Pippa M. (freakazoidP) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 39 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The series just gets better and deeper.
Althea M. (althea) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 774 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
These were fun books.
Sabriel is pretty much a stand-alone book, but the second two are really one novel - Lirael ends right smack in the middle on a cliffhanger, and Abhorsen starts right where it left off...
The trilogy gives us a dual world - one which very strongly resembles Britain in the early twentieth century - and then, across the Wall, the Old Kingdom, a magical land which is currently in a dire state of anarchy and seriously plagued by the Dead - which rise as zombies and make themselves the sort of nuisance that zombies generally do.
Sabriel has been raised at a girls' school in Ancelstierre (Britain), but has always been aware that her father is the Abhorsen, a powerful individual with magical influence over the Dead. But when her father disappears, and Sabriel sets out to find him, she realizes that she has never been aware of even half of her father's abilities and duties... duties which are now on her shoulders, as she realizes that more is at stake than merely her father's life...
The second story (Lirael/Abhorsen) takes place around 20 years later, and deals mostly with the next generation... of course, things are even worse, plots are afoot to bring about the end of the world, necromancers are causing problems, and our young protagonists, Lirael and Sam, must both discover who they truly are, find their path/calling in life, and, oh, save the world. With the help of the snarky magical cat (?), Mogget, and the Disreputable Dog.
Sabriel is pretty much a stand-alone book, but the second two are really one novel - Lirael ends right smack in the middle on a cliffhanger, and Abhorsen starts right where it left off...
The trilogy gives us a dual world - one which very strongly resembles Britain in the early twentieth century - and then, across the Wall, the Old Kingdom, a magical land which is currently in a dire state of anarchy and seriously plagued by the Dead - which rise as zombies and make themselves the sort of nuisance that zombies generally do.
Sabriel has been raised at a girls' school in Ancelstierre (Britain), but has always been aware that her father is the Abhorsen, a powerful individual with magical influence over the Dead. But when her father disappears, and Sabriel sets out to find him, she realizes that she has never been aware of even half of her father's abilities and duties... duties which are now on her shoulders, as she realizes that more is at stake than merely her father's life...
The second story (Lirael/Abhorsen) takes place around 20 years later, and deals mostly with the next generation... of course, things are even worse, plots are afoot to bring about the end of the world, necromancers are causing problems, and our young protagonists, Lirael and Sam, must both discover who they truly are, find their path/calling in life, and, oh, save the world. With the help of the snarky magical cat (?), Mogget, and the Disreputable Dog.
LOVED this book
This is a wonderful sequal. Garth Nix is an amazing writer and I was so wrapped up in the story by the end of the book that I couldn't wait for the next in the series. It's amazing how far Nix takes the story past Sabriel. He's a great story teller.
Melissa B. (dragoneyes) -
I was totally immersed in this book. It is about a confused and lost girl named Lirael who must find her way in a place she feels she doesn't belong. It is also about Sam who feels he is given a title that he does not feel like he can uphold. They go through many trials and start to learn more about themselves. There lives meet as they both set out on a quest that will forever changed their lives.
This is a fantastic book. In reading the some of the other reviews, I do not agree that Sam seemed to be a coward or a whiner. I think what he went through was a horrible experience and it bothered him greatly. He always came through in the end.
This is a fantastic book. In reading the some of the other reviews, I do not agree that Sam seemed to be a coward or a whiner. I think what he went through was a horrible experience and it bothered him greatly. He always came through in the end.
R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 1453 more book reviews
Lirael was born and raised among the Clayr, but without their power of Sight. This book follows Sabriel, the second in the trilogy. The story is very good but it left me hanging whereas one could read Sabriel and not move on in the series if you didn't choose to do so which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. The heroine is courageous, uncertain, adventurous and curious as can be. She discovers that she has more skills than she believed possible - just not the ones she wants most. Garth Nix fans will want to put this one on their list to read - particularly if reading this series. It is a very good read.
