Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr

I always find it weird when I pick up a sequel not long after reading the first one, and then the main character is all grown up. You know? It's like you keep imagining the character as you remember him/her, as a teenager or girl or whatever, and then suddenly they're all grown up and responsible and everything? Anyway, that didn't have much to do with what I'm about to say.

Our main characters are a girl called Lirael, who is a Clayr, and Sameth, who is the Abhorsen in waiting, and the son of Sabriel.

When we meet Lirael at the very start, she is a lonely, Sight-less fourteen year old. She can't see the future, nd she looks completely different to them. She applies for work in the Library to get away from all the staring eyes and kids who are receiving the gift of Sight. Then we flash forward four years, and Lirael is a lonely, still Sight-less eighteen year-old. She has worked her way up to be Second Assistant, and has had to teach herself how to access the Charter properly. She creates a friend called the Disreputable Dog (I know right, what a name!).

Sameth has grown up in Ancelstierre, and is now returning back to the Old Kingdom. He does not want to be the Abhorsen in Waiting at all, he is positively terrified of Death and all that (personally, I find him a bit pathetic. Sorry, Sameth.) A little into the book, we meet Mogget again.

Lirael and Sameth don't meet until very near the end, and Abhorsen will still be about Lirael (instead of about, say, her daughter/son). There is still a big problem that has not been solved at all. In fact, the whole of Lirael was kind of setting up for Abhorsen.

It was a little slow in some parts, and in others it was very exciting, but thanks to the preparation of Lirael, Abhorsen hopefully will be able to plunge straight into the action.

I liked the banter between the Disreputable Dog and Mogget.

There was more character building in this book. With Sabriel, she knew exactly what she was and we knew she was very good at Charter magic and so on, but with Lirael, she still has to discover who she is throughout the course of the book. I will say that Sabriel had more action in it, while Lirael, as I said before was slower in some places and more preparation for the big finale (i.e. the last book)

To sum up, this was a great book, even though it was more preparation for the last book, and i can't wait to read Abhorsen! I

Reader reviewed by moonymaster

This book was okay.. I kinda felt like the whole point of it was to just set you up for Abhorsen (the third book in the trilogy). There were points where I was really into it and I could really imagine what was going on, but then there were other times where the book felt very slow and in a sense, pointless. I will say that Abhorsen looks like it will be a very good book thanks to the preparation for it in this book. Every thing has been set so that the next book doesn't have to be as slow as Lariel. Nix can begin with the action and hopefully not let up through the remainder of the book.

Reader reviewed by Mairi

At fourteen, Lirael is a gifted Charter Mage but she does not have the Sight. That, along with her dark hair and pale skin, makes her an outcast in the Clayr's glacier. She is the oldest girl not to have come into the Sight, she does not know who her father is, and the world is blind to her problems, so she is at times tempted to kill herself.

I read this book because I had read Sabriel and wanted to read the sequel, though I did not know what to expect from the royal-looking girl on the cover- apart from her hair, she was not much like Sabriel. I liked Lirael (both the book and the character) right away, though- at fourteen, she is much less naive than Sabriel was at eighteen, and her favorite haunt, the great Library of the Clayr, is much more interesting than many of Sabriel's. This book is also much longer than Sabriel, but it does not tell a complete story and demands a sequel.

I think girls who did not enjoy Sabriel- perhaps because of her tough-girl nature- would like Lirael better.

Reader reviewed by Matt Hill

This is an excellent book, set about 18 years after Sabriel. But, we see through the mixing of the Charter Bloodlines, the emergence of a few previously unknown types of people, rather than the usual Royals, Abhorsen, and the Clayr.

Firstly, we see a Remembrancer. In the book it tells of the fact that the Remembrancer can only be born of a child of Abhorsen and a Clayr. They have the unique ability to See the past, while Clayr only See the Future, (or possible Futures). But the Remembrancer will never be fully accepted as a Clayr, because she won't ever see the Future. Lirael, the title character in this book, finds out she's a Remembrancer, the first in about 500 years, after most knowledge of this art is lost.

Lastly, there is the reemergence of a Wallmaker. Sameth, royal Prince, has always been good with tinkering. But, will the Bloodline continue? This is a rather good question, and no one will know for sure, (except Garth Nix, of cource!!!). This may have come about by the mixing of the Royal and Abhorsen blood, but is this a freak occurrence, or will the Bloodline of Sameth be Wallmakers? Who knows? Maybe we will find out in Garth Nix's forthcoming book, the sequel to Abhorsen, Clariel. To find out more about this, read Lirael, and it's continuation, Abhorsen.

May the Charter be with you!

Reader reviewed by Sara

"Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, tow years past the time when she should have received teh Sight that is the Clayr's birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil."

I am addicted to this trilogy of books. I read them before and still cannot get enough. Nix gives Dead a whole new meaning...!

Reader reviewed by Kody Boye

The book was absolutely magical, a true sequel in the Old Kingdom Trilogy. Lirael is a powerful character and the book reveals a past that wasn't explored in the first book. Truely a wonderful book for teens.

Reader reviewed by Nurin

Lirael is a daughter of the Clayr. But she looks differnt acts differnt and doesn't feel like she belongs. When she gets a job as a librarian in the Clayr's library her life changes. She gets a friend and learns more about magic. Lirael's lust for adventure however get her in a few messy scrapes but her best friend Dog helps her out. But then she finds out who she really is....
Its really good one of the best books ever.

Reader reviewed by ik

Great book. Garth Nix does a great job painting the picture of tho worlds that, even though are next to each other could not be more far apart. Just as Sabriel this book will keep your attention from start to finish with its vivid characters and the way humor and action are entwined together.

Reader reviewed by snailshot

This book to me wasn't as good as the last, and not what I had come to expect from Nix's first book. A completely new challenge is presented as the mission is not actually clear until we're 75% through with the book, which was a little frustrating.

I did like the sucidal Lireal who didn't know where she fit. She was relateable and I knew that from her struggles in the beginning of the book (even though this struggle wasn't the focus of Sabriel, nor did Sabriel seem to have so many problems) that I could follow her. But then that annoying coward brat Sameth was unbearable. I was even mad that so much of the book was devoted to him (it should have been titled Lireal and Sameth--but then it would have turned off anybody who knew what Sam was like). At times Sam made the book unbearable to read.

On a whole this book was less captivating and exciting and encouraging as Sabriel who knew her mission and destiny and went after it. This book was very depressing and full of the fear and doubts of failure, which one can't be in a mood to read about all the time. But as Nix always manages to do, he wrapped up the book on an enjoyable note (which I guess was my favorite part).

I'll read the next book because I like Nix's writing but I'll need a break to recover from the depressing mood this book can leave you in a reading.

Reader reviewed by Anna

Lireal was a completely satisfying sequal to Sabrial. Both books take place in the Old Kingdom, a dazzling world created by Garth Nix as a sort of parrallel universe. The characters of Lireal are real and believable, especially Lireal, herself, a young girl stuggling to find her true identity while dealing with being distinctly different from the other Clayr. This is a powerful and enjoyable book that I would recommend to any one who has ever imagined another world.