flail, flail, Sabriel, flail

I read Sabriel at the collective urging of kmo_lj and thorarosebird (Thora, you still there?) and I'm still kind of reeling.

OK #1, I totally called Touchstone's royal blood when he said he was a guard. I mean, c'mon, he was basted onto the ship where royalty are laid to rest. Also, I read too much fantasy.

You know what, it's too hard to do this with half spoilers out everywhere, let me cut the whole thing.


SOOOOOO I came out of it shipping Touchstone/Sabriel (what is his real name, anyway?) Kind of telegraphed by his introduction, but I'm not into romance for the subtlety, so we're all good. And I love that they're both mages--together they fight evil! Or things risen back from the dead, as it were...

I'm utterly charmed by the Paperwings, and I don't even know why. I think of them as a little like white paper planes, and those are charming in a way that our real airplanes aren't.

I almost cried when Sabriel's father died. Noooooooooo how could you do this? ;_; On the other hand, the Abhorsens of the past come to push Sabriel back to the living (JESUS H CHRIST was that a gory death, did she just get impaled on a sword?!?) and they are all experienced in dipping between death and life, so maybe...he's not totally lost? Oh god, I don't deal well with these twists, I hate characters dying.

I'm not sure how to think about Mogget. It's like there's two of him, the cat-being (which is an albino child/dwarf thing to Sabriel's father) and the other being which is indescribable, and I think of them as two separate characters. I was so pleased he came back. I feel that cat characters always improve a book, even if I'm not much of a cat person myself. They have interesting personalities!

The part about Mogget telling Sabriel to re-bind him is weird. It's not precisely Stockholm Syndrome, but maybe like Mogget prefers being not-vengeful (a better person?) which is easier in his cat form. And I am so very glad that he reappeared.

The Charter, Great Stones, the whole magic system is still kind of a mystery to me. Partly a result of the gag that's on Mogget and Touchstone I think, who would otherwise be guides in the Old Kingdom, since Sabriel doesn't know. I did like the idea of bells--or rather, the sound of bells, since Sabriel's trained to sing/whistle the sounds in case the bells aren't there--controlling death. Well, not controlling death, but exerting control on living/unliving with regards to the realm of death. There, that's more accurate, but weird.

I also really liked the Clayr twins. They're probably terrible stereotypes of twins (dreamy, not-really-there twins) but I loved them anyway--I hope we get to see more of them.

Oh and Ancelstierre! In my mind it's like northern England or Scotland in the early 19th century. Thus the tanks, but cars which go 30mph are impressive. And the whole boarding school thing, but Nix is Australian, isn't he? On the other hand, I don't think it's an actual England/Scotland/other analogue; for one, Wyverly College (a girls' school built originally for "Young Ladies of Quality") teaches swordsmanship, amongst other things like etiquette.

Trying to get my hands on the sequel right now.