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)

Great

Was a great book good read going to read the second book for sure suggested

Captivating and fast paced

Tim Curry brings fantastic animated life to all characters in this Garth Nix novel. It is a captivating and exceeding well spun tale!

Wonderful sorry, and calming narrator!

It starts slow, but the story pulls you in fast! The narration was superb, both relaxing and serious at just the right times! This audiobook is a rollercoaster that I recommend to any fantasy fan!

Dark, serious YA fantasy

If you're in the mood for a somber, gorgeously visual novel that's part Philip Pullman, part Tolkien, and part a world out of one those artful fantasy illustrations that seemed to have had a heyday in the 1970s, Sabriel might fit the bill. The heroine of the title is a girl of mysterious origins who was born in the magical "Old Kingdom" and possesses a rare natural gift for necromancy. However, Sabriel has spent most of her life in Ancelstierre, a non-magical country that resembles Britain of the early 1900s, but shares a strange border region with the Old Kingdom. The story begins with its heroine, who is completing a clandestine education in magic, learning that her often-absent father, who spends most of his time in the Old Kingdom, has gone missing. Meanwhile, the undead ghouls and spirits that plague that region have been acting up, for reasons that Sabriel doesn't understand, having been away from home for so long.

While the quest that ensues follows a well-worn good-versus-darkness script, I enjoyed its world creation. Many of Nix's ideas, from the militarized zone between Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom, to the different bells that perform different kinds of necromantic magic, to the beautifully eerie World of the Dead, a Stygian realm populated by beings and souls that have not yet passed entirely from life (and a third parallel reality in the story), have a delicious sense of old history to them. I also enjoyed the side characters, a sardonic, semi-helpful creature of unclear origins named Mogget, who is trapped inside a cat's body, and a stolid, brooding young man named Touchstone, who is wrapped up in his own past.

The writing resembles Pullman's The Golden Compass in that it takes its dark reality seriously and contains a few "adult" things, such as some glancing references to sex and several grim scenes of death. There's nothing I'd consider prurient or inappropriate for the average 12-13 year old, though. For my money, The Golden Compass was more interesting, but readers looking for a work like it, albeit with a more traditional sensibility, would probably enjoy Sabriel.

Tim Curry's audiobook performance, which is a touch campfire tale and a touch Shakespearean theatre, fits the tone delightfully.

Why can't adult fantasy be this good

Paradoxically if an adult wants original fantasy literature (that is not Lord of the Rings redux) the best place to look is in the "teen" section. Sabriel is a great example. The reader is great and the story is even better. Very original, exciting, adverturous, and (since I can't get the next 2 books in the series on audio)it has me rushing to the bookstore to buy the two other books in the trilogy. Very fun. Don't miss it.

Adventure beginning to end!

I actually got this book because I'm such a Tim Curry listening fan. He is such an awesome reader, one of my absolute favorites. I never need to be told which character he is "speaking".

The book was an absolute delight. I used to work in my daughters school library and am known for being a fan of a lot of "teen" books anyway, I'd spend tons at the book fair "for her" and then read the books myself.

This book was just an excellent adventure, from start to finish with just enough suspense to keep you hanging and urging Sabriel on. Of course this title will be a personal referral to my local audible friends too!

AMAZING!

This is the first Audiobook I have ever given a five star rating. Usually, I find some reason to give 4 stars or less. This book is fantastic. Tim Curry does a superb job at narrating the story, as can be expected. The author weaves a tale that traps you and won't let go. The world and characters created by the author are complete and perfectly flawed. You can see everything exactly as it should be if a movie were to be made of it, and a movie should be made of it!

I'm in love

You had me at "it was little more than 3 miles from the wall".

The story was truly fascinating and full of action and imaginary page turning; I love how the story is accompanied by intense and alluring music and side effects throughout the journey into both old and new kingdom.

Thanking you for helping me escape long and otherwise boring traffic and transporting me into a beautiful world of anticipation and thrill.

Looking forward to future reading.

Excellent!

Simply a great story... read with amazing talent!
HEY AUDIBLE...MORE PLEASE! (there's still two more books in this series!)

Great YA Fantasy, and Tim Curry!

