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A review by anneklein
Lirael by Garth Nix
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.0
I love this book, even though on my reread it was less striking as the first time (hence the downgrade from 5 stars to 4). Lirael's story is so precious.
Sabriel (the book) is an adventure story where magic, plot and action are there for their own sake; in Lirael, Garth Nix seems to begin weaving themes in a more intentional way. It captures what it feels like to be a teenager, constantly trying to find one's place in the world. Lirael's struggle to feel welcomed by an environment that expects her to be so different than she actually is presents a really compelling conflict (both interior and exterior). Her nihilism in response to that was also particularly poignant to me, now that I am reading with the experience of having survived a major clinical depression. Certainly, her pessimistic thoughts can be chalked up to her being a dramatic teenager, but to me there are clear hints of mental health struggle which made her character even more human, and my own reading experience more cathartic.
The Glacier of the Clayr is a phenomenal setting, described well enough that it feels immersive while never falling into over-exposition. I loved the library environment that Lirael begins to work at, especially once she has the Disreputable Dog as her companion. I think I liked the Dog even more than Mogget, as far as fantasy familiars go; perhaps because her nature is kept such a mystery throughout the book, and she is not such a reluctant companion. She has a very clear and unique personality, which somehow feels very accurate to what I think a dog's personality would be if they were able to talk. So that was really, really fun to read. In general I loved Lirael's chapters and her whole arc throughout the book. She goes through a journey that makes her evolve as a person, learns from her mistakes and still remains very human and palpable.
Sam's chapters, on the other hand, should have been cut massively. They made the book drag, something that was not helped by the fact that he is way less interesting as a character than Lirael is. The book tries to take us on a dual-POV story from part 2 onwards, and it just does not work because one of the storylines is way more engaging than the other. Sam was a character with understandable motivations, and a very interesting premise even: a son of the Abhorsen who cannot see himself as her successor. Both Sam and Lirael feel dissatisfied with their lives at the start of the book, but the context of each of their situations means we immediately sympathise with Lirael, the outsider in a society of seers who is trying to find her place in the world, rather than Sam the crown prince, with all the resources he might want at his disposition. Ironically, while Lirael is trying to find a way to do what everyone around her is doing, Sam's struggle is with telling himself and the world that he is not able to do what everybody thinks he should.
Sam's story does present some interesting themes, first and foremost familial dynamics and absent parents. But Sabriel and Touchstone, his parents, don't really make enough appearances for the theme to reach any resolutions or to even develop as a conflict in the first place. Most of the time Sam is alone with no real allies of his ownuntil Mogget appears way past the halfway point of the book . A good chunk of his adventure from Belisaere to the Ratterlin river could have been skipped in favour of tighter pacing or perhaps more exploration of his relationships with his parents and his sister Ellimere. By the time Sam and Lirael's plotlines converge, the book becomes really engaging again.
I was not particularly mad about the decision to stop the bookright before the characters get to Edge/the Red Lake . I feel like this is very common in young adult series from the 2000s and it encourages the reader to continue the story. If anything, I think the book could have been split right after Lirael finds the pipes, mirror and book of remembrance . I enjoyed the calm resolution of many of the questions our characters had at the Abhorsen's House, it was satisfying to see the characters finally get a moment of rest (Sam particularly, my boy was on the border of passing out for half the book!) and uncover knowledge about themselves and their past. It didn't really matter that we had suspected Lirael was related to Sabriel for basically the whole book, because it was her own journey to discovering it that was enjoyable about it.
As always, I enjoy the way Garth Nix does not dumb down his language just because he is writing in the Young Adult category. There were a good few words I had to look up, like "aft" ("at, near, or towards the stern of a ship or tail of an aircraft") or "fantail" (a type of bird!), which was fun. Some sentences were really gorgeous in and of themselves, though the prose is never purple or flourishy for the sake of it (in fact, in Sabriel the writing is almost too pithy for my liking). I think Nix shines in his descriptions of magic, he knows how to make his writing entrancing and fascinating to read, which in combination with the truly unique magic system in this series makes for a phenomenal time.
While I see the flaws of this book, particularly in pacing and in the journey of Sam as a character, I still feel extremely satisfied with it and find it's a really excellent fantasy book for all ages that stands the test of time like very few others.
Sabriel (the book) is an adventure story where magic, plot and action are there for their own sake; in Lirael, Garth Nix seems to begin weaving themes in a more intentional way. It captures what it feels like to be a teenager, constantly trying to find one's place in the world. Lirael's struggle to feel welcomed by an environment that expects her to be so different than she actually is presents a really compelling conflict (both interior and exterior). Her nihilism in response to that was also particularly poignant to me, now that I am reading with the experience of having survived a major clinical depression. Certainly, her pessimistic thoughts can be chalked up to her being a dramatic teenager, but to me there are clear hints of mental health struggle which made her character even more human, and my own reading experience more cathartic.
The Glacier of the Clayr is a phenomenal setting, described well enough that it feels immersive while never falling into over-exposition. I loved the library environment that Lirael begins to work at, especially once she has the Disreputable Dog as her companion. I think I liked the Dog even more than Mogget, as far as fantasy familiars go; perhaps because her nature is kept such a mystery throughout the book, and she is not such a reluctant companion. She has a very clear and unique personality, which somehow feels very accurate to what I think a dog's personality would be if they were able to talk. So that was really, really fun to read. In general I loved Lirael's chapters and her whole arc throughout the book. She goes through a journey that makes her evolve as a person, learns from her mistakes and still remains very human and palpable.
Sam's chapters, on the other hand, should have been cut massively. They made the book drag, something that was not helped by the fact that he is way less interesting as a character than Lirael is. The book tries to take us on a dual-POV story from part 2 onwards, and it just does not work because one of the storylines is way more engaging than the other. Sam was a character with understandable motivations, and a very interesting premise even: a son of the Abhorsen who cannot see himself as her successor. Both Sam and Lirael feel dissatisfied with their lives at the start of the book, but the context of each of their situations means we immediately sympathise with Lirael, the outsider in a society of seers who is trying to find her place in the world, rather than Sam the crown prince, with all the resources he might want at his disposition. Ironically, while Lirael is trying to find a way to do what everyone around her is doing, Sam's struggle is with telling himself and the world that he is not able to do what everybody thinks he should.
Sam's story does present some interesting themes, first and foremost familial dynamics and absent parents. But Sabriel and Touchstone, his parents, don't really make enough appearances for the theme to reach any resolutions or to even develop as a conflict in the first place. Most of the time Sam is alone with no real allies of his own
I was not particularly mad about the decision to stop the book
As always, I enjoy the way Garth Nix does not dumb down his language just because he is writing in the Young Adult category. There were a good few words I had to look up, like "aft" ("at, near, or towards the stern of a ship or tail of an aircraft") or "fantail" (a type of bird!), which was fun. Some sentences were really gorgeous in and of themselves, though the prose is never purple or flourishy for the sake of it (in fact, in Sabriel the writing is almost too pithy for my liking). I think Nix shines in his descriptions of magic, he knows how to make his writing entrancing and fascinating to read, which in combination with the truly unique magic system in this series makes for a phenomenal time.
While I see the flaws of this book, particularly in pacing and in the journey of Sam as a character, I still feel extremely satisfied with it and find it's a really excellent fantasy book for all ages that stands the test of time like very few others.