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    Sabriel
    Sabriel
    Sabriel
    Ebook427 pages6 hours

    Sabriel

    By Garth Nix and Leo and Diane Dillon

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Game of Thrones fans will love the New York Times bestselling Abhorsen series. Sabriel, the first installment in the trilogy, launched critically acclaimed author Garth Nix onto the fantasy scene as a rising star.

    Dark Secrets, Deep Love, and Dangerous Magic

    Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him. She soon finds companions in Mogget, a cat whose aloof manner barely conceals its malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories.

    As the three travel deep into the Old Kingdom, threats mount on all sides. And every step brings them closer to a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own destiny.

    “Sabriel is a winner, a fantasy that reads like realism. Here is a world with the same solidity and four-dimensional authority as our own, created with invention, clarity and intelligence.” —Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperTeen
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061975134
    Sabriel
    Author

    Garth Nix

    Garth Nix is a New York Times bestselling novelist and has been a full-time writer since 2001 but has also worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve. Garth’s many books include the Old Kingdom fantasy series, beginning with Sabriel and continuing to Goldenhand; the sci-fi novels Shade’s Children and A Confusion of Princes; the Regency romance with magic Newt’s Emerald; and novels for children including The Ragwitch, the Seventh Tower series, the Keys to the Kingdom series, and Frogkisser!, which is now in development as a feature film with Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios. Garth has written numerous short stories, some of which are collected in Across the Wall and To Hold the Bridge. He has also cowritten several children’s book series with Sean Williams, including TroubleTwisters and Have Sword, Will Travel. More than six million copies of his books have been sold around the world and his work has been translated into forty-two languages.

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    Reviews for Sabriel

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      As heard in the insanely catchy theme song of Netflix’s The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “females are strong as hell.” Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series can attest to that, as all five novels focus on the lives of a variety of tenacious young women living in a fantastical realm plagued by necromancers and undead creatures. While every book in the series shares commonalities, particularly the highly imaginative system of magic, each main character possesses different strengths and weaknesses, and must overcome many dangerous obstacles.

      As an introduction to the series, Sabriel stands out as the most description heavy. Nix takes his time unfolding the kingdom’s peculiarities, including its separation into two distinct lands: the “modern” Ancelstierre, and the Old Kingdom, where Charter magic runs rampant and dark creatures reside. The magic system is the most fascinating element, as Sabriel and her father are both powerful Charter mages who can enter Death and cast out dead creatures through the wielding of bells.

      Sabriel is the most confident of the women in the series, as she has a strong sense of self and a firm grasp on her magical abilities. When her father sends her on a mission to defeat a necromancer manipulating the kingdom, Sabriel’s power is tested as she faces a plethora of creatures with varying levels of power. Her traveling companion, Mogget, provides some much-needed humor, although his nature is somewhat unpredictable.

      The weakest part of the novel comes near the end when Nix introduces a new character, Touchstone. His sudden appearance feels slightly hasty, and his connection to Sabriel a bit forced, but this is remedied in future novels.
    • 5/5
      I first read this book in middle school (maybe high school?). I remembered that I'd read it, but I'd completely forgotten the plot. This was so good! Plus, now I know where George RR Martin got most of his ideas.
    • 3/5
      Idk how to rate this. I had totally forgotten about the annoying love story between Sabriel and Touchstone. I had also forgotten about Kerrigor being turned into a cat which is wonderful, how could I forget that.