Jennifer W. (GeniusJen) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Candace Cunard for TeensReadToo.com
The second book in Garth Nix's ABHORSEN trilogy picks up fourteen years after Sabriel leaves off, and begins to focus on a new generation of characters; for this reason, it's definitely best to read the trilogy in order. Part One is centered on Lirael, a member of a race known as the Clayr, renowned for their ability to See into the future. Unfortunately, Lirael at the age of fourteen still has not received the Sight, something nearly unheard-of in Clayr society. To make matters worse, her dark hair and pale skin mean that she doesn't even look like the other Clayr. Her mother, a Daughter of the Clayr, disappeared in Lirael's childhood, and she never knew the identity of her father. Eventually, Lirael begins to work in the Library in the Glacier where the Clayr live, but even the work she does there cannot distract her from her continued lack of the Sight.
Meanwhile, problems are mounting both in the Old Kingdom and in Ancelstierre. The Abhorsen Sabriel and her husband, Touchstone, restored to his position as King, have been ruling the Old Kingdom and doing the best to keep the Dead from disrupting life, but after twenty years of their rule things are still chaotic. Prince Sameth, their youngest child and widely known as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, encounters a necromancer while at school in Ancelstierre, there are wars in the far South, and unrest mounts within the Old Kingdom itself. A series of events lead Lirael to leave the Glacier in search of a boy the Clayr have Seen her with, since they have also Seen that this possible future is the only way to avoid the destruction of their world as they know it. Along the way she meets Sameth, with his own personal reason for finding the same young man as Lirael, and the two of them try to work out the secrets of their shared past and uncertain future.
While at first I was disappointed that the story no longer focused on Sabriel, who I'd come to love in the previous book of the trilogy, Lirael quickly grew into a character in whom I was equally interested. Her personal struggle between her desire to belong as Clayr and the nagging knowledge that she was meant for some other purpose in the world was well-written and believable. Her companion, a construct of Free and Charter Magic known only as the Disreputable Dog, was a satisfying enigma of a character. And while Sameth was at times more annoying than regal, there is no denying that his fear of Death and pursuing the calling of the Abhorsen was compelling. I was also glad to see that Sabriel and Touchstone didn't disappear entirely from the narrative. Though they played dramatically smaller roles in the storyline, I enjoyed every scene that they were in together.
The end of this book took me by surprise, as the major external conflict had not been solved by the end of it. It's not a book you want to finish if you don't have the following novel on hand! However, the book does come to an emotional climax and conclusion; although the external threat has not been dealt with, the characters are certainly in a different place at the end of the story than at the beginning, and the development of this book proves necessary for the actions that they undertake in the third and final book of the trilogy. If you're looking for lots of apocalyptic battle sequences, this is not quite the right book, but as a story of emotional and personal growth, the novel sparkles.
The second book in Garth Nix's ABHORSEN trilogy picks up fourteen years after Sabriel leaves off, and begins to focus on a new generation of characters; for this reason, it's definitely best to read the trilogy in order. Part One is centered on Lirael, a member of a race known as the Clayr, renowned for their ability to See into the future. Unfortunately, Lirael at the age of fourteen still has not received the Sight, something nearly unheard-of in Clayr society. To make matters worse, her dark hair and pale skin mean that she doesn't even look like the other Clayr. Her mother, a Daughter of the Clayr, disappeared in Lirael's childhood, and she never knew the identity of her father. Eventually, Lirael begins to work in the Library in the Glacier where the Clayr live, but even the work she does there cannot distract her from her continued lack of the Sight.
Meanwhile, problems are mounting both in the Old Kingdom and in Ancelstierre. The Abhorsen Sabriel and her husband, Touchstone, restored to his position as King, have been ruling the Old Kingdom and doing the best to keep the Dead from disrupting life, but after twenty years of their rule things are still chaotic. Prince Sameth, their youngest child and widely known as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, encounters a necromancer while at school in Ancelstierre, there are wars in the far South, and unrest mounts within the Old Kingdom itself. A series of events lead Lirael to leave the Glacier in search of a boy the Clayr have Seen her with, since they have also Seen that this possible future is the only way to avoid the destruction of their world as they know it. Along the way she meets Sameth, with his own personal reason for finding the same young man as Lirael, and the two of them try to work out the secrets of their shared past and uncertain future.
