Old Kingdom series
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The Old Kingdom series (also known as the Abhorsen series in North America) is a trilogy of books by Garth Nix. It begins with Sabriel, followed by Lirael and Abhorsen. In addition, a novella set after the trilogy entitled Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case was released, first separately for World Book Day and later as the lead story of the short story collection Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories. A second short story, An Extract of the Journal of Idrach the Lesser Necromancer, was written with exclusive distribution through the official Abhorsen Trilogy web site. Garth Nix has recently signed a reported seven figure deal for three new titles, with two being additions to the Old Kingdom series, a prequel and a sequel; the first, which has the working title Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen,[1] will appear in 2010 and 2011.
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[edit] Sabriel
Sabriel has just graduated from her school in Ancelstierre, where she has been raised in order to keep her safe from the undead her father, the Abhorsen, regularly destroys. On the night during which he is usually supposed to magically visit her, however, Sabriel is only visited by a spirit controlled by her father bringing her his sword and necromantic bells, with the explanation that he is trapped in Death. Sabriel immediately leaves for the Old Kingdom, where she is soon confronted by a powerful undead creature known as a Mordicant. She flees to the Abhorsen's House, her family's house and fortress which was built on an island of the major river Ratterlin, thus protecting it from the Dead who cannot cross running water. The Dead begin to attempt to cross the river using boxes of grave dirt to make a bridge, but Sabriel, along with the Abhorsen's cat servant Mogget summon a surge in the river and escape by Paperwing. Landing in Holehallow, an ancient crypt of royalty, Sabriel finds the mysterious Touchstone trapped as the wooden figurehead of a ceremonial boat. Touchstone accompanies Sabriel and Mogget to Belisaere, the capital of the now anarchic Old Kingdom, where they find the ancient castle's reservoir, which contains the six Great Charter Stones, two of which were broken by the evil Kerrigor around the time that Touchstone was trapped as wood. There they find the Abhorsen and free him from Death, but his long submergence in Death has effectively ended his life. It is revealed that Touchstone is a prince of the royal line, and Kerrigor arrives, planning to use their blood to break the remaining Great Charter Stones. The Abhorsen, however, allows Touchstone and Sabriel to escape by ringing Astarael and throwing Kerrigor and his minions into Death, sacrificing himself. Touchstone and Sabriel hear Astarael, but manage to resist its call by kissing, realizing that they love one another. Escaping the reservoir, they are attacked and Sabriel is wounded, but Touchstone's berserker blood throws him into a rage and he kills the attacker and, running, carries Sabriel until they meet Sanar and Ryelle of the Clayr. Sanar and Ryelle advise them that Kerrigor cannot be killed until his physical body is destroyed, and that his physical body is located in the northern part of Ancelstierre, where magic sometimes works. The heroes travel there as fast as they can, and with the help of all the available Charter Mages from Sabriel's school, attempt to open Kerrigor's sarcophagus, which is hopelessly sealed. Kerrigor attacks the school, and despite defense by Ancelstierre's magically capable Perimeter army troops, there are heavy casualties. Finally, in Sabriel's final desperate attempt to bind Kerrigor, she uses Mogget's binding ring to bind Kerrigor under Ranna after some of her other bells, including Saraneth, are broken. Sabriel slips into Death from her wounds, but is brought back by the power of her long-dead ancestors, because the Abhorsen line is required to continue.
[edit] Lirael
Lirael sees herself as an outcast within the world of the Clayr. With raven-black hair, a pale complexion, a pointy face and muddy-brown eyes, she differs physically from the generally deep-tanned, fair-haired, round-faced and blue- or green-eyed seers around her. Most hurtful, though, is her lack of the Clayr's birthright, the Sight (the ability to see into the future or possible futures). The fact that this bloodline trait has not shown itself at the usual age of around eleven, as well as her unknown paternal parentage, leaves Lirael emotionally distressed and very unhappy until her appointment to the Clayr's Library on her fourteenth birthday.
Through her solitary work in forgotten corners of the mystical library in the Clayr's Glacier, Lirael begins to unlock the keys to embarking upon an apparently predestined adventure of utmost importance. While trying to make a dog sending she accidentally summons the Disreputable Dog, whom she befriends and who helps her in her explorations.
