Clariel

"Great series"

"All of the Old Kingdom books have been dark because so far they've focused heavily on death, the dead, and the ruin of the kingdom. While this book takes place before the interregnum and the river of death only makes a few offstage appearances in Clariel, if you're into the darker side of the Old Kingdom's magic system and the forces of will at the edge of the Charter, you're in luck. Clariel is dark in the way that narratives about the Hindenberg or the Titanic can only be dark. Though it's a prequel, Clariel was written to be read by someone who at the very least has read Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen (if not all of the canon novels and short stories). <br/>You would think that given the prescient knowledge of the ultimate fate of the characters in this book, it'd be difficult to become fully invested in the story... maybe it's just my personal taste or maybe it's that Nix is just wonderful at writing sympathetic characters, but all of it was really compelling and though it was bittersweet, it didn't have that "what's the point" hopelessness. <br/>I did feel like the ending had nowhere to go though... you can see a trajectory and the ultimate destination, but because the narrative's set up like it's going to fill in the blanks, you're left feeling like someone's done half the MadLibs page and put it down to do something else. Either way, I was really happy to read this book and I'm happy to hear in the afterword that in about 30 years, we'll get another Old Kingdom book because this really is my favorite fantasy vacation destination. A+ Thanks Garth!"

"Not the best book in the world of the old kingdom, but it was still good."

"This entry in the Old Kingdom series was very satisfying. I appreciated how the main character struggles with life and deals with with it in an a non-typical protagonist manner. <br/><br/>It was also cool to see the world before the great fall and to see how things functioned. I wouldn't mind more adventures set in this time period or before!"

"Oh you're so welcome 🙂"

"An unparalleled prequel novel to the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix has outdone himself. Clariel is forced to move from her rural home in Estwael to the bustling capital of the Old Kingdom called Belisaere. There Clariel is forced to become a lady and told to learn Charter magic from Magister Kargrin. Clariel's only Deere is to get back to the Great Forest near Estwael by any means necessary. Magister Kargrin offer e s her money and a disguise to escape Belisaere for good. All he wants her to do is help lure a Free Magic creature thought to be in cahoots with the Governor of the city. Utilizing her close connection to Free Magic through her connection to the Abhorsens and the royal bloodline, she hopes to help capture the Free Magic creature. However, Clariel gets much more than she originally bargained for. A story of intrigue, political upheaval, Free Magic creatures and "a passion thwarted will often go astray." The majority of characters in this story are new but a few are known ans some become apparent once the connection between this new story and the original Abhorsen trilogy is finally made. A great fantasy story!"

"It goes sabriel, lireal, abhorsen, across the wall (a collection of short stories the main one being "the creature in the glass case" or something.) Then clariel, goldenhand and the new one coming out is terncil and lenora. (I think. I'm not sure about any of the spelling.)"

"I enjoyed that, even though it was a separate story from the first Abhorsen series it still connected very well. Garth Nix is a wonderful writer and his story telling always pulls me into the story. "