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soartfullydone 's review for:
Sabriel
by Garth Nix
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I once tried to read this book way back in my teen years while waiting for the next Harry Potter book to come out (this was 2007-08), and it didn't grip my attention then, so I never got close to finishing it.
Now, I can see why Sabriel by Garth Nix is a beloved old-school fantasy adventure, though I myself have no nostalgia points to award it. It's plot-focused over being character-driven. It expects you to go with the flow on the magic system (Charter Magic vs. Free Magic), the world-building (the establishment of Ancelstierre vs. the fall of the Old Kingdom), and the character relationships (Sabriel's relationship with her father and her sudden romance with Touchstone) without spending a whole lot of exposition, fuss, and time on any of it. This is truly about the coming-of-age adventure of an inexperienced, fish-out-of-water student rising to the occasion to become the next Abhorsen and hero of the day.
Overall, I found it deeply okay. By no means a badly-written novel but certainly not one of my favorites. I can at least forgive my younger self more for her lack of commitment.
I'm mostly not one for plot-driven stories anymore unless the plot is really something special, and given how much I read and the amount of other media I've been exposed to, that's a tall order to ask of a novel written in 1995. Indeed, Sabriel's plot is pretty by-the-book for a fantasy adventure: young girl goes on a quest to save her loved one and defeat a rising evil. Nix's depiction of necromancy is the true stand-out here, with the wanderings into Death, its many Gates, and the hierarchy of dead spirits. I greatly enjoyed watching Sabriel wield her tools of the trade (I adored the bells), even while I wished that he'd spent more time on distinguishing Charter Magic from Free Magic.
I also wish Ancelstierre's existence and relationship to the Old Kingdom had been explained even a little bit, because going from such a banger of a prologue to there suddenly being cars and rifles was incredibly jarring. Just a little bit of work to marry these two worlds together couldn't made all the difference to setting the overall atmosphere of the novel.
And y'know, I really do love that prologue with the Abhorsen saving a dead infant from the clutches of death, of the reveal that she's his daughter. I was riding such a high from that opening that I was bummed that the rest of the novel never quite matched that energy again. Instead, I felt like Sabriel's, Touchstone's, and Mogget's characterizations were stifled against the tide of the plot, and I didn't feel that closeness between them (or for them) that I instantly got between Sabriel and the Abhorsen. (Woe is me for what becomes of that here. Again, very formula and very much a let-down. But I can't judge a book too harshly for being a product of its time.)
Sabriel's depiction especially suffers from Nix's expectations of what an older teenage girl should sound like and care about with none of the introspection. Because he did not work on establishing her voice or anything much about her beyond her training as a necromancer, I never felt especially close to her or that she was truly "there" in the story. Sabriel here is merely the vehicle through which the plot must move and she is steered by it in turn. This is fine for some, but for such a beloved novel featuring a prominent female character, I expected and hoped for more.
And I mean, look, the breakneck romance between her and Touchstone was nothing short of "huh?" Feelings developing are fine. Exchanging sudden "I love you's" when they've barely talked about anything because Touchstone is so traumatized? We could've saved this for the next books, is all I'm saying. But clearly, romancing a near-comatose prince is what a teenage girl must want, so that's what Nix gives to poor Sabriel. I'll at least award him points for treating the situation concerning her father with the weight it deserves. I guess what I truly wanted was for this book to be about this father and daughter, and instead, it was more a motivation for the adventure than anything.
All that aside, the novel does drop hints of mystery and intrigue that I hope the sequels dive into further: what Mogget really is and what he's owed, what spell has been placed on the population to prevent them from talking about the past and why, what Kerrigor's whole deal is, what Touchstone will grow to be, and of course, how Sabriel's role as the new Abhorsen will develop.
I've long nursed a burning curiosity behind this series, and for the moment, I can say that curiosity has been sated. I'll probably check out the other books eventually, but too many others are pulling my attention now with much greater success. Yes, I've checked out too many books from the library, and yes, I deeply regret it.
Now, I can see why Sabriel by Garth Nix is a beloved old-school fantasy adventure, though I myself have no nostalgia points to award it. It's plot-focused over being character-driven. It expects you to go with the flow on the magic system (Charter Magic vs. Free Magic), the world-building (the establishment of Ancelstierre vs. the fall of the Old Kingdom), and the character relationships (Sabriel's relationship with her father and her sudden romance with Touchstone) without spending a whole lot of exposition, fuss, and time on any of it. This is truly about the coming-of-age adventure of an inexperienced, fish-out-of-water student rising to the occasion to become the next Abhorsen and hero of the day.
Overall, I found it deeply okay. By no means a badly-written novel but certainly not one of my favorites. I can at least forgive my younger self more for her lack of commitment.
I'm mostly not one for plot-driven stories anymore unless the plot is really something special, and given how much I read and the amount of other media I've been exposed to, that's a tall order to ask of a novel written in 1995. Indeed, Sabriel's plot is pretty by-the-book for a fantasy adventure: young girl goes on a quest to save her loved one and defeat a rising evil. Nix's depiction of necromancy is the true stand-out here, with the wanderings into Death, its many Gates, and the hierarchy of dead spirits. I greatly enjoyed watching Sabriel wield her tools of the trade (I adored the bells), even while I wished that he'd spent more time on distinguishing Charter Magic from Free Magic.
I also wish Ancelstierre's existence and relationship to the Old Kingdom had been explained even a little bit, because going from such a banger of a prologue to there suddenly being cars and rifles was incredibly jarring. Just a little bit of work to marry these two worlds together couldn't made all the difference to setting the overall atmosphere of the novel.
And y'know, I really do love that prologue with the Abhorsen saving a dead infant from the clutches of death, of the reveal that she's his daughter. I was riding such a high from that opening that I was bummed that the rest of the novel never quite matched that energy again. Instead, I felt like Sabriel's, Touchstone's, and Mogget's characterizations were stifled against the tide of the plot, and I didn't feel that closeness between them (or for them) that I instantly got between Sabriel and the Abhorsen. (Woe is me for what becomes of that here. Again, very formula and very much a let-down. But I can't judge a book too harshly for being a product of its time.)
Sabriel's depiction especially suffers from Nix's expectations of what an older teenage girl should sound like and care about with none of the introspection. Because he did not work on establishing her voice or anything much about her beyond her training as a necromancer, I never felt especially close to her or that she was truly "there" in the story. Sabriel here is merely the vehicle through which the plot must move and she is steered by it in turn. This is fine for some, but for such a beloved novel featuring a prominent female character, I expected and hoped for more.
And I mean, look, the breakneck romance between her and Touchstone was nothing short of "huh?" Feelings developing are fine. Exchanging sudden "I love you's" when they've barely talked about anything because Touchstone is so traumatized? We could've saved this for the next books, is all I'm saying. But clearly, romancing a near-comatose prince is what a teenage girl must want, so that's what Nix gives to poor Sabriel. I'll at least award him points for treating the situation concerning her father with the weight it deserves. I guess what I truly wanted was for this book to be about this father and daughter, and instead, it was more a motivation for the adventure than anything.
All that aside, the novel does drop hints of mystery and intrigue that I hope the sequels dive into further: what Mogget really is and what he's owed, what spell has been placed on the population to prevent them from talking about the past and why, what Kerrigor's whole deal is, what Touchstone will grow to be, and of course, how Sabriel's role as the new Abhorsen will develop.
I've long nursed a burning curiosity behind this series, and for the moment, I can say that curiosity has been sated. I'll probably check out the other books eventually, but too many others are pulling my attention now with much greater success. Yes, I've checked out too many books from the library, and yes, I deeply regret it.