A review by geldauran
Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen by Garth Nix
5.0
This book was everything I wanted out of Clariel. Like many others I've been waiting for this book for a very long time. We know what Clariel's future looks like, and I was fervently wishing this book would show me just how we got from point A to point B. So I'll just spend some time talking about everything I really liked and I'll try to do it without spoilers. Or at least very hidden spoilers.
Enter Bellisaere in a far more prosperous age than we have ever yet seen it in the Old Kingdom books. Bellisaere is a big, glittery capital of a city- but none of that really matters to Clariel. Clariel was raised in a rural city, and up to this point in her life had been fairly free to pursue her own wishes and ambitions, which have organically developed as a desire to become a "Bounder": basically a forest ranger. Clariel likes hunting, she likes solitude, she likes nature and freedom. Bellisaere and her new life there are promising to be the opposite of her dreams.
Here is where I first started to love the way the story was forming. Bellisaere and its residents are shown to us through Clariel's gaze- the city streets are complicated, cluttered, oppressive. Its residents are just like her new maid- superficial, petty, flippant and altogether uninterested in anything outside the city walls. We aren't meant to really like Bellisaere, or its gossipy, scheming, corrupted peoples. No one in Bellisaere is honest about what they want, except Clariel. The book starts pretty slowly- we've got a fairly complex political and familial situation to establish before the action starts happening.
But once the action starts, it takes off running and doesn't really stop until the end of the book.
Most importantly, the thing for me that totally ~shined~ in this book was the main character. I've read a few reviews where people complain about Clariel's complaints, or say that she's a dull character. For me, the opposite is true. Clariel's character is subtle and reserved in many ways but totally individual. Her thought process is one of the most remarkable things about the book. Despite everything -because we KNOW where Clariel ends up down the road- Clariel makes everything seem reasonable. Clariel's relationship with her family is complicated, but we can still feel her affection for them. In fact, one could easily argue that familial love is really the keystone of Clariel's entire character and the driving force of the plot. Family and duty is why she comes to Bellisaere, why she hesitates to leave even though her passions lay elsewhere, why Clariel is explicity not interested in romance, or sex, but it does not mean she is not a character full of love.
I also loved that Clariel is a morally ambiguous character. She is no shining paragon, not an example for children to follow through the ages. But that made her interesting. This book, after all, is essentially I, for one, loved the way it was pulled off. Every act is very reasonable. Its bad, but its not that bad, and its all done in the interest of some greater purpose. She is fueled by necessity. Clariel's own Clariel is a character perpetually caught between duty and desire. This ranges from her duty to her family vs her desire to life in the forests to her .
Mogget was also delightful in this book, as always. We got to see a slightly darker side to Mogget; a more manipulative side that we always suspected was around, but never really got a chance to shine in Sabriel, Lirael, or Abhorsen.
Basically I thought this book was incredibly imaginative, very thoughtful in its writing and world-building, and exciting, with a individual and unique main character, and a real HOLY SHIT of a climax.
Enter Bellisaere in a far more prosperous age than we have ever yet seen it in the Old Kingdom books. Bellisaere is a big, glittery capital of a city- but none of that really matters to Clariel. Clariel was raised in a rural city, and up to this point in her life had been fairly free to pursue her own wishes and ambitions, which have organically developed as a desire to become a "Bounder": basically a forest ranger. Clariel likes hunting, she likes solitude, she likes nature and freedom. Bellisaere and her new life there are promising to be the opposite of her dreams.
Here is where I first started to love the way the story was forming. Bellisaere and its residents are shown to us through Clariel's gaze- the city streets are complicated, cluttered, oppressive. Its residents are just like her new maid- superficial, petty, flippant and altogether uninterested in anything outside the city walls. We aren't meant to really like Bellisaere, or its gossipy, scheming, corrupted peoples. No one in Bellisaere is honest about what they want, except Clariel. The book starts pretty slowly- we've got a fairly complex political and familial situation to establish before the action starts happening.
But once the action starts, it takes off running and doesn't really stop until the end of the book.
Most importantly, the thing for me that totally ~shined~ in this book was the main character. I've read a few reviews where people complain about Clariel's complaints, or say that she's a dull character. For me, the opposite is true. Clariel's character is subtle and reserved in many ways but totally individual. Her thought process is one of the most remarkable things about the book. Despite everything -because we KNOW where Clariel ends up down the road- Clariel makes everything seem reasonable
Spoiler
except for some of the decisions she makes in the climax of the book, while under the thought-clogging influence of free power, or when she is under a berserker rageSpoiler
she seeks revenge, why she puts up with the Abhorsen and his totally useless city of cousins, why she listens to mogget, why she binds the free magic creatures, why she goes back to Bellisaere, why she protects the King, and why her last words as she believes she is dying is for someone to please rescue her aunt. Its ALL to take revenge for her family, to save her living family- including the King. She's ignoring her chance to run back to the forest to save a city that never did her any favors because family is important to her, even if she never explicity says it.I also loved that Clariel is a morally ambiguous character. She is no shining paragon, not an example for children to follow through the ages. But that made her interesting. This book, after all, is essentially
Spoiler
the back story of a villain.Spoiler
lust and desire for power were very interesting to me as well, because in a world where magic and sorcery is real, SOMEONE out there has to like how it feels.Spoiler
duty to avenge/save her family and the city vs her growing desires to use and exercise that power for less noble causesMogget was also delightful in this book, as always. We got to see a slightly darker side to Mogget; a more manipulative side that we always suspected was around, but never really got a chance to shine in Sabriel, Lirael, or Abhorsen.
Basically I thought this book was incredibly imaginative, very thoughtful in its writing and world-building, and exciting, with a individual and unique main character, and a real HOLY SHIT of a climax.