Sabriel

By: Garth Nix

Narrated by: Tim Curry

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Ever since she was a tiny child, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world.

Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful and perhaps malevolent spirit; and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories.

With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death, and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.

A tale of dark secrets, deep love and dangerous magic, Sabriel introduces Garth Nix as an exceptional new talent.

Don't miss books two and three of this trilogy! Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr and Abhorsen.

©1995 Garth Nix (P)2002 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, An Imprint Of The Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"It's an epic journey in a world as richly realized as Middle-earth and much darker and bloodier than Harry's trials at Hogwarts...Tim Curry brings authority to the reading, grounding the fantastic elements with nuance of character and depth of emotion. (AudioFile)
"Rich, complex, involving, hard to put down, this first novel...is excellent high fantasy." (Publishers Weekly)
"A page-turner for sure." (Booklist)

Tim Curry is ALWAYS amazing

Not only have I loved this book since I read it many, many years ago but it was even better with Tim Curry reading it.

Always a favorite

This has been one of my longstanding favorite, and I have re-read it many times. I recently read a different Garth Nix book to my daughter and was reminded of how much I love his work. On a whim I decided to see which of his books were available on Audible (hint, most of them) and I saw that the narrator on this was Tim Curry so I was sold.

I actually did not like Tim Curry as a narrator as much as I thought that I would, but his acting is superb. He put in a lot of effort into each character and you could tell. I thought his interpretation of Mogget was purr-fect. I think that I would have preferred a female narrator for this book. Having read this book many times, and now listened to it, I feel that the audiobook added another dimension to this, rather than reading alone.

Definitely worth it, wonderful story.

amazing book and series

wish it was a movie one of my all time favorite books. It has all the elements in just the right amount to continually keep you excited for the next chapter.

adventure, death, and hope

I loved this story. It is well written, the performance was awesome. The author paints a vivid picture of death, and the possibility of what the "Gates" are.

unexpected

I stumbled upon this book quite randomly and after reading a few reviews on goodreads decided to give it a try.
No regrets. I like the pace and really like the fact that science can coexist with magic. Definitely a theme I've been looking for. I only deducted a point because while I like the overall pace there where a couple of times where character development happened just because. I felt like those developments need a bit more settling into, but that's just me.
On to book two.

one of my favorite books

this is one of my all time favorite series as read by an actor I very much admire, overall I loved it. the performance was brilliant and the book itself is still amazing and I still love it even 23 years after my first reading of it.

This is a great story!

The narration is spot on and the voice of the cat is great. I can almost hear our warehouse cat talking in the same voice.

Great job, but this narrator really can’t do female voices

I really enjoyed the book. However, Tim Curry really can’t do young female voices in distress. It just doesn’t work. “Bunny!” sticks in my mind forever as an example of how narrators need to be more carefully chosen.

Amazing

I have already read the abhorsen series so listening to it through audible was just a treat :)

A Wonderful, Fast-Paced Fantasy Novel

This is a book that has been recommended to me time and time again since I was in middle school or so, and I’m thrilled that I finally picked it up. There’s a reason it has become such a classic, and the title is well-deserved. This didn’t feel like a YA book—aside from the main character being a teen, there is no indication that this book is for a younger level. It’s well-written, thoroughly developed, and deals with intense emotions. It’s dark, interesting, magical, and witty. The characters are all incredibly interesting, and the world-building is engaging. This is a book I listened to in one day—I simply could not put it down.

Moreover, Tim Curry is probably the best narrator I’ve heard on Audible. His range of voices was excellent, and the fantasy elements shone through in a way that was well-done, not silly or overdone. I really think that listening made this book even better, and I would happily listen to this man read a phone book.

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy novels.