Lirael

#2
Title: Lirael
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: Eos (HarperCollins)
Year: 2001
Genre: Young Adult fantasy
705 pages
 + Strong female protagonist; incorporation of mythic and modern elements; appealing cover art that references the Magician Tarot card.
-   Illegible map in the front matter, for no good reason. It looks like a bad photocopy of the map in Sabriel.

The second of the Abhorsen trilogy. Opens with a table of contents that is evocative of Tolkien (e.g., "An Ill-Favored Birthday," "Sam the Traveler" ).The opening has a strong whiff of Le Guin's The Tombs of Atuan; later, Robert Charles Wilson's Darwinia may be more apropos. Since all of these writers are dealing in archetypes, this convergence is not unexpected.

While Sabriel used a single third-person limited point of view other than in the prologue, Lirael generally alternates between the tales of Lirael, a Daughter of the Clayr who has not yet gained her magical Sight, and Sameth, the younger son of the Abhorsen and the King. Neither Lirael nor Sameth is portrayed as particularly appealing; they are both suffering from heavy adolescent angst related to their career failings. In addition, Lirael is socially isolated (in part by her own choice) and Sameth is scarred both physically and emotionally by an encounter that occurs early in the action. These two teenagers provide foils for each other as their lives run in parallel and then intersect. They are realistically self-preoccupied and morose.

Lirael, like Sabriel, is bereft of parents, has a magical animal as a sidekick, and demonstrates knowledge and skillfulness beyond her teachers' abilities. Both must grope toward knowledge, and their destinies, without much guidance other than from their familiars. Like Ged and Tenar of Earthsea, they grope for ancient mysteries all but forgotten in the present day.

It's clearer in this second volume that the country of Ancelstierre is intended roughly to correspond to England in the earlier part of the 20th century, while the Old Kingdom is a sort of magical northlands, complete with a magical border wall between the countries from coast to coast.

Lirael functions as a bridge between Sabriel and Abhorsen, leaving many plot points open while crystalizing only a few. Not a good stand-alone read. It was published 6 years after Sabriel, and is more playful in tone.

Next in the trilogy: Abhorsen.