Stumptown Books

Release date: November 30th 1990
Publisher: Firebird
Genre: Young adult fantasy
Pages: 134
See the book on: Amazon | Goodreads
My rating: 3/5

Summary from Goodreads:

While a young yet angry woman named Ash is drawn into a wondrous Otherworld of totems and dryads, her cousin, Nina, is stalked by an Otherworld demon–a manitou who can force her mind and soul into the body of beasts. Ash must find the strength to overcome her own anger, learn the full power of magic, and save Nina before she becomes the manitou’s weapon.

Although this was a quick and easy read, it was still interesting and I read it in only two sittings. De Lint himself has classified The Dreaming Place as more of a novella, as it is only 134 pages long, but it is a nice little introductory to his creation of Newford. This was the first book de Lint wrote that took place in Newford, but now it is classified as the second because of the recommended reading order. It is considered young adult, along with only one other Newford book, so this is a good place to start if you’re unsure about some of De Lint’s more…graphic tendencies.

A lot that goes on is, unfortunately, troped and stereotypical. This is why I only gave it 3 stars, as the characters just aren’t that original, but that is to be expected for a young adult novel. Traveling to another world is always cool though, and that is, as per usual for de Lint’s work, the best part of the story. The two main characters, Ashley and Nina, go through logical character progression even if it has been done before, and there’s not a bunch of sidelines or digressions to lose the reader’s interest. I surprised myself when I discovered I was worried about what was going to happen to them.

This is never going to be a life shattering read, but it is quick and interesting, and a must if you want to delve into the world of Newford.

Release date: April 29th 2001
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Genre: Young adult fantasy
Pages: 705
See the book on: Amazon | Goodreads
My rating: 2/5

Summary from Goodreads:

Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the 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.

Everything that was awesome about the first installation of the series, Sabriel (review here), got completely muddled and lost in this sequel. I loved the first book, and had high hopes with following it up. Those hopes have been dashed. Mercilessly.

We begin with Lirael, only 14, a daughter of the Clayr. She decides the best way we could possibly be introduced to her as a character is for a wallowing in self pity depression session and contemplation of suicide. I don’t know about you, dear readers, but that is not a good way for me to get on our lovely heroine’s side. I’m much more likely to say, Fine, jump off the cliff, it will at least put ME out of my misery. Now you may think this sounds heartless. And, well…you have a good point, that’s pretty mean. While I suppose the whole “feel sorry for me” schtick was to allow us to see her grow as a character, all it managed to do for me was make me want to slap her, followed by throwing the book down. I managed to not do either, intent that the book had to go up hill from here.

How wrong I was.

We’re introduced to the second character, Prince Sameth, and he starts off pretty strong. I’m convinced at this point that the chapter introducing him was written first, because it’s the only time in the whole book that he’s ok with taking charge. He’s the son of Sabriel and Touchstone and destined to be the new Abhorsen. Great, I think. Now we’re in for some action! The good feelings don’t last. He quickly falls even deeper than Lirael in the self pity pool; I was secretly wishing he would die. Seriously. Two main characters that go around bemoaning their terrible fates of not fitting in. If only someone out there understood how unique they are! Ugh, spare me.

Sabriel and Touchstone are unfortunately only background characters, but Mogget makes a reappearance and as per usual, the animals are the best part of the book. We’re introduced to the Disreputable Dog, who quickly becomes the best character, and she’s a dog! Any conversation involving either of the two animals is bound to be chuckle inducing, so at least that didn’t change from Sabriel. Honestly I would have been way more excited with the adventures of Mogget and the Dog than I-have-no-backbone Prince Sameth and no-one-understands-my-pain Lirael. But I digress.

Besides the animal characters, the best part of the book was exploring the Clayr’s library. Something about the thrill of exploration in crazy magical buildings always gets my jollies going. It was like exploring Hogwarts again, only a lot more deadly. I would have been happy with more exploration except that it was from Lirael’s point of view, and that left me with laryngitis from heavy sighing.

I will be regretfully reading the next in the series, hoping that the payoff is worth it. Otherwise, read Sabriel and leave it at that.

Release date: September 30th 1996
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Genre: Young adult fantasy
Pages: 491
See the book on: Amazon | Goodreads
My rating: 5/5

Summary from Goodreads:

Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorson, is missing, and Sabriel must cross into that world to find him. With Mogget, whose feline form hides a powerful, perhaps malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage, Sabriel travels deep into the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life and comes face to face with her own hidden destiny. . .

I discovered this book my senior year of high school, when a couple of my friends in drama club were reading it. Having always been a fan of fantasy, I ran to the library and picked it up, although I remember being rather surprised that it had been published in 1995. The Harry Potter craze was in full swing in 2003 and I thought Sabriel was riding on its coattails, like so many books are still doing today. But no, not only is it incredibly original, it is also unique and scary.

Sabriel kicks some serious butt. She is already powerful when we meet her, so there’s not much in the way of starting off powerless and learning in a safe environment (like a school). Although she quickly discovers she has barely scratched the surface of the amount she has to learn, at least she’s not bumbling. She’s strong, willful, and smart; overall a great heroine. Mogget the sometimes-cat is hilarious, much more so than I remember from high school. Touchstone takes some getting used to but he gets much better as the book goes on.

The magic system is awesome. A lot of the magic is done with music, like whistling, or the seven bells that Sabriel wears, all of which serve a different purpose. The bells were rather confusing; I recommend bookmarking the page in the beginning where she lists each bell and describes its power, because from then on all she ever does is mention the bells name, not what its good for. The benign Charter magic is a vast unknown entity that I would love to know more about. The book never really touches on what it would mean to be a full fledged powerful mage, but I bet it would be awesome.

I’m just gonna say it. I’m kind of a wimp, especially when it comes to stuff that should be dead. I could never in a million years handle Sabriel’s job of casually crossing the border into death and dealing with the spirits of the angry dead. I was never scared for myself though, which is why I can still call this young adult. If I read a horror novel, I start thinking hands are going to pop out of the couch or DID I lock the front door? or don’t turn your back while you walk upstairs. Ugh. I can’t handle that stuff at all. Give me a zombie movie and I am scared for weeks, if not longer. Maybe because Sabriel never features any high pitched violins or bad guys jumping out at you from the darkness, but the zombies here are only terrifying because Sabriel has to deal with them, not because they are scary to us, the readers. So even if you’re a wimp like me, you can read this book and totally handle it.

One of the things that has really started to bug me with young adult fantasy is that authors seem to be unable to make drama based on their story alone, so they add in extremely irritating stupid people to be purposefully antagonistic. It annoys me to no end. In Sabriel, however, there are multiple times when I thought “Here is where a lesser author would make some cheap drama,” and Garth Nix never falls for the bait. The side characters are supportive and understanding, even if they want to say no to her, they let her go on her way. I really appreciate that. Readers aren’t dumb, we don’t need dumb drama.

A great quick read, even if you wouldn’t normally consider picking up a young adult novel. It transcends that label into good fantasy.