While at first I was disappointed that the story no longer focused on Sabriel, who I'd come to love in the previous book of the trilogy, Lirael quickly grew into a character in whom I was equally interested. Her personal struggle between her desire to belong as Clayr and the nagging knowledge that she was meant for some other purpose in the world was well-written and believable. Her companion, a construct of Free and Charter Magic known only as the Disreputable Dog, was a satisfying enigma of a character. And while Sameth was at times more annoying than regal, there is no denying that his fear of Death and pursuing the calling of the Abhorsen was compelling. I was also glad to see that Sabriel and Touchstone didn't disappear entirely from the narrative. Though they played dramatically smaller roles in the storyline, I enjoyed every scene that they were in together.
The end of this book took me by surprise, as the major external conflict had not been solved by the end of it. It's not a book you want to finish if you don't have the following novel on hand! However, the book does come to an emotional climax and conclusion; although the external threat has not been dealt with, the characters are certainly in a different place at the end of the story than at the beginning, and the development of this book proves necessary for the actions that they undertake in the third and final book of the trilogy. If you're looking for lots of apocalyptic battle sequences, this is not quite the right book, but as a story of emotional and personal growth, the novel sparkles.
Leticia (bookcraze) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 6 more book reviews
Book 2 of the Abhorsen Trilogy. This book started off just a tad slow but really picked up towards the middle. Overall, I enjoyed it and looking forward to book 3 The Abhorsen to see what happens next since the ending of this book is pretty much a cliffhanger.
Danny N. (Alameda) -
sequel to Sabriel
Linda A. (Springfieldreader) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 458 more book reviews
Good science fiction.
H M. (anchovy) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 296 more book reviews
Sequel to Sabriel. Begins the story of Lirael, a girl born and raised among the Clayr, but without their power of Sight. Her search for ways to find this birthright takes her through some strange places in the mysterious Clayr library and onto another path she never expected. Story continues in Abhorsen.
A good read but not as good as Sabriel.
A good read but not as good as Sabriel.
Kathy R. (ukulady) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 91 more book reviews
Really amazing world building in this, 2nd in the series.
Kathy S. (nana23) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 243 more book reviews
Fantastic sequel to Sabriel who is waiting to know her destiny...
not as good as the first one. it seems to have been written too fast. the author had trouble getting the characters in and out of rooms, so to speak.
and a warning: it's really only the first part of a two-volume story that ends with "abhorsen", which i'm also posting.
and a warning: it's really only the first part of a two-volume story that ends with "abhorsen", which i'm also posting.
Damaris C. (Erinyes) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 279 more book reviews
Great book. If you enjoy sci-fi or fantasy really good. Very accessible and fun to read. I was right with them the entire way rooting for them to win!
Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 1032 more book reviews
Quite definitely the second book in a trilogy (although by now, 2022, Nix has written several others in the series). Here you will want to have read Sabriel first, to establish the framework and know Sabriel and Touchstone's story. Llrael is immensely appealing - an outsider who just wants to fit in to a very homegenous society. And the Disreputable Dog is fabulous. I had a harder time relating to Sam, but he also has appealing qualities. HIs story mirrors Lirael's - although he clearly knows his place, he is not going to be what his family expects. Good action, the same great world-building, but it does end on a cliffhanger.
The whole trilogy made me laugh, made me cry , and just plain made me feel for the characters !
I highly recommend all three .
I highly recommend all three .
ROB L. (mrrob) -
An excellent sequel to Sabrael. Garth Nix does it again! Tho the story is about Lirael, a young lady who doesn't feel like she fits in where she has been growing up, it does tie in with the main characters in Sabrael. Another great story about magic & heroines (although in this case, a reluctant & hesitant one), Lirael kept me riveted to the book. When I finished it, I couldn't wait to read the last in the series!
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
Amanda Y. (gaiagirl) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 6 more book reviews
Ditto : )
Kimberly B. (KBEMT) reviewed Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (Old Kingdom, Bk 2) on + 11 more book reviews
Sequel to Sabriel
Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr's birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.
Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr's birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.
Shanna D. (shannad21) -
I like the book. it definitely expands the world of Sabriel. :) Very enjoyable.