      Mhm it's not as great as I had remembered it but also not as terrible as I feared it might be? Solid necromantic entertainment tbh. Also not too bad from a whump perspective.
    • 5/5
      A young woman finds herself thrust into a task that she feels unprepared for, and of course you have to hope that, despite the odds, she succeeds. This being fantasy, first cousin to fairytales and heir to human dreams, you can be almost certain that she will. But, to quote the song, it's not what you do but the way that you do it: that's what gets results... And because Garth Nix is a talented writer, with a long track record in publishing and editing, the end result is a very distinguished and impressive first volume in The Old Kingdom series. (In some countries the trilogy is named the Abhorsen series, from the title of the gatekeeper between the realms of the living and the dead.) Nix, an Australian author, seems to have used Scotland and the North of England as his inspiration for the trilogy, though it's a Britain very different from anything we're now familiar with, not least because technology and attitudes correspond more closely to the early decades of the twentieth century. The Old Kingdom, at present without a king, is a realm where magic is so prevalent that the boundaries between Death and Life are easily crossed by adepts. It most resembles Scotland in being a land where kilts are not unknown, lying to the north of an edifice corresponding to Hadrian's Wall which divides it off from a rather unmagical Ancelstierre. But you will look in vain to identify equivalents in Scotland for features in the Old Kingdom, though the royal city shares some similarities with Edinburgh (as well as medieval Byzantium). There are even two types of magic: Charter Magic, the purer form, and Free Magic, much harder to govern. I very much liked Nix's treatment of things magical, and while the rationale behind it (Where does it come from? Why is it strong in the Old Kingdom?) is rather vague in this story, its manifestation and all its detailing (Charter Marks, the taste of Free Magic) is well imagined and described. As a musician I was entranced by his wonderful concept of the sounds of bells precipitating magical effects, and I felt that each of Sabriel's seven bells was imbued with its own character to match its effects. In vain did I try to link them to systems in other cultures, though the ancient idea of the Music of the Spheres came close.Some readers have complained about the rather perfunctory love story in this young adult novel, but I thought that the balance between this and the fantasy elements was about right. In any case, as the plot driver is mostly about the relationship between Sabriel and her endangered father, any overloading of romantic elements would have distracted from the parent-child bond that Sabriel concentrates on.The sheer inventiveness that Nix displays is very impressive: I particularly liked the paperwings, gliders that respond to Charter Magic; gliders were of course still a relative novelty in our equivalent early 20th century culture. Other commonplace elements, such as the dead being reanimated, are treated in a way that feel fresh, for all our modern familiarity with zombies and their ilk. One of his wonderful conceptions is Mogget, a snow-white cat who is not what he seems, and who functions rather like a Cheshire Cat to Sabriel's Alice role. The touches of sly humour that Mogget provides helps to leaven the sheer and sustained dread that confronts Sabriel throughout the novel and which continues virtually to the very end of the tale. There are also the wordplays that wordsmiths like Nix like to employ, wordplays such as Kerrigor, the name of the character who has precipitated the crisis and who perhaps derives his name from a medieval Arthurian poem. In this Welsh poem reference is made to an Otherworld castle called Caer Rigor, the Royal Fort, and which itself perhaps contains a pun on Latin rigor, 'harshness' or 'severity'. Another series of allusions concerns the holders of the post of Abhorsen, whose names end in -el, such as Sabriel, Terciel, Lirael and Clariel. This is surely a nod towards the names of the Biblical archangels, such as Michael and Raphael, the suffix of which means 'power' or 'divinity' and which is cognate with elohim, one of the Hebrew names for gods or God. Sabriel and her fellow Abhorsens are like those mighty powers who guard the boundary between this world and the next, comparable to the unnamed angel who stops Adam and Eve returning to Eden or to Michael who defeats the armies of Satan. Sabriel is perhaps the Hebrew sabra or prickly pear, tough on the outside but soft inside, both a young girl on the cusp of womanhood and a guardian angel.Like many a good tale Sabriel works on different levels: a solid narrative to appeal to a first reading, and layers of allusion and echoes of other narratives, especially apt in a plot involving bells, to add to the joy of subsequent re-readings.
    • 3/5
      Despite flaws -- perhaps some more egregious than others -- I liked this book. It starts badly, laying out a set of "situations" without clarity and not at all intuitive to figure out. It's got a bit of Indiana Jones and Camelot Excalibur supernatural to it. Also, some Dracula. Some zombie apocalypse. More than a little Lord of the Rings. But it's really none of those things. Very slowly the reader just starts to accept certain "realities" without adequate explanation. And the pace, the tension just keeps building, and building, and building. As you get closer and closer to the last pages of the book, you have to start wondering if someone tore out some of the back pages, because everything just can't get resolved in time. Can it? It's also at this point that "real time" gets stretched out more and more. Five minutes of story line goes from a sentence or two to a few pages. Details of actions, emotions, consequences start to overflow the banks of the narrative river. Enough all ready. Just tell me what's happening. No lengthy commission report needed. Nevertheless, it never quite lost my interest. I wanted to find out what was going to happen next and that's something.
    • 2/5
      Intriguing concept, fantastic world building, amazing writing, great characters, I could go on and list more good things about this book, but I guess I should get to explaining why the low rating. Well, it's as simple as, I wasn't drawn in or very excited reading this book. Loved some of the aspects of this story so much, but it just laid flat on the pages for me. The more I learned about the world the more anxious I became for what's to come, it fell flat for me again. Sabriel seems okay, but that's just it, okay. Don't know why, but I just didn't connect with the story, it didn't excite me or kept me interested. I just couldn't wait to finish it already, which I did, which is plus for the book, I wasn't so bored that I DNF'ed it.

