Clariel

Starred review from August 11, 2014
In a prequel to his classic Old Kingdom series, set some 600 years before the previous novels, Nix introduces Clariel, the 17-year-old daughter of a supremely talented goldsmith mother. Clariel only wants to be left alone, “to become a Borderer, one of the wardens who patrolled the forests and woods of the kingdom,” But unfortunately for her, she is also a close relative of the aging ruler of the Old Kingdom, as well as the Abhorsen, the kingdom’s master of lawful Charter Magic, who must keep both the Dead and the Wild Magic in their places. Clariel soon becomes a pawn in the political machinations of both her mother and the ambitious guildmaster Kilp, who controls the capital city, Belisaere. Worse, she discovers that her occasionally violent temper may itself have dire (and magical) consequences for her future. Between striking characters—from the heroic if not entirely competent young Abhorsen-in-Waiting, Belatiel, to the enigmatic, catlike Mogget—and Nix’s brilliantly complex magic system, this superb tale is exactly the book fans of the series have been awaiting. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

September 1, 2014
Six centuries before the events of Sabriel (rev. 1/97), Lirael (rev. 7/01), and Abhorsen (rev. 3/03), circumstances in the Old Kingdom are vastly different: the addled king refuses to rule; the Abhorsen neglects his duty to fight the resurrected dead; and treacherous Governor Kilp presides over capitol city Belisaere. Seventeen-year-old Clariel (who is related to both the royal and Abhorsen families, and thus a distant ancestor of Sabriel and Lirael), feeling claustrophobic in the bustling capitol, wants nothing more than to live in the Great Forest--until Kilp murders her parents and abducts Clariel to establish her as a puppet queen. Clariel's grief and fury get the best of her, leading her into a devil's deal for revenge with manipulative cat-creature Mogget (a mainstay character of the other novels) and two sinister Free Magic beings. This prequel is a tonal departure; Clariel is both less likable and less noble-minded than her heroic kinswomen, and this is not a story of selflessly protecting the kingdom but rather of the protagonist's unwitting, gradual corruption. Series fans anticipating answers about Clariel's transformation from duped young woman into powerful necromancer Chlorr of the Mask (or about Mogget's own story) will not get them here: Nix writes in his author's note, "As to what [Clariel] did in the intervening years...who can say?" But those same fans will treasure this long-awaited opportunity to return to a much-loved world, built with as much originality and richness as ever. katie bircher

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 11, 2014

January 1, 2015
Six centuries before the events of Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen, seventeen-year-old Clariel wants nothing more than to live in the Great Forest--until her parents are murdered. This prequel is a tonal departure; Clariel is both less likable and less noble-minded than Nix's other heroic protagonists. But series fans will treasure this long-awaited opportunity to return to a much-loved world, built with originality and richness.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from September 15, 2014
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Nix's fans have long awaited more Old Kingdom tales, and this stand-alone prequel, taking place 600 years before Sabriel's birth, recounts the poignant origin story of sorcerer and necromancer Chlorr of the Mask. Strong-willed, solitary Clariel wishes only to live in the Great Forest as one of its wardens, but her parents move them to the capital of Belisaere when her mother is invited into the Goldsmiths' High Guild. Clariel is ill suited to city life, where she must attend finishing school and study tedious Charter magic as the Abhorsen's granddaughter. But it's the prospect of an arranged marriage to the cruel governor's son that fuels her desperation. When a dangerous Free Magic creature is released into the citypart of the governor's plan to depose the kingClariel sees a way out, though she may lose herself in the escape. Clariel is a deeply sympathetic character faced with complicated choices, the consequences of which are frighteningly uncertain as she is pulled between the wild Free Magic and the disciplined Charter. Nix's intricate world building reveals more Old Kingdom history and its ever-shifting alliance between the political and magical. Themes of freedom and destiny underpin Clariel's harrowing, bittersweet story, and readers will delight in the telling (and in fan favorite Mogget's return).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2014
Selfishness and betrayal provoke inexorable tragedy in this dark prequel to a beloved fantasy trilogy.All Clariel wants is a solitary life in the Great Forest, but her mother's status in the powerful guilds, along with her connections to the royal and Abhorsen families, requires Clariel to stay in the capital, plagued with etiquette lessons and trapped in a loathsome betrothal. When her parents, tutors and even her friends play her for a pawn, Clariel can barely hold back her fury, and she seizes an opportunity to escape by helping capture a monster-even though she feels the deadly allure of its Free Magic. While familiarity with Nix's Old Kingdom series isn't necessary, it certainly adds depth, though its fans will be well-aware that Clariel's story can have no happy ending. More shocking is the vicious portrait of the magical realm at its peak of prosperity: savage inequality inciting social breakdown, king and mage alike abandoning their responsibilities, and respect for the Charter diminished. Hostile and self-centered, Clariel makes an interesting (if not entirely likable) protagonist; her depiction as (emphatically!) asexual and aromantic is refreshing, despite the problematic implied link to being anti-social and aloof. Still, readers will hurt with her as she longs passionately for freedom, rages at her enforced helplessness, snatches at desperate bad choices, and claws after a faint, bittersweet redemption.A thunderstorm of a tale, bitter and brutal but dazzling in its ferocity. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

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Starred review from July 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-Over a decade has passed since Nix's last Old Kingdom novel, Abhorsen (HarperCollins, 2003), but he has lost none of his skill in depicting this fantasy realm. Nix sets Clariel 600 years before his other Old Kingdom novels, in a time when the king is old and weary and the current Abhorsen prefers to hunt game rather than Free Magic creatures and necromancers. Clariel is a young woman who is close kin to both the King and the Abhorsen but with little knowledge of either. She has reluctantly come to the capital city of Belisaere with her mother, Jaciel, who has been declared a High Goldsmith. Clariel would prefer to roam free amongst the forest near her childhood home of Estwael and seeks any way to escape the odious city with its lifeless streets and political squabbles. Clariel's instructor in Charter Magic, Magister Kargrin, promises his help to leave the city in return for her aid in capturing a Free Magic creature that he believes is in league with Governor Kilp. Little does she realize the effect that the touch of the creature will have on her or the depths to which Kilp will stoop to assuage his ambition. Nix pens a compelling character in Clariel while his skill in rendering both politics and magic is strong. This excellent work can be enjoyed independently of the other Old Kingdom novels, but will certainly draw readers to those works.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.