The story of a young woman born intrinsically linked to death, charged by blood with the responsibility to send the dead back to their realm with the use of Charter Magic and a set of silver bells through which the magic is controlled. She commences her duties as Abhorsen — the title given to the current living member of her bloodline — as she searches for her father, who is trapped in death, somewhere between the fourth and fifth gates. She picks up some friends along the way; Mogget, who is an embodiment of chaotic Free Magic trapped for centuries in the form of a white cat by a previous Abhorsen; and Touchstone, a former member of the Royal Guard. Together, this trio works to find Sabriel's father, and stave off the ever-advancing legions of dead that will not die.
Garth Nix, Australian by birth, presents a unique take on magic and how it is used. Magic exists in two forms; Free Magic, which one can infer is the primordial magical force; and Charter Magic, which allows the use of Free Magic by way of symbols, or Charter Marks, and sounds ranging from handbells to whistling. Mr. Nix doesn't go into the details on how any of it works, beyond stating-as-fact its functions or results. Per numerous GoodReads reviews, this is problematic and challenging for the reader. However, it does remain engaging enough to be interesting and compelling. Furthermore, he apparently does a better job of fleshing it all out in his subsequent books.
Mr. Nix utilises an interesting naming convention, which was difficult to place in origin or inspiration. As there is no apparent link to a living language, it made pronunciation of names difficult, not to mention remembering characters outside of their scenes. Ultimately it proved easier to merely gloss over names outside of the main trio, and build the scene around the actions as opposed to the characters.
Certain details of Sabriel felt somewhat forced or otherwise unnecessary. For example, there is a part wherein Sabriel is observing a very finely crafted wooden statue, that is so incredibly lifelike, down to its "circumcised penis." In the book there is no sex or even sexual content; the most we get is a polite kiss. However, it does add an interesting note regarding the culture of the characters; Mr. Nix himself comes from a country that does not commonly circumcise, nor is it a necessary detail of the scene. I'm onto you, Mr. Nix.
The book ends with a very gripping scene, one that I couldn't stop reading once it started developing. All in all, if you're one for fantasy fiction, I would consider this book to be necessary to have in a repertoire, if only for the unique and refreshing approach to magic.
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