Meanwhile, across the Wall in Ancelestierre, Prince Sameth has an encounter with the necromancer Hedge and his summoned Dead Hands, which leaves him injured both spiritually and emotionally. His father Touchstone arrives to take him back to the Old Kingdom and the safety of the palace in Belisaere. Here he is expected to continue his studies to follow his mother as the Abhorsen, a future he is mortally afraid of, especially since his encounter with Hedge.
Their paths cross as Nicholas Sayre, an Ancelestierran friend of Sameth, crosses the border into the Old Kingdom and then heads apparently randomly to the Red Lake, a region in the south west of the Kingdom where the royal rule does not extend and the Clayr cannot See. Sameth flees the palace and his annoying sister to go and look for Nick. He gets into trouble on the way and Mogget turns up, to his surprise and suspicion. Meanwhile, Lirael finds, on her nineteenth birthday, a non-Clayr magical inheritance of the artifacts of a Remembrancer (i.e. one who looks into the past) and is quite swiftly dispatched to fulfill a very recent vision the Clayr had of her in a boat on the Red Lake with Nick.
She sails down the River Ratterlin and, by coincidence, meets up with Sam, who had to use a bathtub to escape the Dead who had been following him. They continue on to the Red Lake, but are nearly intercepted by Chlorr of the Mask and the Dead Hands assigned to her. They decide to proceed to Abhorsen's House to rest and generally regroup.
Once there, a strange set of revelations take place: Sameth is given a surcoat with the Royal Blood's tower and the Wallmaker's trowel, and Lirael is given a surcoat with the Clayr star and the Abhorsen key. Lirael realizes, with the help of memories she has Remembered, that she must be half-Abhorsen — a fact confirmed by Mogget, as only a child of both Clayr and Abhorsen may become a Remembrancer.
The novel ends with Lirael and Sameth deciding to go on to find Nick and Hedge at the Red Lake.
[edit] Abhorsen
The novel begins at Abhorsen's House, which is besieged by Dead Hands (the author's term for a variety of evil spirits and magic wielders closely resembling zombies and ghosts dragged back from death by necromancers) led by Chlorr of the Mask, once a powerful necromancer who has died and come back as one of the Greater Dead, a powerful undead spirit. She is in turn under the control of Hedge the Necromancer, who serves Orannis the Destroyer. The Destroyer is the Ninth Bright Shiner, and the most evil magical force or being. It had destroyed many worlds before It was defeated by the Seven Bright Shiners, the free magic entities that formed the Charter after defeating Orannis. The Seven also bound Yrael, the Eighth Bright Shiner, who was a free magic entity who would not join the charter. The Seven were known as Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth, and Astarael. These Seven binders are also the names of the seven necromantic bells and some of the original natures of The Seven linger in these bells. Lirael and Sameth must escape the Abhorsen's House to stop the Destroyer and to save Sameth's friend Nicholas Sayre, who is being used by Orannis as an avatar. In their necessity to escape the house, they go through the old well outside the house to bypass Chlorr and the Dead. At one point down in the dark tunnel, a remnant of the Seventh Bright Shiner, Astarael, appears. Lirael, Sameth, and the Disreputable Dog get through unscathed, but Mogget is taken by her. Mogget eventually rejoins Lirael's party.
Lirael and Sameth now have to travel to the Red Lake, where The Destroyer is being unearthed. As Lirael and Sameth journey through the Old Kingdom they learn more about Orannis and its plans to destroy all life.
Meanwhile, Prince Sameth's parents, the Abhorsen Sabriel and King Touchstone are in Ancelstierre trying to stop the probable death of thousands of Southerling refugees if they are allowed to enter the Old Kingdom without the protection of the Charter (see also the Five Great Charters). While they are in Ancelstierre attempting to reason with a corrupt government they become victims of an assassination attempt and barely escape with their lives. They flee to the Old Kingdom to attempt to save the lives of the Southerling Refugees from the other side of the Wall.
