Sabriel

Book Title: Sabriel

Author: Garth Nix

Series: The Old Kingdom #1

Date Started: May 12th 2020

Date Completed: May 14th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

Sabriel is, of course, a classic in the genre of fantasy adventure books. One that I never got round to reading as a kid for whatever reason. That was probably unfortunate; I probably would've loved this novel when I was younger. As it is, I enjoyed reading the book, and will continue with the series, but wasn't blown away.

The Old Kingdom is put together with some pretty cool ideas, complex yet well-explained and intuitive. There's quite a magic system for the Abhorsens and Charters Mages and Clayrs and Royals and... But I kept up with it for the most part. I also think Nix had a nice amount of worldbuilding while staying focused on the story, which is often an issue with a lot of fantasy novels released today. Authors get so caught up in trying to explain every detail behind their world or magic systems that they forget they're telling a story about people. Nix knew what the reader would be able to work out for themselves, gave just enough detail to give the world flavour, and then got on with it.

It's impressive how long the book goes with Sabriel by itself and still manages to be engaging. Sabriel's internal monologue, or at least her prose, was blissfully practical and intelligent; the temptation to make your hero dum just to give them an obstacle when they're on their own is one many an author gives in to. Nix just raised the stakes, and it works better on both ends. I will admit that I had more fun once Mogget and then Touchstone had been added to the mix, just for a little more friction, you know.

A mention has to go to the title-character and heroine herself. Like I said, she's practical and intelligent, just faced with higher stakes than many novels. Perhaps her lack of hesitancy at some points lost a deeper emotive impact, but honestly I loved the fact that she was just a badass and faced her obstacles head-on. She still failed, but she didn't wallow in self-pity, she just got on with it. The fact that her gender isn't even commented on is frankly kinda revolutionary, especially in a book from the 1990s (this book is older than me, oh no).

I think why this book didn't get five stars for me was the fact I wanted more from it. It felt very simple, even though it weaved a good story with a lot of worldbuilding around it. Maybe I was expecting more, or perhaps something more different to other fantasy books I've read (because it definitely wasn't anything I hadn't seen before - though arguably this was the predecessor to those other examples). As I mentioned, had I read this as a child/early teen it probably would've been on my favourites list - I would encourage you to put it in the hands of young readers if you can.