      I know that this is one of those books loved by many, which was why I expected to love it. I kept hearing how great it was so I eventually grabbed up the Kindle book when it was on sale. So disappointed I didn't like it, no fault of anybody's, it was obviously well written, it's Garth Nix, so. It just shows how it goes sometimes I guess. Not every book always translate the same to everyone.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It had everything you would expect in a classic fiction tale, and was reminiscent of the Narnia series. Yes, there wasn't detailed character development, but that is to be expected in this kind of a story, and it worked well within this frame. The plot moved along pretty well and the different characters that were introduced were intriguing to read about. I liked the whole story line of necromancy and the dead and the power to control them. The magic system that the author has created is unique and I'm eager to learn more about it (as I'm sure I will in the next book in the series)! Overall, it is a well-written and imaginative fantasy novel geared towards pre-teens/teenagers. So if you are looking for a present for someone within that age group, this would be the one to get!
    • 5/5
      Sabriel is the first book in the Aborsen trilogy, which is easily my favorite YA high fantasy series. It's set in a country very much like 1920's Britain, except instead of Hadrian's Wall, the Wall in the this Britain prevents magic (and the dead) from seeping across. I would recommend this series to high school students, and to middle school students who are advanced readers.
    • 5/5
      Sabriel was the first fantasy novel I ever read, and even now, over a decade later, it is still my favorite. In this book and its trilogy Garth Nix has written some of my favorite characters (Mogget!) and created a wonderful and rich world. His awe-inspring descriptions of some of the places in the Old Kingdom (and beyond?) stay with me to this day.I strongly recommend this book to fantasy-lovers, young-adult readers, and (especially!) to young women for the fantastic portrayal of a young woman who puts evil back in its place (not because she is a woman, or in spite of it, but just because she's a strong and amazing person). This was also the first novel I ever read with a strong female protagonist, and I remember being so excited and happy about *finally* reading a book about a girl! Who's tough! Like me! That was a wonderful feeling.
    • 4/5
      Couldn't put it down! Love it
    • 5/5
      I randomly picked up this book from the library shelf when I was in 7th grade. With the exception of Lord of the Rings it is probably the best Fantasy world that I have found, because it is systematic, fun, but realistic within the rules Garth Nix created for this world. Plus I thought the main character was SO cool when i first read it and I still haven't gotten bored with her.
    • 5/5
      I really liked this book, especially how the world of Sabriel works. The magic, the relation between life and death and the mystery surrounding the 'old kingdom' made me want to read more. Sabriel is a believable character with both strengths and flaws. The only downside for me was that a large part of the journey was over sea. I wanted to see more of the adventures in the Old Kingdom. Despite that flaw, I enjoyed every page of this book and I'm interested in the rest of the series.
    • 5/5
      Terrific fantasy novel with an interesting and strong heroine.
    • 5/5
      I keep falling in love with this book. No matter how many times I read Sabriel.
    • 5/5
      Fabulous fantasy novel about necromancy.
    • 4/5
      Sabriel by Garth Nix is set in a world where Necromancy holds sway. Things and people die but death is not always so permanent. Traditionally necromancy is a really weird and creepy practice but in this book the main character is a necromancer whose job is to help those who have died complete their journey to death so that they are not reawakened by someone with sinister purposes. The main character is also sometimes able to return to life those who only just recently died but it comes at a cost and can be very dangerous.I'm not typically into stories that revolve around death but Nix was able to craft a story that focused on death but did not become super heavy and overwhelming. I very much recommend this book to anybody interested in a fantasy type story.(****)
    • 4/5
      This was an Audio book from the Library that I listened to on my way to work. There were times when I didn't want to get out of my car because I had come to an exciting point in the tape. This Audio book was narrated by Tim Curry and starts with a flashback in which a current Abhorsen, a special necromancer, loses his wife but saves his baby daughter Sabriel from a creature called Kerrigor, in the spiritual river of death. Many years later, at Sabriels English like boarding school, she must take up her father's magical sword and the bells of a Necromancer and try to find out what has happened to him. To do so, she must leave her new Kingdom school and go where magic rules and evil things like Kerrigor are stalking her.Along the way, she is accompanied by the guard Touchstone, a Royal and the King of the Old Kingdom and the charter magic contained cat-spirit Mogget. They must try to defeat the evil Kerrigor, who wants to blast the Charter which keeps all things from descending into evil.Sabriel was a delightful fantasy that I am sorry came to and end. Sabriel comes to accept that her father, the former Abhorsen, is now on her own and is the new and last Abhorsen. She really just wants to be Sabriel and not the Abhorsen and she acts and thinks precisely like any young woman in this position. She's strong, intriguing, and no slack with a sword in a bad situation. I really enjoyed Garth Nix's charcters.Sabriel was a wonderful role model who also is developing feelings for Touchstone. Touchstone feels guilt for what he has allowed to happen but won't let Sabriel down as he feels he has done others. and Mogget was certainly unique. He's a peculiar mix of good and evel. This ancient spirit forced to live as a cat is enslaved to the Abhorsen family for the good of everyone (we get a glimpse of how dangerous he can be). The world that Garth Nix dreamed up, a mixture of Tolkien and WW2 England, is unparalleled in the fantasy genre. It's populated by animated ghouls, ghastly Mordicants, the almost-human sending's, Charter ghosts, the inhabitants of the river of Death, where only Abhorsens go, and so on...I certainly enjoyed his writing style which the narrator helped to bring across. I would certainly recommend this book, especially the Audio book, to anyone. Jack Murphy
    • 4/5
      Sabriel is the daughter of Abhorsen, a powerful mage tasked with protecting the world from evil forces of death originating from the Old Kingdom, to the north beyond the wall. She is pulled out of a mundane life at boarding school when Abhorsen goes missing, and she has to travel into the Old Kingdom (and into death itself) to find him and save everyone from a terrible evil.I probably should have read this book earlier in my life, because I was not very impressed. The plot is a good fantasy adventure story, but my standards have changed in the past few decades! It's a very pre-Harry Potter type of fantasy, with lots of mood-setting but not much world-building. Post-Harry Potter fantasy definitely has its own problems with too much world-building, but had so many questions about the world of Sabriel that I had trouble getting a grip and I was distracted from the plot. Is Ancelstierre a country? A continent? How big is it? (The map in my edition only showed a sliver of Ancelstierre south of the wall.) What is life like for the people who live far away from the wall? Do they know that magic exists or are they just like us? Does this world have some relation to our world? When does the story take place in relation to our world? (I calculated roughly the 1920s, because there is a mention of tanks just having been invented, which is a very distinct choice to make when writing a book in the 1990s, so why??). Aside from world-building questions, the narration switched focus sometimes in a way that I did not like. The book was decent, but not outstanding. I might continue the series one day.
    • 4/5
      Wonderful world building and a page-turning plot.
    • 5/5
      Sabriel is the daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, grown up cloistered away at boarding school in Ancelstierre, to the south of the Old Kingdom. When her father goes missing and a messenger arrives with his magical implements, she knows something terrible has happened and sets out to find him. But the road north is filled with dangers, one more terrifying than the other, but fortunately Sabriel manages to make some friends along the way. Will she be able to locate her father and defeat the evil that's coming to engulf both the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre?I'm constantly amazed by the quality of the literature that young adults can draw on these days, and this book, the first in a fantasy series about necromancy, is no exception. Like many other YA heroes and heroines of YA novels, Sabriel is thrown from a sheltered life headlong into her destiny and danger, completely unprepared for the difficult tasks ahead, and she has to learn how to deal with the undead quickly and grow up fast. The action resembles a rollercoaster: relentless pace followed by short periods of breathing space and some light relief provided by Mogget, a Free Magic being bound in the form of a cat, before the action hurtles along once again at break-neck speed. This is dark fantasy at its best, and the undead are suitably creepy and definitely not suitable for younger readers. I loved the imagery of the seven bells the Abhorsen wields to control and banish the Dead, and the river symbolising death rushing through the Nine Gates. And how cool is the role reversal, a young woman for once being the action hero and getting to rescue the prince?The book was originally published in 1995, and I wouldn't be surprised if J.K. Rowling and G.R.R. Martin took inspiration from it (the Battle of Hogwarts and eternal winter north of the Wall, with the dead refusing to stay dead).Even though the ending doesn't exactly constitute a cliff-hanger, it's clear that the story continues, and I'm glad I've already got Lariel, the sequel, lined up.
    • 4/5
      Sabriel receives a satchel with her father's necromancer tool and the message that he is beyond the Seventh Gate of Death and that she needs to take over his role of Abhorsen and defeat Kerrigor who is attempting to resurrect himself and destroy the Charter of the Old Kingdom. What a great story! The characters are really believable (if not plausible) and the world building is pretty close to flawless. Can't wait to continue the series. The audiobook is read Tim Curry, who is a fantastic narrator.
    • 4/5
      It seemed long past time that I read Sabriel, one of Karen's favorite books, that she bought me for my birthday. It's not exactly a djinn book, but there are marids and necromancers and magic. It's not exactly polar fiction, but there is a lot of snow. Though early in the book, there were two instances describing snow that shook my faith in the author -- causing me to look up from my book and wonder if the author had ever seen snow before. Luckily, my suspension of belief was limited to only those two moments.