While Sabriel and Touchstone are trying to get back to the Old Kingdom, Lirael, Sameth and the Disreputable Dog are trying to save Nicholas Sayre, Sameth's best friend and also the host of the Destroyer. The question becomes one of whether Lirael and Sameth are able to stop The Destroyer from completing its plans for eternal freedom and the destruction of the world and other worlds after this. Orannis is successful in joining the hemispheres that imprisoned him. Nick appears to die in the process of the rejoining. Lirael uses her Rembrancing powers to figure out how the original Seven bound Orannis. During her journey through Death to use the Dark Mirror, she is confronted by and defeats Hedge. In the end, Lirael and her friends defeat Orannis, who must once again bind Orannis by re-enacting the original binding of the Seven with each member holding a bell and adding a bell’s voice. Lirael takes Astarel, and prepares to strike at the hemisphere with a new sword, forged from her panpipes and Nehima, that Sameth made for her. The others include King Touchstone (Ranna) and Abhorsen Sabriel (Saraneth), Sanar and Ryelle (Mosrael), Ellimere (Dyrim), the Disreputable Dog (who is truly a remnant of Kibeth), and Sameth (Belgaer). The first attempt at rebinding shows that the Destroyer is strong enough to resist. Eventually, Sameth frees Mogget, who reveals himself to be the Eighth Great Shiner, Yrael. Yrael fights against the impulse to kill the Abhorsen, and sets itself against Orannis. This shocks Orannis, and gives the added power to bind him. As Lirael prepares to make the final blow, she readies herself to die. Unexpectedly, the Disreputable Dog takes the blow for Lirael and disappears into Death. In the end, though, the Disreputable Dog gives Nick back his life, and they all live rather happily (though Lirael did lose her hand as the Dog saved her in the last strike, she will be made a new one of gold by Sameth.)
[edit] Magic
[edit] The Charter and Free Magic
In the Old Kingdom, magic takes two forms: the Charter or Free Magic. Free Magic existed in the Beginning, but when Orannis was bound, the Charter was created out of the Free Magic. There still remains two types of Free Magic: Free Magic that exists in conjunction with the Charter (such as Mogget and the Dog), and Free Magic that is inimical to life and opposes the Charter (such as Stilken and Hish). The Charter is described as an "endless flow" of marks. There is a mark for everything in the universe, including marks representing other marks. Marks are drawn and cast as magic,such as binding, burning, lifting and the like in strings of different marks. The more marks, the more complicated this magic is. Free Magic is corrosive magic. It is the magic that powers necromancy. Practitioners of Charter Magic have a Charter Mark drawn on their forehead at birth. Marks unsullied by Free Magic are used to identify the Charter Mages.
There are Five Great Charters that were created by five of the Seven binders in the Beginning — three bloodlines and two objects. The bloodlines are those of the royals, the Abhorsens, and the Clayr. The objects are the Great Charter Stones and the Wall that separates the Old Kingdom from Ancelstierre. The Great Charters are the sources of Charter Magic in the Old Kingdom. For reasons unexplained, magic, both Free and Charter, exists only in the Old Kingdom. It can be practiced in northern Ancelstierre, and further south if there is a strong wind from the Old Kingdom. It has been suggested, in a question/answer section of Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories , and some online sources, that The Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre are two different universes/worlds, that overlap slightly at the area known as the Wall. The Old Kingdom also has a northern border, much farther north than The Clayr's Glacier, where it impinges on another world.
[edit] The Bells
The bells of necromancy are seven bells that are wielded by a necromancer in a bandolier. They are named after the Seven Bright Shiners; from smallest to largest — Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth and Astarael. Each bell has a specific power over the Dead — Ranna brings sleep or wakefulness; Mosrael brings the Dead into Life, but throws the caster into death; Kibeth forces walking; Dyrim grants or revokes the power of speech; Belgaer gives or revokes freedom, this function includes giving free will, giving the power of thought, and release from binding; Saraneth forces compliance; and Astarael forces all who hear its ring, including the caster, into Death. They must be wielded carefully. An errant or improper ring can affect the caster instead of the target, or other adverse effects.
The pipes of the remembrancer also displays powers similar to those of the bells of a necromancer, but to an extent.
