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TBR Spotlight: Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix

Asha - A Cat, A Book, And A Cup Of Tea4 Comments

This book has only recently arrived, but that’s how the numbers shake out sometimes – it’s #293, Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix!

A thrilling, atmospheric dive into the history of the Abhorsen, featuring Sabriel’s parents, Terciel and Elinor.

In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen year-old orphan Terciel is learning the art of necromancy – but not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life.

Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, nineteen year-old Elinor lives a secluded life, her only friends an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. Her mother is a tyrant, feared by all despite her sickness and impending death . . .

Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel to Ancelstierre. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself set on a path which will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciel’s life, and will embroil her in the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead who will not stay dead.

I fell in love with Sabriel and its sequels when I was younger, with their mix of magic, horror, adventure, and practical young women getting stuff done, so I was delighted when this popped through my letterbox unexpectedly from Hot Key Books! I actually missed reading Goldenhand, the most recently published book before this one, but as Terciel and Elinor is set well before everything that’s happened so far, I think I should be okay to start this soon, and I’m really looking forward to returning to the Old Kingdom world. Hopefully it will capture the magic that enthralled me as a kid!

Is this on your TBR, or have you read it? I’d love to see your reviews!

Book Reviews

Review: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Asha - A Cat, A Book, And A Cup Of Tea14 Comments

Garth Nix is most famous for his dark teen books, and Sabriel and sequels have been favourites of mine since I was a kid, but he also does a great line in light-hearted adventure fantasy (see my review of the criminally underrated Newt’s Emerald), and The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is exactly that!

Continue reading “Review: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London” →