Abhorsen by Garth Nix

Title: Lirael
Author: Garth Nix
Genre: Fantasy
Rating:

With Abhorsen the trilogy comes to an end, as everyone’s fates are tied together more closely and we follow them all to the bitter, or not so bitter end as they all join forces to battle the evil Orannis the Destroyer, who is currently inhabiting the body of Nicholas Sayre, Sameth’s school friend from Ancelstierre. Orannis is the Ninth Bright Shiner, destroyer of worlds. He has been bound before by the Seven Bright Shiners, Free Magic entities who together made the Charter. There is also the Eight Bright Shiner, Yrael, a Free Magic entity who was bound by the Seven for its refusal to join them in the making of the Charter.
The Seven bear the same names as the Necromancers’ bells, and the bells also contain some of the nature of their respectable namesakes.

We rejoin our heroes, Lirael and Sameth, at Abhorsen’s house, which is now besieged by Chlorr and her Dead Hands. It is now clear that Lirael is the Abhorsen-in-waiting, and that her mother had foreseen this future, and as such had come to see the Abhorsen (Sabriel’s father) to conceive a child - Lirael. Sameth, now relieved of his future Abhorsen duties, is revealed to be one of the Wallmakers. Their next step is now to save Nicholas, who is being used by Orannis to build a terrible tool that will make Orannis able to return to the world with his full power. To avoid Chlorr and the Dead, Lirael and Sameth decide to go by a more secret, hidden way - through the well in the garden. Mogget is clearly against this, and it is soon enough clear why - in the well they encounter Astarael, one of the Seven. Astarael claims Mogget, and Lirael, Sameth and the Dog are forced to go on without their catty companion for a while.

Meanwhile, Sabriel and Touchstone are in Ancelstierre, trying to talk some sense into the politicians there to avoid the refugee Southerlings to cross unprotected and unguided into the Old Kingdom, where they are being mass murdered and raised again to do the necromancer Hedge’s bidding. While in Ancelstierre, the two royalties are attacked in a plot to kill them, but manage to escape with their lives. After receiving word from Ellimere, they head back to the Old Kingdom.

As it turns out, Lirael and Sameth are too late to stop Orannis from reuniting the two hemispheres that will make him whole again. Instead, they have to find out how to rebind him. To do this, Lirael has to enter Death and use her skills as a Remembrancer to see how the Seven originally did it. While in Death, she and the Dog dispose of Hedge. She returns with a plan, a plan that requires the ancestors of the Seven (Sabriel, Touchstone, Lirael, Sameth, Ellimere, the Dog - who is revealed to be Kibeth, one of the original Seven, and the Clayr twins Sanar and Ryelle as one) to stand together, each with their bell, to bind Orannis anew in the sphere that can then be sliced in half again. During this seremony, Mogget is revealed to be the Eight Bright Shiner, Yrael, who was bound by the Seven for refusing to take part in the creation of the Charter. He is freed now to make his choice once more, and he chooses to stand by the Seven, thus making them more powerful than ever. They succeed in binding Orannis, and Lirael uses the sword Sameth has forged for her from Nehima and the panflutes, to separate Orannis once again. Doing this is supposed to take her life, but the Dog takes her place and lets Death take her.

This book successfully nests up all loose threads and shows us what happens to each of the central characters. As such, it is a very fulfilling book. Still, to me, it lacks some of the magic that both Sabriel and Lirael were overflowing with, hence the somewhat lower rating. It does however have few slow points - everything is important and engaging, hence the somewhat long summary above.
Abhorsen is the more dramatic of the three books, where you really do fear for the lives of Sabriel, Lirael and the rest, not to mention the fate of the world. It makes you really want to read on to see if everything ends well (because really, who likes an end-of-the-world ending?), and this aspect of the story is what draws you in more than anything else. With two books behind where you are introduced to the characters, Abhorsen does little in creating further bonds between the reader and the characters, something I found a little sad, as this was one of the major pros in the previous two books.
This time around, my favourite part of the book would have to be the binding, with the revelations around the Nine Bright Shiners, and Mogget’s redemption. I’m going to refrain from singing my love for Mogget once more.
All in all a great read, but not quite of the same stuff as Sabriel and Lirael - this might be more of a personal preference though. Either way, the series would not be complete without Abhorsen, which is a spectacular ending to a spectacular trilogy.

“Is this allowed?” asked Nick as he felt the current reluctantly release him, and he took the first step back.
“No,” said the Dog. “But then I am the Disreputable Dog”.