Wanderer Ward
12 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Dreamscape Artist
The first book of 2012 is Sabriel by Garth Nix! I adore this book, and I promise my rereading of it is imminent :P
I remember when I first read it, I thought it would make a fantastic Studio Ghibli film. Opinions?
Anyway, discuss away! :D
Mystic Ward
12 years ago
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
This is one of my favourites. I loved discovering all the different aspects about life on either side of the wall.
I wish I owned this book. I've read it about three times, and I love it to bits. The world comes to life in your head while you read. Garth Nix is amazing.
I only first read this a few months ago, and I [i] it! I love the idea of the necromancy, and the characters are so well described and imagined. Even though I read it so recently, still think I'll join in on this rereading! ;)
Anyone who hasn't read it, absolutely recommend you do!!
I actually didnt enjoy this very much. I mean I adored the idea and the world creation, but it felt very 2D to me. The characters just seemed a little blank abd predictable, which I felt was a shame since it could have been something really great.
Anyway, there is site that has a bunch of different comic artists working on this book at the moment. Some of tjem are really great, especially the different renditions of the cat (I cant remember his name at the moment) He was my favourite part of the book. Wait, Mogget, was that hus name? Ill post a link when i have access to my conp (phonr is too hard)
I've got the whole trilogy, it's probably my favorite, especially Mogget. It should be a pleasure to reread it. :P
I got this book for my birthday from my cousin last year. It took me a long time to finally get into it - I think I waited a month between the first and second chapter :P
I really liked it once I got into it though - I can't resist a decent fantasy story. The one thing that did annoy me was Touchstone's name. I can deal with names that are unusual, but I couldn't get past Touchstone.
Wanderer Guilden
12 years ago
Wanderer Guilden
Mage
Oh, I love this book! I remember reading it when I was twelve and just starting High School. It was my first time in the library at school and I'd spent all summer reading Pratchett and Phillip Pullman and Terry Brooks and I needed something new to read. I made fast friends with the Head Librarian, Mr Nobel (may he rest in peace), and he suggested that I start reading Sabriel. It was just after I finished the whole trillogy that, straight after I handed the books back in, I found the Ober Chrons. I find it a bit ironic now, really.
But I've always loved it. Definitely going to do a reread now! :D
Wanderer Ward
12 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Dreamscape Artist
I reread Sabriel today and I really couldn't get the Studio Ghibli thing out of my head, so it played in my head as an anime while I was reading! I have to admit that it was a rather fun way to imagine it :P
Reading it the second time, I remembered how jarring I found the differences between the technology of Ancelstierre and the magic of the Old Kingdom first time round, however this time they seemed to seamlessly coexist. I'm wondering if my expectations of the book affected how I reacted the first time, and maybe if I were reading it for the first time now, that would be different. The first time I read it, even though I had no idea what the book was like (I hadn't even read the blurb), it was not at all what I expected. I'm pretty sure this paragraph isn't making much sense, so I'll stop :P
Wanderer Ward
12 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Mage
I've almost finished re-reading this (for the 4th or 5th time :P )
I think what I love most about this book/series, is that it's set in a time period very close to WWI, as if in a parallel world that will also undergo a major conflict at the same time as we do/did!
Also, I really enjoy how Garth Nix uses a lot of numbers and "organisation" in his books - 7 Gates/levels of Death, 3 bloodlines, plus all the numbers in his other works......it appeals to my OCD so nicely!
I named my friend's teddy after Mogget, een though the teddy's purple :S
Is the last Abhorsen even going to come out?
Ashlings' guildleader
12 years ago
Sat Jan 07 2012, 09:02pm
Ashlings' guildleader
Dreamscape Artist
Sabriel is an old favourite of mine, I love the Old Kingdom, it's one of my absolute favourite universes. It's just so different to other fantasy worlds you come across and I really like the way The Old Kingdom is contrasted with Ancelstierre. It means that Sabriel finds the world she's travelling through just as strange as the reader, but without her having to belong to our world either.
I really love the way all the abhorsens' names sound like bells at the end :D
Like BB, I don't really like how quickly Sabriel ends and I don't like saying goodbye to Sabriel and Touchstone. Their my favourite characters in the series and there's just not enough of them in the later books! I really wish that there was another book or even a short story or novella between them that told the story of how Sabriel and Touchstone went about reclaiming their Kingdom. I was really dissapointed the first time I read Lirael and realised that all the rebuilding had just been skipped :(
However, I recently read that Sabriel and Lirael were initially going to be one book, so I guess it's like the end of The Sneding; it's not really an end at all! :P
@Sionnain, have you read To Hold the Bridge? It's a short (loosest possible meaning) story set a few hundred years before Sabriel and published in Legends of Australian Fantasy like The Dark Road. It's set in the same world, but the characters are very different, you might find they appeal to you more :-/
Speaking of, does anyone know if there have been any other Garth Nix short stories published post Over The Wall? I didn't check Legends of Australian Fantasy for other authors I knew till ages after I bought it (I blame exams) and I kicked myself after finding an Old Kingdom story in there. And then I wondered if there were others I'd missed. I've spent ages searching online, but I can't find a list of Garth Nix short stories like Obernet has for IC, searches just turn up pages talking about Over The Wall, I haven't even seen a mention of To Hold the Bridge -_-
Just went to the biggest second-hand book-sale in THE UNIVERSE, and finally found Sabriel! Guess I can participate in this book club after all! I LOVE the Lifeline Bookfest!!
I love love love Sabriel and the entire Old Kingdom Chronicles. Garth Nix is in my top 3 favourite authors list alongside IC and Tamora Pierce. I remember going to my school library and finding Lirael, not realising it was the second book, so I read the books out of order the first time!
I must say, despite the sudden ending, Sabriel is my favourite of the three in the series. The characters seem a lot more involved in this book over the other two. And Touchstone is almost definitely my favourite human character in all of the books. I re-read these books all the time, but I can't wait to read it again (I MUST finish the two books I'm reading at the moment first though hahaha).
Wanderer Ward
12 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Mage
Ok, so having finished the trilogy, I am of the opinion that they seem more like a prequel and a book split in to two - Lirael and Abhorsen are one big story without even a time break between them, while Sabriel sets the scene, and explains the slightly more disitant characters of the Abhorsen and the King in the later two books.
I still love this series though. I find Garth Nix's writing to be very enjoyable, and pleasantly easy to read.
Plus, I love magic! :D
Something I've always wondered about the book Why was Kerrigor able to (in a way)defeat Mogget?