      In general I was immersed in Nix's world, and often appreciated its complexity. There were a few moments that didn't seem fully realized, that the story didn't seem to an exist in a universe with a history stretching back farther than the earliest plot points of this particular story. Mostly it was an intriguing and complicated world, and I suspect it may have only bothered me because I was holding it up in my mind for the scrutiny of my friend eventually asking me, "So, did you love it?"

      I enjoyed it. I would not be averse to reading the rest of the trilogy, but they aren't jumping right to the top of my to-read list, either. I liked the bells, the charmed cat, the flying machine, the concept of the boy turned to wood (though his character seemed a bit YA simplified.) A lot of lovely ideas here!
    • 5/5
      How did I miss this book for so long? So good! Great characters, exciting plot, interesting twists and turns, overall a fantastic book. Need to get the second one ASAP!
    • 5/5
      Sabriel Sabriel by Garth Nix Sabriel Is a good fantasy book that explores a world of magic and necromancy, Sabriel is a girl who is pushed into a place that she is not ready yet, she accepts the role so she can find her father and save the Old Kingdom, Sabriel is my first Garth Nix book.
    • 5/5
      The Old Kingdom series, which began with Sabriel, is one of the most engaging and unique magical worlds I have ever had the pleasure of coming across. The magical systems are well thought out and unlike anything else I've ever encountered; the characters are realistic, normal for their age, and very engaging. This is by far one of my favorite series, and it all begins here.
    • 4/5
      I liked this story of a young woman who suddenly finds herself inheriting her father's title as Abhorsen (= big wig necromancer) and on a quest that will take her across the wall and into another world. I love the world-building and the idea of the abhorsen and the plot conflict was great, but the characters seemed a little flat and although I did enjoy listening to this one, I didn't get involved enough to want to continue with the series. Tim Curry was excellent, though, as the reader.
    • 5/5
      This book snagged me in and didn't let me know until the rest of the series was devoured by my brain.

      The worlds (yes, two different lands seperated by an intimidating wall) Nix created are livly and diverse, creating a place for you to enjoyably emerse yourself in. The action and adventure never really cease, as Sabriel explores the Old Kingdom - a place she's heard many stories about from her father but had yet to set foot in herself. Armed with some shaky but useful skills to keep the dead DEAD, she goes off to find her father with the undead trailing her, and the Charter on her side...

      If you like strong female charachers, epic battles, fast-paced storyline, and feel like a new twist on the fantasy and magic genre, this book needs to be read by you!
    • 4/5
      A weird and creepy katabasis story in a land where the dead walk and shadows threaten the living.
    • 5/5
      This book is about Sabriel, an adventurous girl who for many years lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom away from the power of free magic. But now her father, Mage Abhorsen is missing and Sabriel needs to return to the world of free magic to rescue him. She finds companions along the way such as Mogget and Touchstone who are powerful creatures of the magical world. With danger on all sides they only have each other to trust and must travel deep inside the Old Kingdom to a place battle which will put them in situations of life and death. Sabriel will be bought face to face with her own concealed destiny. This is the only way to find her beloved father. The best thing about the book is that there are small events that gradually build up into the complication and also that the book is based purely upon magic and fantasy will take you into a new mysterious world. I didn’t like the way that at some parts the book dragged along which made it boring as there weren’t any sparks and sudden events which would make the reader more enthusiastic. You might like the book if you also enjoyed fantasy books or you have adored the series of Garth Nix as this is the first book of the series. A good place to read this book would be in a quite and peaceful surrounding so you can use your imagination to take yourself into the book. So you can be creative and involve yourself in what you are reading. If this book was a film I think that Angelina Jolie would be Sabriel, Touchstone would be Will Smith, Mogget would be Sarah Kingston and the father would be Ross Ferrell. If it had a soundtrack it would be Everlasting World.
    • 2/5
      Ein wenig Magie kann excellent sein, 90% sind zuviel des Guten.

    Book preview

    Sabriel - Garth Nix

    Prologue

    It was little more than three miles from the Wall into the Old Kingdom, but that was enough. Noonday sunshine could be seen on the other side of the Wall in Ancelstierre, and not a cloud in sight. Here, there was a clouded sunset, and a steady rain had just begun to fall, coming faster than the tents could be raised.

    The midwife shrugged her cloak higher up against her neck and bent over the woman again, raindrops spilling from her nose onto the upturned face below. The midwife’s breath blew out in a cloud of white, but there was no answering billow of air from her patient.

    The midwife sighed and slowly straightened up, that single movement telling the watchers everything they needed to know. The woman who had staggered into their forest camp was dead, only holding on to life long enough to pass it on to the baby at her side. But even as the midwife picked up the pathetically small form beside the dead woman, it shuddered within its wrappings, and was still.

    The child, too? asked one of the watchers, a man who wore the mark of the Charter fresh-drawn in wood ash upon his brow. Then there shall be no need for baptism.

    His hand went up to brush the mark from his forehead, then suddenly stopped, as a pale white hand gripped his and forced it down in a single, swift motion.

    Peace! said a calm voice. I wish you no harm.

    The white hand released its grip and the speaker stepped into the ring of firelight. The others watched him without welcome, and the hands that had half sketched Charter marks, or gone to bowstrings and hilts, did not relax.

    The man strode towards the bodies and looked upon them. Then he turned to face the watchers, pushing his hood back to reveal the face of someone who had taken paths far from sunlight, for his skin was a deathly white.

    I am called Abhorsen, he said, and his words sent ripples through the people about him, as if he had cast a large and weighty stone into a pool of stagnant water. And there will be a baptism tonight.

    The Charter Mage looked down on the bundle in the midwife’s hands, and said: The child is dead, Abhorsen. We are travelers, our life lived under the sky, and it is often harsh. We know death, lord.

