Hands down, one of the best YA Fantasy trilogies I've ever read. Individually the First book is my favorite, and I think, the strongest. The third book--for me--is the weakest of the bunch, leaving a great deal undone, but still head and shoulders above the majority of YA books being published right now. Absolutely worth reading and owning. ( )

another fun fantasy series that's great for kids. the other series by garth nix don't look as fun. i wished there were more books in this series. ( )

This trilogy consists of the books Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen; the first two titles refer to protagonists, and the last one to the job title of these characters. Abhorsen is the name given to the “official necromancers” of the Old Kingdom. The Abhorsen (there can only be one at a time, and the title is inherited) is in charge of keeping the population of Dead under control. When a Dead creature attempts to return to the world of the living, the Abhorsen will wield the bells of necromancy and enter into Death to make sure the spirit heads back down all nine gates of the river that leads to the beyond.

The problem is that there are stronger forces controlling the Dead, powers who would like to unleash all of Death’s denizens upon the Old Kingdom and even on neighboring Ancelstierre, a land where technology has replaced a belief in the magic prevalent in the Old Kingdom (though Ancelstierran machines tend to break down as soon as they cross the Wall that separates both lands.

Nix’s trilogy deals not only with these attempts to overrun the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre with the Dead, but more importantly with the Abhorsens’ struggles with power and responsibility. The titular characters of the first two books, Sabriel and Lirael, are thrust into the office of Abhorsen (or Abhorsen-in-waiting, in Lirael’s case) with little preparation or ceremony. How each of these women reacts to her new role (and especially Lirael’s realization that she will never be what she had been waiting an entire lifetime to become, but that her future is much more unique than even the reader imagines) is central to both the main and secondary storylines in the trilogy.

I enjoyed these books immensely, and recommend them to anyone looking for fantasy stories for and about young people that are more “grown up” than the usual fare. There is no glamor in the magic that Sabriel and Lirael must wield; in this sense, it’s more similar to the final Harry Potter novels than to the early ones (just as a reference, since Rowling’s books have become such a point of comparison). The world-building is excellent, and the characters fleshed out and believable. ( )

Sabriel is a story about a girl, just out of school, who is thrust into a problem that will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. Sabriel's father, the Abhorsen, is the Old Kingdom's necromancer, but his responsibilities are to put the dead to rest, not to raise them. Shortly before Sabriel is due to graduate from school, she receives a message from her father, he is in trouble and has passed the tools of his trade on to her. Sabriel leaves Ancelstierre and returns to the Old Kingdom to search for her father and rescue him, if possible. Along the way she meets Mogget, a Free Magic being who has been to the Abhorsen's service, and Touchstone, a member of the Royal Guard who had been trapped alive in Death for 200 years. Sabriel and her companions continue on her quest to try to rescue the Abhorsen and save the Old Kingdom from the Dead who have walked there since the Royal family fell, 200 years earlier.

The first story in The Abhorsen Trilogy is well-written and enjoyable. The story moves quickly and keeps your attention. I would strongly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys fantasy novels.

One of the most unique series I've read. Hard to put down. While I wanted to read more about Sabriel, I became equally attached to Lireal.