I would like to give this book four stars. it has some wonderful moments and it tells a good story. On the whole I enjoyed it, but not four stars worth. Why?First sadly it's just not as good as the first book in this "series" (I'll explain the quotes later.) I really liked Sabriel and had these on my "get them list" for a long time. This book picks up just as the second volume (Lireal) ends. Unfortunately (for me) Lireal dragged down and became such a slow and tedious book I was almost in tears at times. Having told us how legendary Sabriel and Touchstone have become over the 14 years preceding that book we proceed with a slow, wandering, at times stultifyingly dull book about Lireal (and her angst at not getting the sight) and the companion she FINALLY meets after LONG anticipation (I mena we all knew it was going to happen) Sam (and his angst at being the Abhorsen in waiting). That book also had some good moments and a pretty good story...but fewer and less than we find here. I think one problem was/is that my interest never really rekindled after the second book.We will continue to follow our "heroes" here through more travels and travails and the book does come together in a final climactic scene...or really set of scenes, but it really didn't help for me. I saw the good parts I enjoyed it "a bit" but I just didn't care all that much and was sort of relieved it was over.A second reason it's not quite a four star book? Well this is the third book in the Abhorsen Trilogy...sort of. As I said I was glad it was over, except it doesn't really seem to end as if it is over (no spoilers here). There is however a definite feeling that "things aren't tied up yet". Then if you go to the web sight there's a book called across the wall, considered the 4th of the Old Kingdom books. It's collected short stories so maybe that's not a big deal and we can still refer to this as the Abhorsen Trilogy...unless you count Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, to be released in 2013, a PREQUEL. So what about the teaser ending????????????Oh well, seen that before. Maybe he just thought he'd leave the door open, "in case".So after my criticisms I'll say that over all I liked this book, but I just found it slow, at times laborious and really (for me) often uninteresting.... then again I lost interest in following his Keys to the Kingdom series and didn't follow up the ones I read first in spite of finding the ideas intriguing.So, first book Sabriel excellent, highly enjoyable. Second book Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr not so much, very weak with nice patches and this book, Abhorsen not bad, but for me never recovered from the doldrums I found myself in after the second volume.... 3 stars, wish i could say it's better.(view spoiler)[ I do find that there are interesting moments here. I like the Disreputable Dog character (though I suspect most readers will put together who she and Mogget are) it's still a nice touch. Why Mr. Nix chose to end with that "more to come" feeling is beyond me. I was frustrated in book two with his "boy oh boy did Sabriel and Touchstone have a ton of adventures you don't know about" story beginning only lead into the at times stupefyingly dull story he did relate. The final climax here is (I suppose) worth the wait as Lerial faces off with Hedge the necromancer who is serving the Destroyer ( I wonder if Hedge had managed at some point to become ruler would it have been a "Hedgemony"...okay, sorry about that, couldn't resist). With Lerial in Death and Sam trying to hold off the dead hands etc. It sets up a nice set piece sort ending, the two sides coming together (Sabriel, Touchstone, Ellimere, Sanar and Ryelle (of the Clayr), Sameth, The Disreputable Dog (Kibeth) and even Mogget (Yrael) face off against Orannis the destroyer and "re-bind It". It should have been rousing, exciting and a good wind up. For me it was just a final battle scene that meant I can now move on to the books I have waiting... it worries me a bit. Maybe I AM getting too hard to interest...LOL. Hope not.Well, pretty good, maybe take a break between the second volume and this one and let your interest return? don't know...almost 4 stars but just not quite. Too bad. (hide spoiler)]
The group mismatched heroes the reader has met in Lirael takes it's final stand against the Destroyer in a heart-pounding conclusion to the Abhorsen Trilogy (although really, Sabriel stands on it's own, and Lirael and Abhorsen are a duology).It appears that all the action has been saved up for Abhorsen, because the heroes barely have time to think, let alone take a moment's rest. I often wonder in stories like this when exactly the heroes go to the bathroom, like "What are you doing Sameth?" Lirael cries as she watches him run for the bush. "I can't hold it in any longer! That month old bread we had for lunch has given me explosive diarrhea!" -- Because they literally don't seem to have a moment to eat or rest, two basic needs that need to be fulfilled to be facing the world's greatest evil.Either way, Abhorsen was a fantastic conclusion. My one gripe with it is the fact that the only reason Lirael and Sam have made it this far, is because of Dog. I'd include Mogget, but he only helps when his own skin is on the line. Whereas Sabriel, while incompetent and barely trained, somehow managed to defeat everything thrown at her more or less on her own or with Touchstone's help and later the Academy girl's help. Dog seems to save Lirael from her incompetence on a regular basis, I don't Lirael had only managed to do one or two things on her own without Dog bailing her out.Otherwise there was plenty of action and terrifying suspense that kept me flipping pages. There were a few times where I was ready to hurl the book across the room because I thought certain characters were lost or because of the dumb mistakes the characters made. The end was definitely panic inducing where it seems that all may be lost. I do wish we got to see how exactly it all gets resolved but it cuts off abruptly right after the Big Battle and it seems there's quite a lot still left to do.Overall, I think this is a solid high fantasy series. It has it's low points, but it is unique in it's world building, it's characters are varied and interesting -- albeit a tad white washed and mostly gentrified. But would recommend this to all fantasy fans.
