100 Things: The Abhorsen Trilogy
This post is part of the 100 Things: A Blogging Challenge; please click here to learn more about the challenge and the full list of topics I've discussed.
THE ABHORSEN TRILOGY by GARTH NIX
I got around to reading the Abhorsen trilogy in its entirety some four years ago (review). I read Sabriel years before that but only got around to completing it with Lirael and Abhorsen around 2009. I've honestly forgotten why it took me so long it finishing the trilogy--I did that quite a bit back then *cough, A Song of Ice and Fire (100 Things), cough*--but I'm so glad I did!
What I love about this trilogy is the concepts and themes that it explores; it's one of those books that leaves me thinking, "Wow, I wish I had written this!" I love the idea of the Abhorsen and being the only necromancer whose job is to ensure that the dead stay dead. The utilisation of bells to get the job done and the significance/role of each bell is not only interesting but adds this aura of mystery and creepiness to the role. As the first novel shows, the job is pretty solitary but I love how they expand on the mythology and how the overall magic system works in the Old Kingdom in the second and third novels. While Sabriel was fairly self-contained (though the stakes were pretty high), Lirael and Abhorsen really pushes the story to an epic level.
I enjoyed the characters and following them on their adventures too. I am naturally most attached to Sabriel, Touchstone and Mogget and the characters from the first book more so than the other characters introduced in later novels but I like them all for their unique characteristics; Lirael is not Sabriel 2.0, she carries her story through her own strengths and weaknesses, which is great. But again, my favourite characters come from the first novel, in part because I must've re-read the book a number of times that I'm quite attached to it xD
It's been a while since I've read this trilogy so it's hard to comment more about it (and without delving into serious spoilers territory) but suffice to say it's one of my favourite fantasy trilogies out there. The worldbuilding is great--not too detailed but just enough for the reader to paint his or her mental picture of the two Kingdoms--as is the scope of the story and the characters. I still need to pick up Across the Wall, a collection of short stories set in the Old Kingdom, which should be a nice foray back into that world =)
This entry was originally posted at http://caffeinatedlife.dreamwidth.org/401506.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
THE ABHORSEN TRILOGY by GARTH NIX
I got around to reading the Abhorsen trilogy in its entirety some four years ago (review). I read Sabriel years before that but only got around to completing it with Lirael and Abhorsen around 2009. I've honestly forgotten why it took me so long it finishing the trilogy--I did that quite a bit back then *cough, A Song of Ice and Fire (100 Things), cough*--but I'm so glad I did!
What I love about this trilogy is the concepts and themes that it explores; it's one of those books that leaves me thinking, "Wow, I wish I had written this!" I love the idea of the Abhorsen and being the only necromancer whose job is to ensure that the dead stay dead. The utilisation of bells to get the job done and the significance/role of each bell is not only interesting but adds this aura of mystery and creepiness to the role. As the first novel shows, the job is pretty solitary but I love how they expand on the mythology and how the overall magic system works in the Old Kingdom in the second and third novels. While Sabriel was fairly self-contained (though the stakes were pretty high), Lirael and Abhorsen really pushes the story to an epic level.
I enjoyed the characters and following them on their adventures too. I am naturally most attached to Sabriel, Touchstone and Mogget and the characters from the first book more so than the other characters introduced in later novels but I like them all for their unique characteristics; Lirael is not Sabriel 2.0, she carries her story through her own strengths and weaknesses, which is great. But again, my favourite characters come from the first novel, in part because I must've re-read the book a number of times that I'm quite attached to it xD
It's been a while since I've read this trilogy so it's hard to comment more about it (and without delving into serious spoilers territory) but suffice to say it's one of my favourite fantasy trilogies out there. The worldbuilding is great--not too detailed but just enough for the reader to paint his or her mental picture of the two Kingdoms--as is the scope of the story and the characters. I still need to pick up Across the Wall, a collection of short stories set in the Old Kingdom, which should be a nice foray back into that world =)
This entry was originally posted at http://caffeinatedlife.dreamwidth.org/401506.html. Please comment there using OpenID.