    Not as I do, replied Abhorsen, smiling so his paper-white face crinkled at the corners and drew back from his equally white teeth. And I say the child is not yet dead.

    The man tried to meet Abhorsen’s gaze, but faltered and looked away at his fellows. None moved, or made any sign, till a woman said, So. It is easily done. Sign the child, Arrenil. We will make a new camp at Leovi’s Ford. Join us when you are finished here.

    The Charter Mage inclined his head in assent, and the others drifted away to pack up their half-made camp, slow with the reluctance of having to move, but filled with a greater reluctance to remain near Abhorsen, for his name was one of secrets, and unspoken fears.

    When the midwife went to lay the child down and leave, Abhorsen spoke: Wait. You will be needed.

    The midwife looked down on the baby, and saw that it was a girl child and, save for its stillness, could be merely sleeping. She had heard of Abhorsen, and if the girl could live . . . warily she picked up the child again and held her out to the Charter Mage.

    If the Charter does not— began the man, but Abhorsen held up a pallid hand and interrupted.

    Let us see what the Charter wills.

    The man looked at the child again and sighed. Then he took a small bottle from his pouch and held it aloft, crying out a chant that was the beginning of a Charter; one that listed all things that lived or grew, or once lived, or would live again, and the bonds that held them all together. As he spoke, a light came to the bottle, pulsing with the rhythm of the chant. Then the chanter was silent. He touched the bottle to the earth, then to the sign of wood ash on his forehead, and then upended it over the child.

    A great flash lit the surrounding woods as the glowing liquid splashed over the child’s head, and the priest cried: By the Charter that binds all things, we name thee—

    Normally, the parents of the child would then speak the name. Here, only Abhorsen spoke, and he said:

    Sabriel.

    As he uttered the word, the wood ash disappeared from the priest’s forehead, and slowly formed on the child’s. The Charter had accepted the baptism.

    But . . . but she is dead! exclaimed the Charter Mage, gingerly touching his forehead to make sure the ash was truly gone.

    He got no answer, for the midwife was staring across the fire at Abhorsen, and Abhorsen was staring at—nothing. His eyes reflected the dancing flames, but did not see them.

    Slowly, a chill mist began to rise from his body, spreading towards the man and midwife, who scuttled to the other side of the fire—wanting to get away, but now too afraid to run.

    He could hear the child crying, which was good. If she had gone beyond the first gateway he could not bring her back without more stringent preparations, and a subsequent dilution of her spirit.

    The current was strong, but he knew this branch of the river and waded past pools and eddies that hoped to drag him under. Already, he could feel the waters leaching his spirit, but his will was strong, so they took only the color, not the substance.

    He paused to listen, and hearing the crying diminish, hastened forward. Perhaps she was already at the gateway, and about to pass.

    The First Gate was a veil of mist, with a single dark opening, where the river poured into the silence beyond. Abhorsen hurried towards it, and then stopped. The baby had not yet passed through, but only because something had caught her and picked her up. Standing there, looming up out of the black waters, was a shadow darker than the gate.

    It was several feet higher than Abhorsen, and there were pale marsh-lights burning where you would expect to see eyes, and the fetid stench of carrion rolled off it—a warm stench that relieved the chill of the river.

    Abhorsen advanced on the thing slowly, watching the child it held loosely in the crook of a shadowed arm. The baby was asleep, but restless, and it squirmed towards the creature, seeking a mother’s breast, but it only held her away from itself, as if the child were hot, or caustic.

    Slowly, Abhorsen drew a small, silver handbell from the bandolier of bells across his chest, and cocked his wrist to ring it. But the shadow-thing held the baby up and spoke in a dry, slithery voice, like a snake on gravel.

    Spirit of your spirit, Abhorsen. You can’t spell me while I hold her. And perhaps I shall take her beyond the gate, as her mother has already gone.

    Abhorsen frowned, in recognition, and replaced the bell. You have a new shape, Kerrigor. And you are now this side of the First Gate. Who was foolish enough to assist you so far?

    Kerrigor smiled widely, and Abhorsen caught a glimpse of fires burning deep inside his mouth.

    One of the usual calling, he croaked. But unskilled. He didn’t realize it would be in the nature of an exchange. Alas, his life was not sufficient for me to pass the last portal. But now, you have come to help me.

    I, who chained you beyond the Seventh Gate?

    Yes, whispered Kerrigor. The irony does not, I think, escape you. But if you want the child . . .

    He made as if to throw the baby into the stream and, with that jerk, woke her. Immediately, she began to cry and her little fists reached out to gather up the shadow-stuff of Kerrigor like the folds of a robe. He cried out, tried to detach her, but the tiny hands held tightly and he was forced to overuse his strength, and threw her from him. She landed, squalling, and was instantly caught up in the flow of the river, but Abhorsen lunged forward, snatching her from both the river and Kerrigor’s grasping hands.

    Stepping back, he drew the silver bell one-handed, and swung it so it sounded twice. The sound was curiously muffled, but true, and the clear chime hung in the air, fresh and cutting, alive. Kerrigor flinched at the sound, and fell backwards to the darkness that was the gate.

    Some fool will soon bring me back, and then . . . he cried out, as the river took him under. The waters swirled and gurgled and then resumed their steady flow.

    Abhorsen stared at the gate for a time, then sighed and, placing the bell back in his belt, looked at the baby held in his arm. She stared back at him, dark eyes matching his own. Already, the color had been drained from her skin. Nervously, Abhorsen laid a hand across the brand on her forehead and felt the glow of her spirit within. The Charter mark had kept her life contained when the river should have drained it. It was her life-spirit that had so burned Kerrigor.

    She smiled up at him and gurgled a little, and Abhorsen felt a smile tilting the corner of his own mouth. Still smiling, he turned, and began the long wade back up the river, to the gate that would return them both to their living flesh.

    The baby wailed a scant second before Abhorsen opened his eyes, so that the midwife was already halfway around the dying fire, ready to pick her up. Frost crackled on the ground and icicles hung from Abhorsen’s nose. He wiped them off with a sleeve and leaned over the child, much as any anxious father does after a birth.

