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Title details for Clariel by Garth Nix - Available

Clariel

The Lost Abhorsen

#4 in series

by Garth Nix
Graeme Malcolm
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
The long-awaited fourth audiobook in the New York Times bestselling Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix.
Award-winning author Garth Nix returns to the Old Kingdom with a thrilling prequel complete with dark magic, royalty, dangerous action, a strong heroine, and flawless world-building. This epic fantasy adventure is destined to be a classic, and is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones.
Clariel is the daughter of one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen and, most important, to the King. She dreams of living a simple life but discovers this is hard to achieve when a dangerous Free Magic creature is loose in the city, her parents want to marry her off to a killer, and there is a plot brewing against the old and withdrawn King Orrikan. When Clariel is drawn into the efforts to find and capture the creature, she finds hidden sorcery within herself, yet it is magic that carries great dangers. Can she rise above the temptation of power, escape the unwanted marriage, and save the King?

  • Creators

  • Series

    The Old Kingdom

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 14, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739368336
      • File size: 343527 KB
      • Duration: 11:55:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 990
    • Text Difficulty: 5-7

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Graeme Malcolm isn't the obvious choice to narrate a fantasy about a teenaged girl, but his sonorous voice complements the seriousness of the main character, Clariel, as she grapples with duty, desire, and a murky moral landscape. Clariel's parents have moved her to the city to attend finishing school, but all she wants to do is run back to her beloved forest and live alone. Malcolm creates character voices that help listeners follow the story as Clariel becomes involved in a plot to overthrow the king and is tempted by dangerous Free Magic creatures. Malcolm paces his performance to heighten the tension as Clariel's situation grows more complicated. This prequel will satisfy fans as well as those new to Nix's Old Kingdom series. A.F. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 11, 2014
      In a prequel to his classic Old Kingdom series, set some 600 years before the previous novels, Nix introduces Clariel, the 17-year-old daughter of a supremely talented goldsmith mother. Clariel only wants to be left alone, “to become a Borderer, one of the wardens who patrolled the forests and woods of the kingdom,” But unfortunately for her, she is also a close relative of the aging ruler of the Old Kingdom, as well as the Abhorsen, the kingdom’s master of lawful Charter Magic, who must keep both the Dead and the Wild Magic in their places. Clariel soon becomes a pawn in the political machinations of both her mother and the ambitious guildmaster Kilp, who controls the capital city, Belisaere. Worse, she discovers that her occasionally violent temper may itself have dire (and magical) consequences for her future. Between striking characters—from the heroic if not entirely competent young Abhorsen-in-Waiting, Belatiel, to the enigmatic, catlike Mogget—and Nix’s brilliantly complex magic system, this superb tale is exactly the book fans of the series have been awaiting. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

    • Books+Publishing

      July 11, 2014

      The long-awaited prequel to Garth Nix’s ‘Old Kingdom’ series (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen) is going to make a lot of readers very, very happy. After her mother is promoted to the prestigious position of High Goldsmith, Clariel is forced to move from her forest home to the bustling capital Belisaere. Her mother’s new status means that Clariel is expected to behave herself, but she has no plans to marry well and live quietly—more than anything, she wants to join the Forest Borderers. But politics are treacherous in Belisaere, and when Clariel finds herself in the middle of a plot that brings her world crashing down, she must put her plans aside and draw on her own inner strength to survive. With the rich world Nix created in Sabriel, it’s hardly a surprise that he has returned to the Old Kingdom in Clariel. This is a gripping read that is perfect for lovers of dark fantasy aged 12 and up. It can also be read as a stand-alone novel, so if you need proof of why Nix is one of Australia’s most beloved fantasy authors, Clariel is a good place to start.  

      Holly Harper is an author and children’s bookseller at Readings Carlton

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:990
  • Text Difficulty:5-7

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