Lirael
| Author | Garth Nix |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
| Original language | English |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 2014 |
| Pages | 464 |
| ISBN | 9780062315564 |
| Goodreads | View on Goodreads (opens in new tab) |
| Website | garthnix.com (opens in new tab) |
| Rating | ★★★½☆ (3.5/5) |
Lirael is a sequel to Sabriel. The story happens several years after the first one, and although the first one is self-contained, it would not make that much sense to read this before the other. This one, like many other trilogies, is really the first part of a whole story told in this book and the next.
Charter mark in some of the covers (including the one I read).
Charter mark by Quill-Tail.
A small note on the covers. I loved the cover in the edition I read, with the charter mark, and a small image of Lirael and the Disreputable Dog.
I’ve seen two other covers in other editions. For the US edition, there’s an illustration of Lirael with the hand in the chest in front of 3 objects on a table, which is appropriate and not bad, but in my opinion far from the edition I read or the one in the first book. There’s also another edition I’ve seen that has a picture
As we learnt in the first book, the Clayr are one of the bloodlines/families that hold special importance in the Charter. They live in a tunneled mountain and glacier, and have the ability to get glimpses of the future.
Lirael, though, is not able to glimpse into the future. Her Awakening has been very delayed, and that, together with looking different from most of her family and not having her parents around make her feel like she doesn’t belong.
The book includes more characters than the previous one (easy, since that one was mostly Sabriel and later Mogget), and there are brief appearances of some of them here. We discover more about the world of the Old Kingdom and a few hints on the mysteries that surround the world.
The story itself is quite interesting, although on occasion I’d say it suffers slightly from its pacing, as different storylines for a little while give very different energies and the mix is a bit weird, but it doesn’t last long (1)And that can just be me. .
To me this book is a big recommendation, after the previous one of course (and hopefully the next one too).
Categories: Novel Tags: Garth Nix, Australian Literature, Publisher: HarperCollins, Series: The Old Kingdom, Literature in English, Format: Paperback, Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, High Fantasy, Adventure, Epic Fantasy, Childhood, Paranormal, Horror, Female Protagonist, Supernatural, Dark Fantasy, Necromancy, Coming of Age, Australian, Zombies, Speculative Fiction, Death Rating:Rating: 3.5 stars