    How is the babe? he asked, and the midwife stared at him wonderingly, for the dead child was now loudly alive and as deathly white as he.

    As you hear, lord, she answered. She is very well. It is perhaps a little cold for her—

    He gestured at the fire and spoke a word, and it roared into life, the frost melting at once, the raindrops sizzling into steam.

    That will do till morning, said Abhorsen. Then I shall take her to my house. I shall have need of a nurse. Will you come?

    The midwife hesitated, and looked to the Charter Mage, who still lingered on the far side of the fire. He refused to meet her glance and she looked down once more at the little girl bawling in her arms.

    You are . . . you are . . . whispered the midwife.

    A necromancer? said Abhorsen. Only of a sort. I loved the woman who lies here. She would have lived if she had loved another, but she did not. Sabriel is our child. Can you not see the kinship?

    The midwife looked at him as he leant forward and took Sabriel from her, rocking her on his chest. The baby quietened and, in a few seconds, was asleep.

    Yes, said the midwife. I shall come with you, and look after Sabriel. But you must find a wet-nurse . . .

    And I daresay much else besides, mused Abhorsen. But my house is not a place for—

    The Charter Mage cleared his throat, and moved around the fire.

    If you seek a man who knows a little of the Charter, he said hesitantly, I should wish to serve, for I have seen its work in you, lord, though I am loath to leave my fellow wanderers.

    Perhaps you will not have to, replied Abhorsen, smiling at a sudden thought. I wonder if your leader will object to two new members joining her band. For my work means I must travel, and there is no part of the Kingdom that has not felt the imprint of my feet.

    Your work? asked the man, shivering a little, though it was no longer cold.

    Yes, said Abhorsen. I am a necromancer, but not of the common kind. Where others of the art raise the dead, I lay them back to rest. And those that will not rest, I bind—or try to. I am Abhorsen . . .

    He looked at the baby again, and added, almost with a note of surprise, Father of Sabriel.

    Chapter One

    THE RABBIT HAD been run over minutes before. Its pink eyes were glazed and blood stained its clean white fur. Unnaturally clean fur, for it had just escaped from a bath. It still smelt faintly of lavender water.

    A tall, curiously pale young woman stood over the rabbit. Her night-black hair, fashionably bobbed, was hanging slightly over her face. She wore no makeup or jewelry, save for an enamelled school badge pinned to her regulation navy blazer. That, coupled with her long skirt, stockings and sensible shoes, identified her as a schoolgirl. A nameplate under the badge read Sabriel and the Roman VI and gilt crown proclaimed her to be both a member of the Sixth Form and a prefect.

    The rabbit was, unquestionably, dead. Sabriel looked up from it and back along the bricked drive that left the road and curved up to an imposing pair of wrought-iron gates. A sign above the gate, in gilt letters of mock Gothic, announced that they were the gates to Wyverley College. Smaller letters added that the school was Established in 1652 for Young Ladies of Quality.

    A small figure was busy climbing over the gate, nimbly avoiding the spikes that were supposed to stop such activities. She dropped the last few feet and started running, her pigtails flying, shoes clacking on the bricks. Her head was down to gain momentum, but as cruising speed was established, she looked up, saw Sabriel and the dead rabbit, and screamed.

    Bunny!

    Sabriel flinched as the girl screamed, hesitated for a moment, then bent down by the rabbit’s side and reached out with one pale hand to touch it between its long ears. Her eyes closed and her face set as if she had suddenly turned to stone. A faint whistling sound came from her slightly parted lips, like the wind heard from far away. Frost formed on her fingertips and rimed the asphalt beneath her feet and knees.

    The other girl, running, saw her suddenly tip forward over the rabbit, and topple towards the road, but at the last minute her hand came out and she caught herself. A second later, she had regained her balance and was using both hands to restrain the rabbit—a rabbit now inexplicably lively again, its eyes bright and shiny, as eager to be off as when it escaped from its bath.

    Bunny! shrieked the younger girl again, as Sabriel stood up, holding the rabbit by the scruff of its neck. Oh, thank you, Sabriel! When I heard the car skidding I thought . . .

    She faltered as Sabriel handed the rabbit over and blood stained her expectant hands.

    He’ll be fine, Jacinth, Sabriel replied wearily. A scratch. It’s already closed up.

    Jacinth examined Bunny carefully, then looked up at Sabriel, the beginnings of a wriggling fear showing at the back of her eyes.

    There isn’t anything under the blood, stammered Jacinth. What did you . . .

    I didn’t, snapped Sabriel. But perhaps you can tell me what you are doing out of bounds?

    Chasing Bunny, replied Jacinth, her eyes clearing as life reverted to a more normal situation. You see . . .

    No excuses, recited Sabriel. Remember what Mrs. Umbrade said at Assembly on Monday.

    It’s not an excuse, insisted Jacinth. It’s a reason.

    You can explain it to Mrs. Umbrade then.

    Oh, Sabriel! You wouldn’t! You know I was only chasing Bunny. I’d never have come out—

    Sabriel held up her hands in mock defeat, and gestured back to the gates.

    If you’re back inside within three minutes, I won’t have seen you. And open the gate this time. They won’t be locked till I go back inside.

    Jacinth smiled, her whole face beaming, whirled around and sped back up the drive, Bunny clutched against her neck. Sabriel watched till she had gone through the gate, then let the tremors take her till she was bent over, shaking with cold. A moment of weakness and she had broken the promise she had made both to herself and her father. It was only a rabbit and Jacinth did love it so much—but what would that lead to? It was no great step from bringing back a rabbit to bringing back a person.

    Worse, it had been so easy. She had caught the spirit right at the wellspring of the river, and had returned it with barely a gesture of power, patching the body with simple Charter symbols as they stepped from death to life. She hadn’t even needed bells, or the other apparatus of a necromancer. Only a whistle and her will.

    Death and what came after death was no great mystery to Sabriel. She just wished it was.

