Description

In the final book in the Old Kingdom trilogy, master of fantasy and globally bestselling author Garth Nix returns to the fantastic world of Sabriel for an unforgettable conclusion. "Breathtaking, bittersweet, and utterly unforgettable.” *

After centuries in captivity, the Destroyer is nearly free.

Beneath the earth, a malignant force lies waiting, greedy for freedom from its ancient prison. As the Old Kingdom falls once more into a realm of darkness and terror, the people look desperately to the Abhorsen, the scourge of the Dead, to save them. Yet Abhorsen Sabriel is lost, missing in Ancelstierre.

Only Lirael has any chance of stopping the Destroyer. With her companions Sameth, Mogget and the Disreputable Dog, she travels across the Old Kingdom in a race against time, battling Shadow Hands and dark necromancers to reach Ancelstierre before it is too late. But what hope can one young woman have against a terrible evil with the power to destroy life itself?

This eagerly awaited conclusion to Garth Nix’s extraordinary trilogy of Old Kingdom books is a complex and vividly imagined story, powerful, terrifying and compelling.

“Terror, courage, bitterness, love, desperation, and sacrifice all swirl together in an apocalyptic climax that pits both Life and Death together against the destruction of everything."  —Kirkus*

About the author(s)

Garth Nix is a New York Times bestselling novelist and has been a full-time writer since 2001 but has also worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve.

Garth’s many books include the Old Kingdom fantasy series, beginning with Sabriel and continuing to Goldenhand; the sci-fi novels Shade’s Children and A Confusion of Princes; the Regency romance with magic Newt’s Emerald; and novels for children including The Ragwitch, the Seventh Tower series, the Keys to the Kingdom series, and Frogkisser!, which is now in development as a feature film with Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios. Garth has written numerous short stories, some of which are collected in Across the Wall and To Hold the Bridge. He has also cowritten several children’s book series with Sean Williams, including TroubleTwisters and Have Sword, Will Travel.

More than six million copies of his books have been sold around the world and his work has been translated into forty-two languages.

Reviews

“Breathtaking, bittersweet, and utterly unforgettable.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Praise for SABRIEL: “Rich, complex, involving, hard to put down, excellent high fantasy.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Nix has created an ingenious, icy world. The action charges along at a gallop. A page-turner for sure.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)

“By turns rousing, charming and slyly funny, Sabriel is an engaging tale that slays sexual stereotypes along with its monsters.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Sabriel is a winner, a fantasy that reads like realism. Here is a world with the same solidity and four dimensional authority as our own, created with invention, clarity, and intelligence. I congratulate Garth Nix. And I look forward to reading his next piece of work.”Philip Pullman

“A wonderful new fantasy filled with rich and complex imagery.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“Nix’s monsters are scary and repulsive, his sense of humor is downright sneaky, and he puts his heroine through engrossing physical and emotional wringers. This book is guaranteed to keep readers up way past their bedtimes.” — School Library Journal

“A compelling fantasy. The story is remarkable for the level of originality and leaves readers to explore for themselves.” — Horn Book Magazine

Praise for LIRAEL: “Riveting.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Superb characterization." — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

Publishers Weekly

“The action charges along at a gallop--a page turner for sure.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)

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