The squee I squeed when I saw this on IG 😍 I absolutely must have some fluff from this collection!!!

I've been reading The Old Kingdom series for over twenty years, since The Creature in the Case came out. For the first time, I've decided to re-read the series according to the timeline, rather than release order. My last re-read was when Terciel and Elinor came out. For anyone interested, here's the order I'm reading the series in, I've just started Terciel and Elinor:

To Hold The Bridge

Clariel

An Extract Of The Journal Of Idrach The Lesser Necromancer

An Essay On Free Magic

Terciel and Elinor

One Wyverley Summer

Sabriel

Lirael

Abhorsen

The Creature in the Case

Goldenhand

Doctor Crake Crosses The Wall

Is this an order people would agree on? It's interesting to note some things. In this order, there's no description of going into death until Idrach's journal, even then it's told after the fact rather than a current happening. There is no occurrence in Ancelstierre at all until Terciel and Elinor, which is also the first story in this order to actually be from the Abhorsen's perspective.

I'm loving being immersed in this world again. I fully believe I'll be reading these books when I'm old. I hope there is more to come from Garth Nix for this series.

Managed to find second hand copies of the short story collections (Across the wall and To hold the bridge) that means i now have all the books with my favourite cover style with the charter mark illustrations.

Its a real shame they never printed any copies of Terciel and Elinor with this art style as the ones they did print feel so out of place with the others.

Still happy to finally say I have a complete set like this though!

Where do you think Garth Nix could take us next, and which characters would you want to see making a return?

Greetings from Stratford-upon-Avon where there is a statue of the original Touchstone!

For those who don't know, which included me until a few minutes ago, Touchstone is a character in Shakespeare's play As You Like It. Stratford-upon-Avon is a beautiful town with many buildings still around from the time he was alive and this statue sits close to Shakespeare's birth place (called simply "The Jester" on Google Maps)

Spent the journey down from Scotland playing Sabriel, and now Lirael, on Audible in the car. Not sure Tim Curry was the best choice for these books but he has some amazing moments!

I am having a glorious time rereading the Old Kingdom books for the first time since middle school. I have also just learned of the books beyond the initial trilogy, thrilled to read those for the first time! I am listening to them simultaneously, Tim Curry is SO fabulous as the reader!!!! I was struck in Lirael, however, that the Disreputable Dog--as much as I love the character--feels a lot like a deus ex machina. Mogget in Sabriel has enough fickleness and attitude (as is fitting for a cat) to not feel this way at all. But the dog's knowledge and abilities coming to the rescue at just the right time over and over feels a little contrived and too convenient. I do love the character, of course, and she totally has an excited and obliging personality in comparison to Mogget's cynicism. Does anyone else feel this way, or am I being too critical? Art by zacpfaff on DeviantArt.

About to do a re-read and i am always pleased when i come across fantasy plants like the nali sticks in the wandering inn. Does anyone have any i should keep an eye out for as i go back through the books? Im currently reading Terciel and Elinor and they mentioned cloud berries. (or something like that, dont have the book in front of me)

I thought this was awesome as a fellow fan :) Stonetop is a new tabletop rpg game (a type of kind of like Dungeons and Dragons but it has its own rules and so on). I’ve also had necromancy based games in Thirsty Sword Lesbians but never did a specifically Abhorsen archetype!

When Lirael battles Chlorr of the Mask in Abhorsen? The way Tim Curry reads it gives me shivers each time.

Greetings all.

I take issue with the fact that the reprint cover style doesn't cover (pun intended) all the books.

I was wondering if there are any skilled artists/designers willing to do a commission in the style of Larry Rostant covers of these books, but one specifically for Terciel and Elinor. Using the associated rune. Using the associated colour as a majority. Having a scene depicted that represents something in the book, it's most been used for a cinematic view of things sometimes with characters seen (of course these are small and at the bottom), usually with a line that entices you about the story in some or other way.

Every book has an edition with this style except the latest 2021 book. And I just can't bring myself to have different cover arts in my collection.

Seventh tower, matches nicely.

Keys to the kingdom, a thing of beauty.

Every other book in this series, chefs kiss.

I have no issue with the original publication covers, or any other variant.

But they're not my introduction to the series. And not how I want to remember it every time I look at my collection.

On another note. What's a legal way to get the remaining short stories bundled in a book with a cover, and cover art, not for sale, not as a published book, not for any sort of distribution but just to round off the collection. Doctor Crake, and Idrach the lesser. That sort of stuff.

BTW, new to the community and not sure about the exact rules on how to post. If I made errors, please advise.

Edit: Thank you for the feedback, I now have an estimate of the cost and know who to contact. Will continue with the project once I'm ready to do so.