    It was Sabriel’s last term at Wyverley—the last three weeks, in fact. She had graduated already, coming first in English, equal first in Music, third in Mathematics, seventh in Science, second in Fighting Arts and fourth in Etiquette. She had also been a runaway first in Magic, but that wasn’t printed on the certificate. Magic only worked in those regions of Ancelstierre close to the Wall which marked the border with the Old Kingdom. Farther away, it was considered to be quite beyond the pale, if it existed at all, and persons of repute did not mention it. Wyverley College was only forty miles from the Wall, had a good all-round reputation, and taught Magic to those students who could obtain special permission from their parents.

    Sabriel’s father had chosen it for that reason when he had emerged from the Old Kingdom with a five-year-old girl in tow to seek a boarding school. He had paid in advance for that first year, in Old Kingdom silver deniers that stood up to surreptitious touches with cold iron. Thereafter, he had come to visit his daughter twice a year, at Midsummer and Midwinter, staying for several days on each occasion and always bringing more silver.

    Understandably, the Headmistress was very fond of Sabriel. Particularly since she never seemed troubled by her father’s rare visitations, as most other girls would be. Once Mrs. Umbrade had asked Sabriel if she minded, and had been troubled by the answer that Sabriel saw her father far more often than when he was actually there. Mrs. Umbrade didn’t teach Magic, and didn’t want to know any more about it other than the pleasant fact that some parents would pay considerable sums to have their daughters schooled in the basics of sorcery and enchantment.

    Mrs. Umbrade certainly didn’t want to know how Sabriel saw her father. Sabriel, on the other hand, always looked forward to his unofficial visits and watched the moon, tracing its movements from the leather-bound almanac which listed the phases of the moon in both Kingdoms and gave valuable insights into the seasons, tides and other ephemerae that were never the same at any one time on both sides of the Wall. Abhorsen’s sending of himself always appeared at the dark of the moon.

    On these nights, Sabriel would lock herself into her study (a privilege of the Sixth Form—previously she’d had to sneak into the library), put the kettle on the fire, drink tea and read a book until the characteristic wind rose up, extinguished the fire, put out the electric light and rattled the shutters—all necessary preparations, it seemed, for her father’s phosphorescent sending to appear in the spare armchair.

    Sabriel was particularly looking forward to her father’s visit that November. It would be his last, because college was about to end and she wanted to discuss her future. Mrs. Umbrade wanted her to go to university, but that meant moving farther away from the Old Kingdom. Her magic would wane and parental visitations would be limited to actual physical appearances, and those might well become even less frequent. On the other hand, going to university would mean staying with some of the friends she’d had virtually all her life, girls she’d started school with at the age of five. There would also be a much greater world of social interaction, particularly with young men, of which commodity there was a distinct shortage around Wyverley College.

    And the disadvantage of losing her magic could possibly be offset by a lessening of her affinity for death and the dead . . .

    Sabriel was thinking of this as she waited, book in hand, half-drunk cup of tea balanced precariously on the arm of her chair. It was almost midnight and Abhorsen hadn’t appeared. Sabriel had checked the almanac twice and had even opened the shutters to peer out through the glass at the sky. It was definitely the dark of the moon, but there was no sign of him. It was the first time in her life that he hadn’t appeared and she felt suddenly uneasy.

    Sabriel rarely thought about what life was really like in the Old Kingdom, but now old stories came to mind and dim memories of when she’d lived there with the Travelers. Abhorsen was a powerful sorcerer, but even then . . .

    Sabriel! Sabriel!

    A high-pitched voice interrupted her thought, quickly followed by a hasty knock and a rattle of the doorknob. Sabriel sighed, pushed herself out of her chair, caught the teacup and unlocked the door.

    A young girl stood on the other side, twisting her nightcap from side to side in trembling hands, her face white with fear.

    Olwyn! exclaimed Sabriel. What is it? Is Sussen sick again?

    No, sobbed the girl. I heard noises behind the tower door, and I thought it was Rebece and Ila having a midnight feast without me, so I looked . . .

    What! exclaimed Sabriel, alarmed. No one opened outside doors in the middle of the night, not this close to the Old Kingdom.

    I’m sorry, cried Olwyn. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know why I did. It wasn’t Rebece and Ila—it was a black shape and it tried to get in. I slammed the door . . .

    Sabriel threw the teacup aside and pushed past Olwyn. She was already halfway down the corridor before she heard the porcelain smash behind her, and Olwyn’s horrified gasp at such cavalier treatment of good china. She ignored it and broke into a run, slapping on the light switches as she ran towards the open door of the west dormitory. As she reached it, screams broke out inside, rapidly crescendoing to an hysterical chorus. There were forty girls in the dormitory—most of the First Form, all under the age of eleven. Sabriel took a deep breath, and stepped into the doorway, fingers crooked in a spell-casting stance. Even before she looked, she felt the presence of death.

    The dormitory was very long, and narrow, with a low roof and small windows. Beds and dressers lined each side. At the far end, a door led to the West Tower steps. It was supposed to be locked inside and out, but locks rarely prevailed against the powers of the Old Kingdom.

    The door was open. An intensely dark shape stood there, as if someone had cut a man-shaped figure out of the night, carefully choosing a piece devoid of stars. It had no features at all, but the head quested from side to side, as if whatever senses it did possess worked in a narrow range. Curiously, it carried an absolutely mundane sack in one four-fingered hand, the rough-woven cloth in stark contrast to its own surreal flesh.

    Sabriel’s hands moved in a complicated gesture, drawing the symbols of the Charter that intimated sleep, quiet and rest. With a flourish, she indicated both sides of the dormitory and drew one of the master symbols, drawing all together. Instantly, every girl in the room stopped screaming and slowly subsided back onto her bed.

    The creature’s head stopped moving and Sabriel knew its attention was now centered on her. Slowly it moved, lifting one clumsy leg and swinging it forward, resting for a moment, then swinging the other a little past the first. A lumbering, rolling motion, that made an eerie, shuffling noise on the thin carpet. As it passed each bed, the electric lights above them flared once and went out.

