science fiction

Abhorsen - Garth Nix Book Review

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Review Summary
Lirael, now the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, must use her newfound powers both as an Abhorsen and a Remembrancer, to fight off a great evil that threatens all life. Aided only by the Disreputable Dog, Sam, and Mogget, and with the full Abhorsen missing and presumed dead in Ancelstierre, Lirael must stop the Destroyer being unbound... or failing that, must bind him again.
Emma, Resident Scholar

Lirael, a young woman who is not exactly sure who she is or if she can even face the challenges that have been bestowed upon her, searches for a way to stop an evil that has been brewing for centuries. She and her companions, the Disreputable Dog; whose origin is a mystery to Lirael, Sameth; a young Prince who has to live up to something he is not and can never be, and Mogget a conceited white cat; who has been a servant of the Abhorsen for many millenia set out on a journey all too dangerous and mysterious in an attempt to save everthing from certain destruction.
Disreputable Dog, Resident Scholar

The book starts off where Lirael left off: with Sameth and Lirael (now the Abhorsen in waiting) at Abhorsen's house, which is besieged.
Because the true Abhorsen, Sameth's mother, Sabriel, is in Ascelstierre (the mid-thirties type Earth setting), it is up to Lirael and Sameth and their two compainions Mogget, the bound-in-cat-form servant of the Abhorsens, and the Disreputable Dog to stop an evil necromancer called Hedge from using dead "hands" (reanimated corpses, really) to dig up Orannis, an evil powerful enough to destroy the world.

Sabriel, Resident Scholar

Lirael, now that she has discovered her destiny as Abhorsen, must fight Orannis and rescue Nicholas with the help of her old friends by looking into the Past.
Amanthrael, Resident Scholar

Lireal must find a way to save Earth from Orrains. She does but loses her life. In the end her best friend a dog sacrifices her life instead.
Astarael, Resident Scholar

In this book, the new Abhorsen-in-Waiting, Lirael, and Sam, descendant of the Wallmakers, must fight to save Sam's friend Nick from Hedge and Orannis. Along the way they find the true identities of Mogget and Dog. They must fight not only to save Nick, but the whole world. The idea of Lirael finding love also pops up near the end.

Saraneth, Resident Scholar

Lirael and Prince Sameth continue their journey in the Old Kingdom. They need to find Sam's best friend Nicholas from Ancelstierre, who is unknowingly helping to dig up a power that can destroy the whole earth. Meanwhile there have been attacks on Sabriel and King Touchstone. Lirael needs to find a way to bind the destroyer again if he is successfully brought back to power.
Sandra Belgaer, Resident Scholar


Detailed literary breakdown of Abhorsen
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Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 28.6%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 21.4%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 31.4%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 18.6%




Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - a powerful magician
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
magical powers: - clash between evenly matched magical power(s) (fantasy)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - mage/magician
Age: - a teen - 20's-30's
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - can change shapes - can cast many different spells
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being
Age: - long-lived adults
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - fire/thunder/weather cntrl - can cast all sorts of spells
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged - mean, arrogant
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
Terrain - Water - Mountains - Forests
Earth setting: - 20th century - during "Tolkien" (fairytime) times
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a contemporary society
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Abhorsen
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Children of Amarid - Lon Tobyn Chronicle 1 by David B. Coe
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Dragonsinger - Dragonriders of Pern 4 by Anne McCaffrey
Morgawr - Voyage of the Jerle Shannara 3 by Terry Brooks




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