Book Review: Sabriel

SABRIEL was the book club book last month at a book club I run, which is why I read it. I thought it would be good. I'd heard good things from other people: friends, strangers, bloggers, and other reviewers. I had heard good things about Garth Nix in general. But I found the book to be pretty boring. This made me sad because I really wanted to like it. And I thought I would, with it being necromancers and all.

But the entire book (almost) is her journey to find her dad. Apparently, I don't like fantasy books about journeys, for the most part. (There are a few Charles de Lint books like that, that I read and loved!) They were attacked at numerous times, but I didn't get any real sense of peril. Sabriel was alright. The thing I liked about her most was her name. There wasn't anything about her that made me like her. I didn't dislike her, but I didn't like her. This makes it difficult to root for her.

Enter Mogget, the talking cat. Wasn't a fan. Again, he did nothing to make me like him. Often times, I found him kind of annoying, actually. Enter Touchstone, the third traveler. Now, him I found kind of interesting. He was keeping stuff from Sabriel, not always because he wanted to. But you knew he could be trouble. You knew there was a chance he couldn't be trusted.

It took me over a month to get through this book, and once I hit the halfway point, I started skimming. I’m not saying it’s a bad book, especially because so many people I know enjoyed it. And it was well written. It just wasn’t exciting enough for my liking. I found a lot of it confusing, and this was before I began skimming. Also, I prefer Urban Fantasy, to High Fantasy, and this is what I’d call High Fantasy. I will admit though, that once I hit page 275, it started to get exciting. Not sure if I'll read the next installment, LIRAEL.

Synopsis:

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.