    Sabriel let her hands fall to her side and focused her eyes on the center of the creature’s torso, feeling the stuff of which it was made. She had come without any of her instruments or tools, but that led to only a moment’s hesitation before she let herself slip over the border into Death, her eyes still on the intruder.

    The river flowed around her legs, cold as always. The light, grey and without warmth, still stretched to an entirely flat horizon. In the distance, she could hear the roar of the First Gate. She could see the creature’s true shape clearly now, not wrapped in the aura of death which it carried to the living world. It was an Old Kingdom denizen, vaguely humanoid, but more like an ape than a man and obviously only semi-intelligent. But there was more to it than that, and Sabriel felt the clutch of fear as she saw the black thread that came from the creature’s back and ran into the river. Somewhere, beyond the First Gate, or even farther, that umbilical rested in the hands of an Adept. As long as the thread existed the creature would be totally under the control of its master, who could use its senses and spirit as it saw fit.

    Something tugged at Sabriel’s physical body, and she reluctantly twitched her senses back to the living world, a slight feeling of nausea rising in her as a wave of warmth rushed over her death-chilled body.

    What is it? said a calm voice, close to Sabriel’s ear. An old voice, tinged with the power of Charter Magic—Miss Greenwood, the Magistrix of the school.

    It’s a Dead servant—a spirit form, replied Sabriel, her attention back on the creature. It was halfway down the dorm, still single-mindedly rolling one leg after the other. Without free will. Something sent it back to the living world. It’s controlled from beyond the First Gate.

    Why is it here? asked the Magistrix. Her voice sounded calm, but Sabriel felt the Charter symbols gathering in her voice, forming on her tongue—symbols that would unleash lightning and flame, the destructive powers of the earth.

    It’s not obviously malign, nor has it attempted any actual harm . . . replied Sabriel slowly, her mind working over the possibilities. She was used to explaining purely necromantic aspects of magic to Miss Greenwood. The Magistrix had taught her Charter Magic, but necromancy was definitely not on the syllabus. Sabriel had learned more than she wanted to know about necromancy from her father . . . and the Dead themselves. Don’t do anything for a moment. I will attempt to speak with it.

    The cold washed over her again, biting into her, as the river gushed around her legs, eager to pull her over and carry her away. Sabriel exerted her will, and the cold became simply a sensation, without danger, the current merely a pleasing vibration about the feet.

    The creature was close now, as it was in the living world. Sabriel held out both her hands, and clapped, the sharp sound echoing for longer than it would anywhere else. Before the echo died, Sabriel whistled several notes, and they echoed too, sweet sounds within the harshness of the handclap.

    The thing flinched at the sound and stepped back, putting both hands to its ears. As it did so, it dropped the sack. Sabriel started in surprise. She hadn’t noticed the sack before, possibly because she hadn’t expected it to be there. Very few inanimate things existed in both realms, the living and the dead.

    She was even more surprised as the creature suddenly bent forward and plunged into the water, hands searching for the sack. It found it almost at once, but not without losing its footing. As the sack surfaced, the current forced the creature under. Sabriel breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it slide away, then gasped as its head broke the surface and it cried out: Sabriel! My messenger! Take the sack! The voice was Abhorsen’s.

    Sabriel ran forward and an arm pushed out towards her, the neck of the sack clutched in its fingers. She reached out, missed, then tried again. The sack was secure in her grasp, as the current took the creature completely under. Sabriel looked after it, hearing the roar of the First Gate suddenly increase as it always did when someone passed its falls. She turned and started to slog back against the current to a point where she could easily return to life. The sack in her hand was heavy and there was a leaden feeling in her stomach. If the messenger was truly Abhorsen’s, then he himself was unable to return to the realm of the living.

    And that meant he was either dead, or trapped by something that should have passed beyond the final gate.

    Once again, a wave of nausea overcame her and Sabriel fell to her knees, shaking. She could feel the Magistrix’s hand on her shoulder, but her attention was fastened on the sack she held in her hand. She didn’t need to look to know that the creature was gone. Its manifestation into the living world had ceased as its spirit had gone past the First Gate. Only a pile of grave mold would remain, to be swept aside in the morning.

    What did you do? asked the Magistrix, as Sabriel brushed her hands through her hair, ice crystals falling from her hands onto the sack that lay in front of her knees.

    It had a message for me, replied Sabriel. So I took it.

    She opened the sack, and reached inside. A sword hilt met her grasp, so she drew it out, still scabbarded, and put it to one side. She didn’t need to draw it to see the Charter symbols etched along its blade—the dull emerald in the pommel and the worn bronze-plated cross-guard were as familiar to her as the school’s uninspired cutlery. It was Abhorsen’s sword.

    The leather bandolier she drew out next was an old brown belt, a hand’s-breadth wide, which always smelled faintly of beeswax. Seven tubular leather pouches hung from it, starting with one the size of a small pill bottle; growing larger, till the seventh was almost the size of a jar. The bandolier was designed to be worn across the chest, with the pouches hanging down. Sabriel opened the smallest and pulled out a tiny silver bell, with a dark, deeply polished mahogany handle. She held it gently, but the clapper still swung slightly, and the bell made a high, sweet note that somehow lingered in the mind, even after the sound was gone.

    Father’s instruments, whispered Sabriel. The tools of a necromancer.

    But there are Charter marks engraved on the bell . . . and the handle! interjected the Magistrix, who was looking down with fascination. Necromancy is Free Magic, not governed by the Charter . . .

    Father’s was different, replied Sabriel distantly, still staring at the bell she held in her hand, thinking of her father’s brown, lined hands holding the bells. Binding, not raising. He was a faithful servant of the Charter.

    You’re going to be leaving us, aren’t you? the Magistrix said suddenly, as Sabriel replaced the bell and stood up, sword in one hand, bandolier in the other. I just saw it, in the reflection of the bell. You were crossing the Wall . . .

    Yes. Into the Old Kingdom, said Sabriel, with sudden realization. "Something has happened to Father . . . but I’ll find him . . . so I swear by the Charter I

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