Sabriel-Garth Nix

Sabriel
Garth Nix
Eos, May 2008, $9.99
ISBN: 9780061474354

Eighteen years old necromancer Sabriel attends the exclusive Wyverley College in Ancelstierre, where Magic does not work. When her father Abhorsen, also a necromancer who uses Charter magic, sends her a message containing his word and special bells, she knows he is asking for help, she leaves the college to return to the nearby Old Kingdom where magic works in order to find him as he is apparently ensnared somehow by Death. She is concerned because this has never happened before when her father or for that matter her return the dead to where they belong.

The quest to save her dad is loaded with danger as many want to prevent her from success especially since she is somewhat a neophyte when it comes to dealing with the dead. However, besides the usual suspects like an evil spirit or a blood thirsty Mordicant, she has to contend with necromancers and a dangerous dead magician who plans to use Sabriel and Abhorsen to bring him back reanimated. Still she bravely dives into the frozen waters of the River of death to attempt the rescue.

SABRIEL is a reprint of a terrific young adult quest fantasy starring a courageous engaging heroine who refuses to quit even though the odds are heavily against her succeeding. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action as the challenges keep on coming with the young teen audience wondering if Sabriel has the skills and stomach to win. Garth Nix provides a strong fantasy starring a fully developed female teen running an otherworldly gauntlet in an effort to rescue her father from death.

Harriet Klausner