The Old Kingdom, or Abhorsen in North America, is a fantasy series written by Australian author Garth Nix. It originated in 1995 with the novel Sabriel and has continued in the novels Lirael (2001), Abhorsen (2003) and Goldenhand (2016). The series has continued with the prequel novel Clariel (2014) and the latest installment of the series, Terciel & Elinor, was released in November 2021. The Old Kingdom also consists of the novella The Creature in the Case (2005) and other short fiction. [a]

For the 25th anniversary edition of Sabriel, the short story One Wyverley Summer was included as a bonus feature. [9] Magic [ edit ] The Charter and Free Magic [ edit ]

The Seventh Precinct is not described, though presumably it is similar to the First and Fourth Precincts. Its Gate is a line of fire that stretches across the river. TL;DR: This is a rather comforting read of two teens coming into their abilities--almost completely separately from each other. For that, you may truly enjoy this book. Do not expect a romance or any strong r The Ninth Precinct is an endless pool of deep, still, clear water. It is warmer than the other precincts and there is no fog, allowing a necromancer to see in every direction. The Ninth Gate, resembling a starry sky, confirms the final death of any who look upon it, except those to whom remain a native span of years. Those claimed by the Gate rise at varying speeds and vanish, never to return. The origin of the name "Abhorsen", according to Garth Nix, is the name of the executioner from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure: "Abhorson".

I have honestly never failed to thoroughly enjoy anything in this series. The Old Kingdom is one of the very few stories that I love completely outside of which characters feature. I am normally a very character-driven reader, but the Old Kingdom I love for its own sake. I love the Abhorsen's House, the charter magic, the paperwings, Moggett, the bells... Constructs: Free Magic constructs are forms assumed by Free Magic elementals or powerful Dead spirits (such as Kerrigor). Though such constructs may be destroyed, destroying the Elemental itself is much more difficult and typically the province of Free Magic.By the end of the book, though, Elinor was my favorite. Terciel was endearing and lonely, competent enough to be cool and unsure enough to be a realistic teenage Abhorsen-in-Waiting. Elinor's perspective, though, was the strongest. Her journey from an isolated, ordinary girl to discovering her Old Kingdom heritage had my attention and interest the entire time. Or I'd even love the years Terciel and Elinor had together before the birth of Sabriel. Because this story was long and yet not enough. As young, brown-skinned Terciel moves from a life of hunger to an apprenticeship as Abhorsen-in-Waiting in the Old Kingdom, 19-year-old Elinor takes to the stage and practices carnival skills across the wall, in nonmagical Ancelstierre. After surviving an assault on her home through Terciel’s timely intervention, Elinor takes a position at magic-teaching girls’ school Wyverley College, hoping to learn magic—with which she is newly acquainted—and prepare to travel to the Old Kingdom. When an incident sees her reunited with Terciel, and whisked to the Abhorsen’s House by a distant relative who reveals Elinor’s connection to a sisterhood of seeresses, she finds that she is to play a vital part in the fight against a powerful Dead creature. [3] Novellas and short stories [ edit ] The Creature in the Case [ edit ]

We learn Elinor's mother made a deal with a Greater Dead creature, Urhrux, to allow passage into the living world in exchange for a great sum of money. Urhrux awakes and chases Terciel, Elinor, Mrs. Watkins, and the aged groom Ham Corbin to the closest running water, as the house is set aflame.Both of them deserved more time, more development. Terciel is studious but reluctant, not sure he wants to give up everything to be Abhorsen, the way his great-aunt Tizanael has done. He was a poor orphan when a set of Abhorsen’s bells appeared for him, and carries that memory close, knowing his life could have been very different. And Elinor, charismatic and inventive and quietly reeling from trauma and rapid change, steals the story. Her growth from lively, lonesome kid to a young woman with friends, with skills, with promise—it’s exactly the kind of growth the relationship deserves, too. related, this whole time i was so sad knowing what happens to elinor (beginning of sabriel) because i liked her so much