Sabriel

Sabriel by Garth Nix.

It is a very interesting story. It has adventure and a hint of romance. The characters walk among Death and live in Life.

The story follows a young women named Sabriel on her adventure to rescue her father. But she is not just a normal girl. She is a Necromancer who uses bells to control the Dead. Sabriel is part of a long line of Abhorsens. She banishes the evil Spirits to their Final Death. She is able to walk in Death.

Sabriel: A drawing by numendil via deviantART.

Sabriel travels with two companions. The first is a trapped Spirit who serves the Abhorsens. For Sabriel he is in the form of a talking cat and calls himself Mogget. He is bound by the red collar that he wears around his neck. When the collar comes off, Mogget turns to his Dead form of fire and malice. But with a ring that Sabriel wears she is able to bind him again.

Mogget: A drawing by Liz Stifel.

Sabriel's second companion is a man called Touchstone. He was trapped in Death for two hundred years but was rescued by Sabriel. He serves her and helps her fights the Dead that come to prey on the living.

Touchstone: A drawing by Bryce Homick.

While on their dangerous adventure to rescue Sabriel's father they find out that one of The Greater Dead, possibly the Great, has finally crawled up from the Ninth Gate of Death to reach Life. Kerrigor wants to destroy all of the Great Charter Stones so that the Dead can walk in Life forever. He has been trying to do so for two hundred years. And many Abhorsens have tried to banish him to Final Death. With the help of her friends, Sabriel must do what many others were unable to do. Even her own father could not banish this Evil. Killing his body makes Kerrigor weak enough that she can banish him to his Final Death. But they have to find her father and Kerrigor's body before any banishing can be done.

Kerrigor: A drawing by Bryce Homick.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was so different then anything I would have read otherwise. I thought Garth Nix does a good job at balancing Life and Death. The way he imagines them interacting is brilliant.

I'm looking forward to reading book two and three of this trilogy.