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15/12/2015
On reread, I'm bumping this one down to 3.75 stars. Not because it isn't great - it is. But it feels like it's doing a hell of a lot of world building while also suffering a little from Middle Book Syndrome. In some ways it's understandable - it's a familiar world, but we've jumped forward 20 years, so we need to be reintroduced to how things are now versus how they were when we last saw it. We're also seeing a different part of that same world, and the Clayr society needs to be established effectively from scratch as they were largely absent in Sabriel.

I don't find Lirael QUITE as likeable a character as Sabriel, though I obviously enjoy the fact that she's a badass and super sneaky librarian. And the addition of the Disreputable Dog is obviously a welcome one.

Still, with so much world building (or rebuilding, I suppose?) to be done, the story feels like it takes a good long time to really get going, and then just as I was totally engrossed in the story, it was all "HAHA, TO BE CONTINUED, SUCKER!". Sigh. At least I have Abhorsen already sitting on my bookshelf, ready for a reread.

24/2/2012
Where the first book of the Abhorsen Trilogy, "Sabriel", can be considered a stand-alone novel, this second instalment most definitely cannot. It's very obviously the book that establishes the scene and the characters of the final book.

Set eighteen plus years after the events in "Sabriel", the story is split between Sameth - Sabriel and Touchstone's son - and a new character, Lirael. Sameth is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and hates it. Going into Death terrifies him, and even touching the Book of the Dead makes him physically ill. Lirael is an outsider among The Clayr, unable to see the future like the rest. Eventually, she's stationed to the library and takes advantage of her posting to learn everything she can, including Charter magic.

It takes about 75% of the book for the two characters to even meet, though it's clear that they're moving towards a meeting from quite early on.

While it's very much a "to be continued" type book, in which a LOT of time is dedicated to establishing the characters, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I'll be moving straight on to the final book, "Abhorsen"!