Jennifer W. (GeniusJen) reviewed on 9/15/2009 + 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.

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