Do You like book Abhorsen (2003)?
Frankly, this book bored me. I can finish a modern fantasy book I moderately like in one night, so when I say it took me weeks to read this book, you can see that something really went wrong here. I liked Sabriel- it was fresh and fascinating, an entertaining read, though not a favourite. Plenty of action, great world building. Then along came Lirael. Also a good read, and different enough from the first to keep me interested. I liked reading about the Clayr, and the angstiness of the characters really drew me in and made me care more about them. Abhorsen just fell flat in comparison. There was absolutely nothing new or exciting. And it was too simplistic. Good vs. Evil. No moral dilemmas, no epiphanies, no character growth. And the plot lacked mystery and tension. Honestly, by the end of it, I was just begging for a giant meteor to come and destroy the world, just for a little excitement. If you're like me, you probably won't be able to resist reading this book to the end, because you can't just abandon a series mid-read. But I would lower your expectations before you pick it up,
—Rebecca
Abhorsen is the third and final book in the fantasy Abhorsen trilogy. Although the book can be dark at times, as it deals with the subject matter of the manipulation of the dead and the Abhorsen, a necromancer, it is well-written and a great read. Abhorsen builds more on the previous book, Lirael, and in my opinion will not make much sense if you read it on its own. Lirael develops as a character as the Abhorsen-in-waiting, as does Prince Sameth as one of the wallmakers. The two must continue on their journey to stop Orannis, the Destroyer, from entering the Old Kingdom with the assistance of Hedge, a necromancer. It is also fascinating to find out how Sam's friend Nick fits into the story, and how the characters have changed since the second book. If you enjoy reading fantasy novels, I would highly recommend the Abhorsen trilogy and any other of Garth Nix's books.
—Zachary
I think probably the best way to describe what it's like to read the Abhorsen trilogy is to compare it to a snowball rolling down a very, very large hill. We are all familiar with this metaphor--it basically implies that the thing being compared metaphorically moves faster and becomes MORE on the way down, whether that thing is the plot or your emotions as a reader, or both. Abhorsen is like this, but also THE SNOWBALL IS ON FIRE.Sabriel introduced the world, the characters (most of them), the magic system, and the stakes. Lirael upped the ante, widening the scope of the world, but also deepening it, and ended with the characters facing the biggest challenge of their lives so far. Abhorsen is almost in its entirety devoted to confronting that challenge, like the whole book is the climax of the series, but it also has its own climax that is even more intense than the rest of the book. And the rest of the book is like a giant rollercoaster ride of emotion and action and scary stuff trying to kill you.But also, remember the snowball? IT'S STILL ON FIRE.I'm not going to say much about the plot of this book except in the vaguest terms. Firstly, that I thought it was a very fitting conclusion to the story built up in the first two books. Secondly, that the ending brought me to tears in a Starbucks. I did not anticipate this happening. I'd read it twice before, admittedly as a teenager, so I thought I knew what I was getting into. I didn't expect to me moved quite so much, particularly on the subject of death. And lastly, I understand why Nix does what he does with the Disreputable Dog, who I think I've made clear is my favorite character, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.My only real complaint is that there wasn't enough of a coda to the events of the series. We only get the smallest inkling of the fates that befall these characters, although I suppose it is rather easy to guess. This is why I was so excited to learn he'd written a novella that takes place after the events in these books and that I'd somehow missed. It doesn't take place in the Old Kingdom, but we do get to check in with a couple of the characters. It filled a need. But also, I have more need. I'm very excited for Clariel in a couple of months, but seeing as how that's a prequel . . . look, Garth Nix. What I'm saying is I want more stories in this world. Give them to me.Give them to me now.[4.5 stars]
—Ashley
