Goldenhand by Garth Nix

This is the last of the extant Old Kingdom Series novels. It came out in 2016, so I have high hopes that there will be more soon. It's a little strange how, as a late comer to an author, I can get so invested.

Goldenhand picks up very soon after the events of Abhorsen. Apparently, there's a short story that fits in between the two but I don't think it's necessary to read if first, but it probably helps to understand the set up. It's called "The Creature in the Case."

Lireal lost a hand during Abhorsen and Sam has created her a new golden prosthetic to replace it, hence the name. Sabriel and Touchstone are taking a much needed vacation leaving Lireal in charge of all Abhorsen matters. In the course of this she's called to the wall to meet Nick who has discovered a free magic creature.

Poor Nick, the guy is a sort of magical freak. The events of previous books have left him infested with free magic, but the Disreputable Dog also baptised him to Charter magic. So he's kind of a living Charter Stone. (If you read the previous books, that made sense. If you haven't, think source of magic.)

In any case, Chlorr of the Mask shows up and causes problems that Nick and Lireal have to deal with. It's pretty fun. However, I will note that this volume reads more like YA than any other book in the series.

Clariel by Garth Nix

11 years after Abhorsen was published, Nix came out with Clariel. That's a long lag. Most authors produce one book every year to two years to keep a series going. Slower than that, and it can be difficult to get a new book out because the fans wander off and find new things to follow. Sometimes though, if a book has a big enough following, a new book in the series can be well received. Clariel is such a book.

Sometimes an author gets interested in the backstory of a villain which can lead to some interesting problems. If the villain cannot be made sympathetic in someway, it can be hard to run a book from their perspective. Make them too sympathetic and it is no longer believable that they can be villainous. So, it's a very hard line to walk. I imagine it is made harder when the first exposure
the audience has to the character is as a villain.

In this case, Nix came up with an interesting solution. The events of Clariel happen about 600 years before the rest of the Abhorsen books. For most of the book, it is unclear how, or even if, the main character Clariel relates to the other later timeline. By the time I figured it out, the book was about three quarters of the way through.

Clariel is a girl uprooted from her environment by her parents and moved to the capital city of Belisaere. Her parents are goldsmiths and it's a good move for them with plenty of opportunity. However, it's a disaster for Clariel who wants nothing more than to be alone in the forest. Normally this just makes for an unhappy teenager, but Clariel is related to both the royal and abhorsen bloodlines and so is an inheritor of power. Power, can be a wonderful thing or it can be terrible.

I like the story of Clariel and, while the end made sense and was satisfying, it made me sad. The best part of the book for me was the glimpse of the Old Kingdom at or nears it's height of glory. All of the Abhorsen books take place in a time when the Old Kingdom is struggling to put itself back together, so it's interesting.

Abhorsen by Garth Nix

This is the last in the original Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix and follows very closely the events in Lirael. Actually, this is sort of a weird series. Sabriel, the first book, feels like a stand alone. Lirael and Abhorsen really feel like one book chopped in two which was probably done to keep the page count down. Generally, each book in a trilogy should have a complete plot arc and a common through line that links the books together. Think J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." The Abhorsen trilogy reads more like an open-ended series which tends to feature discrete plot arcs with shared characters but where to main character can shift from book to book. This is more similar to Mercedes Lackey's "Valdemar" series or Terry Pratchett's "Discworld."

Anyway, Abhorsen concludes the events started in Lirael. Lirael and Sam continue their journey with Mogget and the Disreputable Dog to Red Lake in an effort on rescue Sam's friend Nick and stop an ancient evil from being unearthed. Things in Ancelstierre have completely destabilized and the book begins with an assassination attempt on King Touchstone and Queen/Abhorsen Sabriel.

This book features a more extensive description of nine precincts of death as well as a return of the enigmatic Wall Builder bloodline. The mystery surrounding both Mogget and the Disreputable Dog is finally resolved. The end reads as final as though Nix didn't envision writing any more in the world. While it was a pretty excellent way to close out the trilogy, I'm glad he decided to write more.

Lirael by Garth Nix

Having finished Sabriel, I realized that it was the first book in the series and started quickly looking for the rest of the books. Library to the rescue. As always.

Lirael picks up a couple decades after the events in Sabriel and mostly follow completely different characters. Lirael is an orphaned daughter of the Clayr, the prophets of the Old Kingdom. It's kind of a neat system actually. Individually, they all have the power of foresight but individually it isn't very useful because it is too vague and fractured. However, they can pool their talent together to get more usable predictions. Like I said, kind of cool.

Poor Lirael is alone among the Clayr in that she does not have the gift which singles her out and makes her feel like an outsider. Much of the first third of the book has to do with her feelings on this and how she distracts herself with magic studies and as a librarian.

The other character that the book follows is Prince Sameth who is Sabriel and Touchstone's son. Sameth seems kind of like a fish out of water, it's assumed that he's going to be the next Abhorsen but he's absolutely terrified of the job. So, he ends up running away, in effect, even though he convinces himself that he's really trying to help his friend.

Eventually, the two find each other.

This is a good sequel that continues to develop the world. I actually really love the thought that Nix put into the magic system and the sort of odd layered history and the new villains are pretty seriously creepy.