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SABRIEL Reviewed by Rachel
A Hyde, MyShelf.Com Originally published in Australia back in 1995 this is the UK debut of an award-winning novel that has captivated children (teenagers rather than tots) and adults in several countries. The first in a trilogy, it has an inventive background that for once isn't reminiscent of Tolkein, or of anything else in particular. Sabriel has been a pupil at Wyverley College For Young Ladies of Quality since early childhood, sent over the border from the Old Kingdom into Ancelstierre for her own good. Her father is the Abhorsen, a necromancer with a difference who banishes the evil dead who come into the land of the living to cause chaos. But when she suddenly receives word that he is trapped in Death it is time for her to leave school and return over the border to set him free if she can, and defeat the evil Kerrigor. But undead forces will block her way and it isn't always easy to tell who is friend or foe. The chief joy of this novel for me is its inventiveness, and the fact that it is a proper adult story for teenagers with no cuteness or talking down. Adults can read it and derive as much enjoyment from it as younger people and in this it may well stand the test of time better than most. Girls should particularly enjoy it, and maybe it might help kill the myth that fantasy is more for the male gender as its heroine is female and she plunges into her adventures with a will. To its detriment it mainly features only three characters, and we never find out very much about any of them. The enigmatic creature Mogget is the most interesting and about Sabriel we know nothing at all which is somewhat disappointing. She failed to come alive for me at all and went through the tale like a driven automaton, dauntless but colorless. So this is a plot driven novel but perhaps none the worse for it as it allows for plenty of derring-do rather than introspection. One to go for if you are looking for something a bit different. |
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