[edit] The Nine Bright Shiners
The Nine Bright Shiners were the nine most powerful and sentient creatures of Free Magic in the Beginning. Orannis, the Ninth and most powerful, whose nature it is to destroy, was opposed by the Seven. Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth and Astarael are the Seven Bright Shiners which had made the Charter, and in doing so, chose a mysterious and eventually diminished existence. The seven bells carried by necromancers and by the Abhorsen bear their names, and judging from the encounter Lirael had with some form of Astarael in Abhorsen, also part of their character.
The Eighth Bright Shiner, known as Yrael or Mogget, refused to take a side during the Binding. For this, the Seven bound him in service of the Abhorsens. He is resentful of this binding, and whenever he is unbound, tries to kill the reigning Abhorsen. However, during the second binding, he chooses to stand against Orannis, providing enough power to defeat It.
[edit] Death
Death is described as an infinitely wide river, spanning the horizons. Almost everything in Death is a bleak grey, and a subtle grey fogginess limits visibility. The river may also contain and conceal hostile dead beings, who desire to suck the life out of all living travelers. Only Abhorsens or Free Magic Necromancers can cross the boundary at will. However, Dead can cross when aided by a Necromancer, or when the border is weak. A weakness in the border exists wherever there was a recent death; more death means a larger door.
Death comprises Nine Precincts, divided by Nine Gates, through which a grey river flows. The river's current threatens to pull any traveler under, and very strong willpower, balance, and often necromancer's bells are required to resist the pull, which is psychological as well as physical. There exists a Free Magic spell by which Abhorsens and Necromancers can easily pass back through Gates; Dead cannot do so unless they are very powerful. Each Precinct contains a different peril, such as random explosions of flames. The First Precinct is simply knee-deep water, and can be thought of as the entrance to Death. Its Gate is a huge waterfall. The Second Precinct has pitfalls throughout its domain and low visibility; its gate is a whirlpool. The Third has huge overpowering waves, and a wall of mist as its gate, while the Fourth has a higher concentration of Dead, and a deceptively short waterfall as its Gate. The Ninth Gate is a starry sky; when the Dead look up towards it, most are overcome by its call, and they rise up to the Gate and pass through it forever. Apart from the Gate and the Dead, there are no perils in the Ninth Precinct, and the current ends. Only an extremely strong will can overcome the call of the Ninth Gate, and none may return from beyond it.
[edit] Abhorsens
The Abhorsens are a hereditary bloodline whose charge is maintaining the border between life and death. The Abhorsen combines Charter Magic and Free Magic in his/her bells to compel the Dead back into the realm of death. The Abhorsen stronghold, called Abhorsen's House, is located on an island in the Ratterlin near the Long Cliffs. The House lies in close proximity to a great waterfall; the associated rapids complement the magical wards of the House in keeping the Dead and other dangerous things from accessing it. In Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case, the Hrule implies that they are the bloodline created when Astarael bound herself in the Charter, calling them "Astarael's get".
[edit] The Clayr
The Clayr are a group of people, mostly women, who live in Clayr's Glacier in the northern part of the Old Kingdom. Because they live in a Glacier, the reflected sunlight gives them all a dark tan; in addition, they all have blond hair and blue eyes. They have the Sight — the ability to see glimpses of possible futures. They combine their powers occasionally in order to have a better view of the future; this gathering is called the Nine Day Watch. The Glacier is also home to the Great Library of the Clayr, which is a library filled with many lost treasures, and is where Lirael found the statue that became the Disreputable Dog.
[edit] The Old Kingdom
The Old Kingdom is the setting for most of the series. For reasons unexplained, the Old Kingdom is the focus of the Charter's magic — Charter magic exists only there, the Great Charter of the Royal Bloodline only governs the Old Kingdom, the Wall is only in the Old Kingdom. Two hundred years before Sabriel, the reigning Queen and her three daughters were murdered by Kerrigor, who had become a Greater Dead, and their blood used to break two of the Six Great Stones. After this destruction of the monarchy, two hundred years of interregnum existed. Order was mostly kept by the various Abhorsens.
[edit] References
- ^ Garth Nix's Blog Retrieved April 18, 2008
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