Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy
May. 30th, 2003 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
truepennySabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen
I enjoyed these books. I like the world and the magic system; I especially like the character of Mogget. I like the way he does gender roles, so that Lirael and Sabriel are the decision makers, while Sam and Touchstone follow them, but have important contributions of their own to make. And the plot certainly keeps one's attention.
Sabriel and Touchstone are a little too much capital-H heroes, and too little characterized; I like Lirael and Sam much better, although Nix doesn't really stick with Lirael's reluctance to speak as firmly as I wished he would. I was disappointed by the predictabililty of the romances; they were a little too easy to spot. And he has that horrible compulsion--Tad Williams has it, too--to make happy endings where they aren't really warranted. I think fantasy writers are far too prone to that kind of thing. When I kill people in my books, they stay dead.
The magic system was perhaps excessively schematized and tidy; it's one of those trilogies where, if there are nine precincts of Death, you know that one or the other of your heroes will have to visit all nine, and if there are seven bells on an Abhorsen's bandolier, you know all seven are going to be rung. And I wanted him to do more with the jarring juxtaposition of Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom, because that was the part--aside from the basic concept of an Abhorsen--that really grabbed my attention.
In the category of Most Irrelevant Nitpick, what on earth was he doing with Shakespeare? Touchstone is of course the name of the fool in As You Like It, and Abhorson is the name of the executioner in Measure for Measure; neither of those plays seems to have anything at all to do with these books, and while you can make a case for the relevance of Touchstone-in-Shakespeare to Touchstone-in-Nix--Mogget and Touchstone very thoughtfully explain it, in case anyone was confused--Abhorson in MfM is a ghastly character, and nothing at all like the Abhorsens of the books, either in personality or in function. I grant that abhorsen is a really cool word, and I like it, but if that was going to be his principle of names and titles, he needed to go ahead and go all out. You can't stop with one word that's slightly off-kilter; there has to be a whole raft of them, so that tiresome people like me don't give ourselves headaches trying to work out the corespondences. Gene Wolfe does that sort of thing splendidly.
But they were fun, well-written enough, and the Great Library of the Clayr is the coolest thing ever (also v. Wolfian, come to think of it). I would have been perfectly happy with a novel that never left the Clayr's Glacier, and there are ways it might have been a better novel, because following a less predictable quest/bildungsroman plot.
Fun books. Worth a reread, most likely.
I enjoyed these books. I like the world and the magic system; I especially like the character of Mogget. I like the way he does gender roles, so that Lirael and Sabriel are the decision makers, while Sam and Touchstone follow them, but have important contributions of their own to make. And the plot certainly keeps one's attention.
Sabriel and Touchstone are a little too much capital-H heroes, and too little characterized; I like Lirael and Sam much better, although Nix doesn't really stick with Lirael's reluctance to speak as firmly as I wished he would. I was disappointed by the predictabililty of the romances; they were a little too easy to spot. And he has that horrible compulsion--Tad Williams has it, too--to make happy endings where they aren't really warranted. I think fantasy writers are far too prone to that kind of thing. When I kill people in my books, they stay dead.
The magic system was perhaps excessively schematized and tidy; it's one of those trilogies where, if there are nine precincts of Death, you know that one or the other of your heroes will have to visit all nine, and if there are seven bells on an Abhorsen's bandolier, you know all seven are going to be rung. And I wanted him to do more with the jarring juxtaposition of Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom, because that was the part--aside from the basic concept of an Abhorsen--that really grabbed my attention.
In the category of Most Irrelevant Nitpick, what on earth was he doing with Shakespeare? Touchstone is of course the name of the fool in As You Like It, and Abhorson is the name of the executioner in Measure for Measure; neither of those plays seems to have anything at all to do with these books, and while you can make a case for the relevance of Touchstone-in-Shakespeare to Touchstone-in-Nix--Mogget and Touchstone very thoughtfully explain it, in case anyone was confused--Abhorson in MfM is a ghastly character, and nothing at all like the Abhorsens of the books, either in personality or in function. I grant that abhorsen is a really cool word, and I like it, but if that was going to be his principle of names and titles, he needed to go ahead and go all out. You can't stop with one word that's slightly off-kilter; there has to be a whole raft of them, so that tiresome people like me don't give ourselves headaches trying to work out the corespondences. Gene Wolfe does that sort of thing splendidly.
But they were fun, well-written enough, and the Great Library of the Clayr is the coolest thing ever (also v. Wolfian, come to think of it). I would have been perfectly happy with a novel that never left the Clayr's Glacier, and there are ways it might have been a better novel, because following a less predictable quest/bildungsroman plot.
