You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
narteest 's review for:
Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen
by Garth Nix
As a huge fan of the Abhorsen books and of Garth Nix I cannot understand why I did not put this on my tbr list earlier!!!
I got a shock too when I saw it on shelves...I hadn't even realised that it had come out yet, but damn it, I want it now!
U P D A T E
Finishing this, I realise that I have missed this world a lot more than I thought. I've said it before haven't I? Garth Nix's speciality is dumping you in a high fantasy world and making it seem like it was nothing more than normal.
Sabriel will always be my favourite book of the series, but I enjoyed reading Clariel's story. I loved her selfishness, her stubborn desire to make it to the Great Forest and to be a Borderer rather than to be trapped in Belisaere to be something she didn't want to be. In Clariel, I see a character who was never meant to be a hero, who was drawn down a path due to her own ignorance and also the lack of foresight in other characters. Everyone in Clariel's story wants something and most of it has to do with using Clariel as a pawn. But they never once think about Clariel and what she wants. Who has the time to think of when really the city is in a state of turmoil? But truthfully, you don't see Clariel's character develop until the moment her parents die. There are some stories that just use the death of the parents as an excuse of bringing pain on their characters and not really using it to further develop their character. But for Clariel, it was a moment which other moments build on, which the moments before it happened, supplement it, and eventually it builds and builds and builds until it cascades over a great waterfall, the thrilling ending to come.
It has been so long since I read a Garth Nix book, I was in truth a bit skeptical, hence why I did not buy it the instant I saw it sitting on the bookstore shelf and went into a bubble of ecstaticness. But...you know, if I walk into a store and see it, I will definitely buy it, because Garth Nix has a hand in weaving a great story using so very simple elements. A good story is one that has a world to live in, a character to feel for, and a change to die for--almost literally for some characters.
I got a shock too when I saw it on shelves...I hadn't even realised that it had come out yet, but damn it, I want it now!
U P D A T E
Finishing this, I realise that I have missed this world a lot more than I thought. I've said it before haven't I? Garth Nix's speciality is dumping you in a high fantasy world and making it seem like it was nothing more than normal.
Sabriel will always be my favourite book of the series, but I enjoyed reading Clariel's story. I loved her selfishness, her stubborn desire to make it to the Great Forest and to be a Borderer rather than to be trapped in Belisaere to be something she didn't want to be. In Clariel, I see a character who was never meant to be a hero, who was drawn down a path due to her own ignorance and also the lack of foresight in other characters. Everyone in Clariel's story wants something and most of it has to do with using Clariel as a pawn. But they never once think about Clariel and what she wants. Who has the time to think of when really the city is in a state of turmoil? But truthfully, you don't see Clariel's character develop until the moment her parents die. There are some stories that just use the death of the parents as an excuse of bringing pain on their characters and not really using it to further develop their character. But for Clariel, it was a moment which other moments build on, which the moments before it happened, supplement it, and eventually it builds and builds and builds until it cascades over a great waterfall, the thrilling ending to come.
It has been so long since I read a Garth Nix book, I was in truth a bit skeptical, hence why I did not buy it the instant I saw it sitting on the bookstore shelf and went into a bubble of ecstaticness. But...you know, if I walk into a store and see it, I will definitely buy it, because Garth Nix has a hand in weaving a great story using so very simple elements. A good story is one that has a world to live in, a character to feel for, and a change to die for--almost literally for some characters.