lot harder to sympathize with as a protagonist and found her quite whiny and petulant, but she is a teenager after all. I enjoyed the over all story once it got moving.
Second reading of this was excellent. I think I'll up my rating to 5 stars. Particularly enjoyed that this book gave greater insights into free magic and filled in some of the gaps that I had when I read Goldenhand.
První půlka byla opravdu nuda, druhá půlka konečně nabrala na síle, atmosféře, ta už mě dost bavila, no přišlo mi to jako dvě úplně odlišné knihy slepené do jedné. Clariel byla děsně protivná po většinu času, pořád jen fňukala, že chce zpátky do lesa a do konce ji to neopustilo. Postavy byly ploché, děj slabý. Na to jak boží je první trilogie, tak tohle se moc nepovedlo.
A přímo k českému vydání, já jsem člověk, který si chyb moc nevšímá, ale tady jich bylo hodně, špatná jména, překlepy, slovosled divný občas, ale jakoby to zmizlo s druhou půlkou, mě to přijde, jak kdyby ani překladatele ta první polovina nebavila, tak tomu moc nevěnoval pozornost, ale ta druhá už byla záživnější, tak se do toho opřel. No prostě divná knížka.
A přímo k českému vydání, já jsem člověk, který si chyb moc nevšímá, ale tady jich bylo hodně, špatná jména, překlepy, slovosled divný občas, ale jakoby to zmizlo s druhou půlkou, mě to přijde, jak kdyby ani překladatele ta první polovina nebavila, tak tomu moc nevěnoval pozornost, ale ta druhá už byla záživnější, tak se do toho opřel. No prostě divná knížka.
maybe this was tainted by the fact that I recently tried to recommend the audio version of this series to a friend that seems to have similar taste to me, but he thought the first volume was way too slow and boring. I remember really liking the others, but found this one to be unengaging and boring. I never fell in love with the main character and the action was slow to happen and not very fascinating in my opinion.
I was a little disappointed in this book. I felt that Clariel was weak from the start and was hoping for some development or something. That being said, I was glad that Garth Nix was true to the style of the Abhorsen Trilogy and gave us more to learn about (like how Abhorsen was really a name that applied to a whole family instead of just a title). I do wonder, what happened to all the other Abhorsen family members in the 400 years between Clariel and Sabriel? Is there still a Hillfair?