Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case📖

Charter mark in some of the covers. Charter mark by Quill-Tail.

A direct continuation of Abhorsen, we start seeing how Nicholas is doing after the final events of the previous book. He soon gets pushed into trouble, and he must find a way to get out of it.

The novella includes a preface by the author explaining a bit about how he plans what he writes(1) (1)Or rather, how he doesn’t plan, but writes to discover. , and how the world’s lore is developed. I found it interesting, together with getting to know Nicholas a bit more, as although Nicholas had already had a bit of screen time previously, it had been in rather peculiar circumstances. As for the story itself, it’s simple but I liked it, as I liked getting to know a bit more about Ancelstierre.

I recommend it for followers of the series. The novella can be found also in Garth Nix’s anthology Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories(2) (2)I don’t have it nor have read it but it’s in the to be read pile. , together with other short stories not related to the Old Kingdom.