Set before the events of Sabriel, Clariel is a teenager whose parents brought her into the kingdom of Belisare against her wishes. Clariel and her family are related to the Abhorsen line and Clariel has inherited a Fury. Clariel wishes to escape to her forest back home at Estwael, but it seems political conflicts are keeping her in the walled city. She finally finds a way of escape but the risks are greater than she thinks, and she is drawn to the magic around her.
When I picked up the book, I didn’t know it was a prequel to the Old Kingdom Series, and on its own the book does well to explain the character. The book caters to people who are new to the series and to ones who know the series well. All the characters were likable (or easy to hate) when you got to know them, though I do feel that the book was shorter than I would like it to be, with some unanswered questions. But the book was interesting enough to keep returning to.
The most memorable thing about this book was definitely the Free Magic. The concept being that Free Magic is inimical to all life, yet it is free, unrestrained and that’s how it wants to be. Free Magic is vague and unknown as everyone calls it bad because the opposite, Charter Magic, is confined to symbols.
Reviewed by Alsharief, grade 11, Twin Hickory Area Library
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Published by AdrienneTheLibrarian
ABOUT … Adrienne, Teen Librarian & Digital Media Lab Librarian at Libbie Mill Library.
Hi, I’m Adrienne, and I’ve been a Teen Librarian at HCPL since 2006. I started at Twin Hickory and moved to Libbie Mill in 2015. Come visit our Teen Room and check out all we have for you -- books, great study and hanging out space, free computers, free classes in 3D design & printing, Coding, Photoshop and soooo much more!
Random stuff about me:
* Favorite book: Hmmmm, this is hard, since it changes all the time as I read new stuff and depending on what mood I’m in. However, there is one book that I know will still make me snort with laughter even when I’m 80 years old — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.
* Favorite food: perfectly made toast
* Favorite band/music: Cake. I will never get enough Cake.
* Favorite reference question: Q: How long does it take the galaxy to rotate once? A: It’s called a galactic or cosmic year and it takes about 225-250 million earth years.
* Pets: I have two cats and a dog. Marcus and Grey are the cats who were rescued from a box in the woods when they were just little puffballs. When they are not acting insane, they are very sweet and purr loudly. My dog is named Peter and he's a medium size poodle mix (we call him the substandard poodle). He's got floppy ears, snores and loves green beans.
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