Bells, Panpipes and a Rather Nasty Necromancer Man (Lirael - Garth Nix)

Name: marandina

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Product:	Lirael - Garth Nix
Date:	28/07/05 (367 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Kids with active imaginations will love it

Disadvantages: Just lacks an edge

If there’s one enduringly popular genre for children and adults alike it’s that whole sword and sorcerer thing. Over the years I’ve had mixed experiences myself. I’ve tried Raymond E Feist and not really taken to it; Tolkien was something of a disaster as I found the Hobbit almost unreadable whilst the infusion of horror through Clive Barker left me cautiously optimistic that I may like this genre after all. I will qualify this by saying I’ve yet to try Philip Pullman who comes highly recommended. That heady mix of ancient lands, strange almost biblical/far Eastern sounding names and layer upon layer of mystical magic that nobody really quite understands should be a winner. Just look at the success of the Harry Potter series as book sales go astro even if JK Rowling has subtly built upon and used so many other literary sources from years gone by. So it was that I tried a new author for me with the second in his Old Kingdom/The Abhorsen Trilogy – Garth Nix’s “Lirael”.

Garth Nix was born in 1963 and grew up in Canberra, Australia. Having achieved a degree in professional writing from the University of Canberra. "Sabriel" was published in 1995 to critical acclaim, launching the writing career that as well as the Old Kingdom sequence has spawned a seven book series headlined “The Keys to the Kingdom”, a six-book series called “The Seventh Tower” and various other stand alone books for children. He now lives in Sydney with his wife, Anna.

“Lirael” is set in the Old Kingdom, which borders the kingdom of Ancelstierre. Told through two converging tales, Lirael is a daughter of the Clayr, a race that has the gift of Sight. This means that at a coming of age, Clayr children inherit the ability to see into the future where the future exists with alternate possibilities rather than being set in certainty. Lirael is frustrated. A young woman, she still has not received the ability of the Sight and that depresses her even to the point of considering suicide. Lirael’s fortunes take a turn for the better when having been ushered into the observatory of the Clayr, she is shown a collective image by the resident watch of terrible danger afoot in the Kingdom. Having been privy to this image, she sets out to investigate together with The Disreputable Dog, a sending forged from free magic and face danger on behalf of her people.

Sameth is the son of King Touchstone and his mother, Sabriel. Courtesy of his mother’s role of Abhorsen, Sameth is the Abhorsen-in-waiting, due to inherit his mother’s title and role at some point in the future. Charged with the responsibility of reading the instructional “Book of the Dead”, Sameth is intimidated by his purpose of life, simply wanting to enjoy his youth. Upon reading a letter from his friend Nicholas from Alcelstierre, Sameth becomes concerned for his friend as Nicholas declares the fact that he is coming to visit the Old Kingdom but plans to visit a curious phenomenon called The Lightning Trap. This appears to be the source of much of the current unrest and fearing for Nicholas’s safety, Sameth takes it upon himself to go and rescue him.

Unfortunately, trouble is brewing up on a mound by the Red Lake where the Clayr can’t see and no life exists. Hedge the necromancer has plans for the Old Kingdom following the fall of the evil Kerrigor that will shatter the lives of both Lirael and Sameth and throw the world into confusion and fear. He must be stopped but by who?

First of all, let me say that like any trilogy or series it makes sense to start at the beginning. Needless to say, in my case I simply bought the book and read it without having first read “Sabriel”. Whilst this didn’t negate the experience, in the absence of a recap of the first book there were references that I had to make assumptions about such as the difference between free magic and charter magic. This did get a brief explanation in the second half of the story but it was one of a number of instances where a little bit more explanation would have enhanced the reading experience. Anyway……

Written from the respective first person viewpoints of the two main characters – Lirael and Sameth, Nix’s characterisations are good with it being eminently possible to empathise with their teenage angst. Both are suited to their very different roles as hero and heroin with the contrasts emphasised by the accompaniment along their alternate journeys by the magical creatures the Disreputable Dog and Mogget the cat.

What works well in the book is the appreciation of what a typical teenager might feel in situations so alien and strange. After all, this is set in a world of old world magic and unpredictability but Nix still manages to outline Lirael's uncertainty around her own sexuality (at one point shunning the attention of Sameth) as well as capturing the strain of Sameth's pending loss of his youth to a bigger struggle. In many ways the book is a story of two seperate rites of passage that come together in adversity.

The creatures imagined by the author are convincing enough to make a child’s brow sweat too. The peril created by the Stilken early on whilst the lingering presence of various versions of the Dead (zombies by any other word) do generate the suspense in the story with several chase sequences putting the protagonists in a jam. That whole necromancer thing is so reminiscent of Brian Lumley’s work although I’m sure he hasn’t got a patent on the literary use of the concept of necromancers. Both of the main character’s get to take rather dangerous trips into the alternate world of “Death” in order to find out more information although the significance of the existence of successive gates starting with the First Gate was unclear as was the potential use of magical bells and panpipes. Still, that elemental uncertainty merely goes to add to the mysticism designed to transport the reader to a different place and time so to explain things in copious detail would probably spoil things anyway.

The criticism I have of the book is twofold. Firstly, the visual imagery of the book is a little narrow. With such a potentially sprawling backdrop, I could never conjure the mental picture of the countryside and rural settings that I wanted too at times. That internal notion of fairy castles and medieval villages alongside broad rivers could have been painted just a little more alluringly with a few more metaphors and description. The other would be that I felt the book lacked a little in terms of power of description in general. There wasn’t really a point where the action got my heart pumping and maybe that’s due to the choice of adjective and pace chosen by the writer. Saying that, if you’ve ever watched the television programme “Charmed” you’ll have got used to the moments of jeopardy being resolved within seconds usually through a quick incantation and a wave of the hands issuing a saving pulse of light to vanquish demons. Moments in this book are cut from the same cloth.

At 527 pages, Lirael was a long read and one that will challenge young readers in terms of stamina and longevity. Chapters are relatively short, though, typically a dozen pages so it is possible to read in short bursts. “Lirael” is, for me, very much a children’s book but many adults will enjoy the mild peril in the same way that Harry Potter creates that warm feeling of disassociation with the real world we live in. I’d suggest reading the trilogy in sequence and I’m sure most folks will enjoy this even with that slight cutting edge missing. Without giving away the finale, Lirael gives way to "Abhorsen" the final book in the sequence. I guess I'll be reading it real soon.

Thanks for reading

Marandina

ISBN 0-00-713733-8 RRP: £6.99
I bought this at Tesco for £4.97.
More info about the author at www.garthnix.co.uk

Summary: Children's Fantasy Story