Fun books. Worth a reread, most likely.
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no subject
Date: 2003-05-30 08:56 pm (UTC)I was very very fond of Sabriel--still am--but I was deeply disappointed in both Lirael and Abhorsen.
I like the world and the magic system; I especially like the character of Mogget.
Mogget is wonderful--that edgy combination of malevolence and affection, and not-quite-trustworthiness, and the moments when he gets loose are downright terrifying. Unfortunately, compared to Mogget, the Disreputable Dog is just pointless and annoying...
I like the way he does gender roles, so that Lirael and Sabriel are the decision makers, while Sam and Touchstone follow them, but have important contributions of their own to make. And the plot certainly keeps one's attention.
Sabriel was very good indeed--and stays that way right into Abhorsen, thankfully--but I thought that when it came to Lirael, Nix's editor really should have told him that Mercedes Lackey has the patent on that sort of sulky-angsty teenager. I would have preferred him to ditch the whole first section of that book and start with Sam, whose rediscovery of his Wallmaker heritage (if shown instead of told) would have made fascinating reading, just as much as his--very unusual, for a male protagonist--fear of Death and of taking direct action did. Unfortunately, after Sabriel, Nix succumbed to tell-don't-show disease in a big way...
I was disappointed by the predictabililty of the romances; they were a little too easy to spot.
I was disappointed by the inclusion of Sabriel/Touchstone at all--it was utterly unnecessary and not at all convincing, in Sabriel at least. I don't know where people get Lirael/Nick from, though; there's no suggestion of it that I can find in the text...
The magic system was perhaps excessively schematized and tidy
Oh, yes, and it had a really detrimental effect. I really didn't like the underlying idea of the later two, the return of the Destroyer, but it could have been done well. Pity it wasn't... Either too much was explained or too little, I can't work out which--is the Old Kingdom's walled-off status part of the attempt to bind the Destroyer, for example?--but whichever it was, it read like an interesting idea let down by inadequate writing. Much like The Curse of Chalion, it came off as mechanical, very obviously thought up, rather than organic, and the story suffered for it.
Abhorson in MfM is a ghastly character, and nothing at all like the Abhorsens of the books, either in personality or in function. I grant that abhorsen is a really cool word, and I like it, but if that was going to be his principle of names and titles, he needed to go ahead and go all out. You can't stop with one word that's slightly off-kilter
It's quite possible that he didn't even realise that one--I'm big on Shakespeare myself, and I didn't even catch the reference! Or perhaps it was just a chain of associations--executioner--dead--necromancer--binder of the dead...
Still, compared to some of the other Australian writers of fantasy out there (Sara Douglass, Martin Middleton, etc), they are at least competent and original, and enjoyable, so I have to give Nix some credit. And I still love Sabriel.
no subject
Date: 2003-05-31 04:44 am (UTC)I agree with you about Sara Douglass, in whom I was deeply disappointed when she started to get published in America. Have not heard of Martin Middleton and am guessing from context I probably don't want to.
Clearly, we can divide ourselves into the Sabrielites and the Liraelians. *g* I admit teen-angst Lirael was a bit much, but I thought librarian-Lirael was a great character, far more interesting than Abhorsen-Lirael, who was basically stuck, like Sabriel, with the deeds of derring-do. I agree completely that Sabriel and Touchstone didn't need to have a romance--one thing I found disappointing was the heterosexual homogeneity (now THERE's a phrase for you) of the books. All those Clayr, and the only sex they get is with visiting men? Even Sam, who doesn't get a girlfriend, poor thing, is tagged as Romantically Interested In Lirael (although you could do a perfectly plausible homoerotic reading with him and Nick). Clearly I have a depraved mind, because now I'm thinking about Mogget and the DD and whether they get to have sex lives at all. Some days I really do have a mind like a sewer.
I thought the thing between Nick and Lirael was actually fairly unsubtle--Nix not being much with the subtlety, as a general rule--particularly (to give a specific place to point) the reasons the DD gives for sending Nick back. (Dude, he's dead. Let it go.) But it's there even in Lirael's original vision of Nick, where she feels all protective toward him.
I agree with you strongly that Sam's story would have been much more interesting if it had never intersected with Lirael's story. Because, really--oh, and now this is starting to make me cross--Nix completely cops out. Sam never has to tell his mother, father, OR sister that he can't be the next Abhorsen until after he's found Lirael to be Abhorsen for him. And he doesn't have to face Hedge. All of Sam's problems get displaced onto Lirael, and he's left only having to do what, hey, he likes to do anyway. (Okay, yes, I'm exaggerating a little, but not a whole lot.)