(Vague Spoilers) This is solid YA, from before YA was it's own massive sector of the publishing industry. I think it fares better than many newer YA series because of it, though it does have some shortfalls that held me back from giving it 5 stars. That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to give this to a teen interested in Fantasy, or an adult Fantasy fan looking for an easy read.

THE GOOD

Competence, Sabriel is Thy Name: There's no self doubt or angst filled YA here, no parents that don't "get her", no drama at the magical school. Sabriel springs fully formed as a highly competent 18 year old right from the intro. She effortlessly uses her powers (both Charter and Necromantic) with the ease of long practice, and is decisive if occasionally impulsive. A great role model for young readers, as it's never a big deal that she is a woman with power, it's just accepted.

Interesting Necromancy, before it was Cool: Recent books I've read like Gideon/Harrow the Ninth have had interesting new twists on Necromancy, but this is a classic book shows that there is plenty of originality to go around when comes to Necromancy. Magic bells play an important role here, with each bell having different powers and drawbacks, and occasionally even a personality.

The more standard forms of magic, referred to as Charter Magic and Free Magic, are more mundane forms of soft magic, and aren't nearly as interesting.

Paying Attention? This book was written with the assumption in mind that kids are capable of having a longer attention span. Many newer YA books treat kids like they need constant action and plot twists in every chapter to keep their interest. This book unfolds at a more stately pace, and I think it is far better for it.

Spicy Curry: The audiobook is narrated by Tim Curry. Yes, that Tim Curry. It's every bit as amazing as you'd assume. His voices for Mogget and anything undead or evil are iconic. If you like audiobooks, I'd recommend consuming this via audiobook over the print version.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

Tropey: Not so tropey as to drive you to distraction, but still, Tolkien's shadow looms large (as usual). An undead baddie trying to come back to life and seize ultimate power over the world? Check. Strange Gollum creature, er, I mean Mogget creature that is both friend and foe acting as a guide? Check. A magic ring playing a very important role? Check.

Insta-Trope: All the previous tropes are OK really, because each is given a spin fairly different from Tolkien's, but the one really poorly employed trope on display here was the much maligned "insta-love". Two characters are just in love by the end of the book, with no real build-up. If you are going to have a romance in your book, put a little more effort into it please. When they exchange "I love you's" it has no emotional impact because the relationship was given no time to grow organically.

Epic Fantasy, But Less Calories! Unfortunately, while there is some decent world building, this is decidedly "Epic Fantasy Lite". To compare this to another YA Fantasy series, Earthsea managed to tell a YA story with deeper world building and characterization, yet kept the same general pacing as Sabriel, so I know it can be done. Overall, this world feels less developed than it could have been, even considering that it is supposed to be for kids.

Lost Drama Some of this books strengths are also it's weaknesses. Sabriel's competence and self confidence is great in and of itself, but it also undercut some dramatic moments. Late in the story, Sabriel has returned to her (physical) starting point and has flipped the power dynamic by taking complete control, and has to put a former mentor "in their place". This had no real impact, as there was no tension between the two characters to begin with, as Sabriel is beyond self doubt or the need to prove herself to her former authority figures. It could have been a great moment of character growth, but instead it is a throwaway moment that has no dramatic impact at all.

I can't help but feel there were several similar moments that could have played out much more emotionally if there had been some time building tension early on. As it is, these were lost opportunities that would have made Sabriel both more relatable, and the story more exciting.

Paging the Author: I think overall this was slightly rushed, and could have done with about 50 more pages to flesh out the world, the relationships, and could have ultimately paid dividends in both a deeper world and better character moments.

THE VERDICT

I've been vacillating between a 4 star and 5 star review for this book, and finally landed on it being 4.25 stars, so rounded it down to 4. But this is really good YA Fantasy, reminding me a bit of Earthsea, at least with it's pacing and prose, but ultimately lacked the masterful world building and deep characterization that made me love (most) of Earthsea so much.

This is good for a YA reader that's not quite looking for Epic Fantasy, but rather something a bit lighter. However, this would be an EXCELLENT recommendation for a younger teen girl, as Sabriel is a strong and drama free role model.