The DD I could take or leave--she didn't bug me, and I liked the fact that she was a she, because mostly the comic talking animals in books have to be male--but I was reading from Mogget to Mogget. Mogget and Sam are the most interesting characters, and it may say something a little pointed about Nix as a writer that they're the characters who get the least attention in Abhorsen.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-01 08:24 pm (UTC)I tried to reply to this earlier, but it didn't post. Better luck this time, eh?
Have not heard of Martin Middleton and am guessing from context I probably don't want to.
You guess correctly. Lazy writing, inane worldbuilding, and appalling absence of characterisation. Give Isobelle Carmody and Sean Williams credit, at least they try...sometimes, they succeed, too.
I admit teen-angst Lirael was a bit much, but I thought librarian-Lirael was a great character, far more interesting than Abhorsen-Lirael
Yes, I wish he'd done something with Lirael as librarian, rather than just shoving her in the Library to mark time! Such a waste of such a cool idea. And Abhorsen/Remembrancer (what sort of a word is 'Remembrancer', anyway?) Lirael was left with only a few, very standard plot options. Such a shame.
one thing I found disappointing was the heterosexual homogeneity (now THERE's a phrase for you) of the books.
I find that disappointing about a great deal of literature, myself, though I'm usually on the lookout for asexual characters...it was very bland and cliched, really. I see what you mean about the Dog sending Nick back, now--it is romance-fodder. But it's also utterly unnecessary. I'm sure she would have coped with life without him, she's got this great big new family to help her...I like the homoerotic reading of Nick and Sameth, though. :) And I did like the disruption of the most standard romance-narrative pattern by the fact that Lirael is Sam's aunt.
Nix completely cops out. Sam never has to tell his mother, father, OR sister that he can't be the next Abhorsen until after he's found Lirael to be Abhorsen for him. And he doesn't have to face Hedge. All of Sam's problems get displaced onto Lirael
Oh, yes--it was such a waste of a good storyline. I mean, I give Nix credit for trying to keep the girls at the centre of the story, but failing to follow through Sam's narrative was just lazy. And, spinning off on a tangent for a moment, I agree with you completely that he should learn to let characters die--not just Nick, but Sabriel and Touchstone too. Ellimere was a completely wasted character; if Sabriel and Touchstone had died, it would have given her something to do, and Sam as well.
And is it me, or did Sam et al come across as really stupid for not realising that Sabriel must be alive, because her wind flutes hadn't failed?
Mogget and Sam are the most interesting characters, and it may say something a little pointed about Nix as a writer that they're the characters who get the least attention in Abhorsen.
H'm. I think it's more than a bit obvious what it says about him! Good ideas, but on the whole, a lazy writer--he doesn't follow through with the implications of his ideas. it comes through in Shade's Children, too. (I can't believe I just admitted to having read Shade's Children...ah well.)
And the bit with the plane was just too Phryne Fisher to be believed. ;)
no subject
Date: 2003-06-02 06:26 am (UTC)Ellimere was incredibly annoying. Her sole purpose in both books seemed to be as Bossy Older Sister to Make Sam's Life a Misery. And apparently that's because that's all she is, not just because Sam is a self-centered angsty little brat. I kept wanting a triangulation on Ellimere, and Nix kept not giving me one. You're right; if he'd just let that bomb do its job, Ellimere would suddenly have had the potential to be a tremendously interesting character with her own problems and her own trajectory. But I don't think Nix ever bothered to imagine her as someone with her own problems. She's only there to be a foil to Sam, a thankless task.
And, exposing my ignorance, who's Phryne Fisher?
Re:
Date: 2003-06-02 04:35 pm (UTC)~blushes~ Whoops. Forgot about that. Wasn't keeping track of the moon, either. Yes, it might get him out of that hole, at least...
I don't think Nix ever bothered to imagine her as someone with her own problems. She's only there to be a foil to Sam, a thankless task.
At least she's allowed to be competent at her own work, even if we never actually see her do it. I think she was only there to show how put-upon poor, unfortunate Sam was...except what she ended up showing up was what a whiny brat he was!
who's Phryne Fisher?
~g~ One of Australian genre literature's grand Mary Sues--a woman detective in 1920s Melbourne, renowned for implausible outfits, over-written sex scenes and ability to do anything her writer wants her to be able to. Including, in one book, stunt piloting and wing-walking in a Tiger Moth. Author is Kerry Greenood.