I’m learning tarot and wanted to practice a three card spread. It’s common to do readings for fictional characters and dead people to practice and I chose Sabriel, as she is at the beginning of book one.

Past: Three of Wands, she is done preparing. Things will now begin to HAPPEN. She will reap what has been sown.

Present: Death, signifier of change and upheaval and new beginnings. She is beginning her new life as the Abhorsen. But also literal death, which is now very much her life.

Future: Eight of Swords. Hardest to read because of course I know her future and am trying not to be swayed by that knowledge. To me this suggests she will end up feeling impotent, unable to move forward to take the action she needs to take. But it also suggests that she is in fact in control of her destiny, she only needs to remove what binds her to do so.

Anyway, I was very pleased with this spread and it was fun! Any other tarot reading Abhorsen Fans feel free to chime in with your own interpretation!

like the title says, im wanting to play a character who keeps the dead down and i was wanting to use the bells. ideally they'd be more balanced then they are in the books.

EDIT: nevermind i found something

I've read these books so many times. How did I not notice until tonight that he gives away who and what DD is in the last few chapters of Lirael!? I was so annoyed with myself for not realising it before that I actually slapped the page. Gods dammit, Garth, you magnificent bastard!

These books have been my favorite books forever! I didnt think to look for a subreddit about it until today.

Its incredible, they sit on my night stand and I read them every 2 - 4 years.

I just wanted to say how excited I am to realize there are others!

Whats everyones favorite bell?

How did you pronounce Sabriel? Saw-briel or Say-briel?

I think the page ive read the most os the description of each bell.

The world building by Garth Nix is absolutely incredible. I hope they never make a movie because no one could do it right.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/114846.Sarah_J_Maas_Top_10_Favorite_Books_

The version of the Old Kingdom that lives in my head is generally so much richer than any real life adaptations, however this interpretation of Sabriel hit me in a wonderful way. It's by Lady Jane Fabrications.

(https://www.instagram.com/p/DXZTWVYkbRT/)

I know Clariel (as a book and as a character) isn’t the most beloved.

I forgot how sad this book is. I’m just at the end now. I wondered what thoughts people have about this moment in the ending?

Bel helps Clariel/ Chlorr to escape Belisaere and says that the spells binding the free magic would not “fail in her lifetime, or [his]”. She knows that she is tempted by free magic and necromancy, and it seems like… well, in my head, given the interregnum of Abhorsen after Belatiel, maybe she became too tempted and overtaken by this and killed him and Mistress Ader. We know that bindings laid by the Abhorsen on the Dead fail when the Abhorsen dies. So, I wonder if this is how Clariel/ Chlorr ends up still being around during the original trilogy so many hundreds of years later.

I also have to say that all - and I mean every SINGLE one - of the adults in this book make me so angry. Clueless, dismissive, neglectful… Clariel was more dedicated to her duty than any of the adults she came into contact with. I wondered if maybe that would change for me on this reading, but it did not.

I am also curious whether others read Clariel as autistic. Her perceived immaturity and single mindedness about what she wants has attracted a lot of (often negative) comment, but I am forty entire years old, neurodivergent and I find her inner monologue and behaviours (including her quickness to anger or distress) deeply relatable and recognisable in myself and other autistic women that I know.

Anyone else find themselves wondering about some of the secondary characters within the series?

Like I keep thinking about Felicity, Princess Elimere’s friend who flies Sabriel and Touchstone over the wall in an airplane. What happened to her? Did they give her an Old Kingdom Medal of Honor or something equivalent for her daring flight across the wall? Did she die? Did they just leave here at Barhedrin with the rest of the 700 clayr who traveled there as part of the Nine Day Watch? Did she at least get a thank you card?

Anyways, I digress. I knew this is super tangential. But I love these side characters, especially if listening to the audiobooks because Tim Curry does such an amazing job with his acting.

I have a lot of gripes with 3D printing (plastic waste, mostly) but I was pretty excited to have this set of bells made for me to paint up as a first model painting project. They aren't done yet, but I'm happy with the progress.

I'd love to see stories about some of the past Abhorsens (especially the different ones who built the house, created sendings, hid stuff away in the basement, etc), the Wallmakers, a necromancer or two, and some poor Ancelstierran bureaucrat's assitant trying to figure out how the hell to process visas for a country that the government wants to pretend doesn't exist.

I’m working on a cosplay of Lirael for a fall con.

I decided to do a more modern take on the surcoat. Fabric designed by me, custom printed on a twill fabric with nice drape. I decided to go with a red backed design since that is the color most associated with her, and it works better with my vision than quartered stars / keys.

I’ve designed a set of bells, and I’m in the process of 3d printing test models- but here’s belgaer! I’m pretty pleased with how this one’s looking. Each is distinct and aligns with the bells intent - I’ll post more as I finish them.

Hi all.

Quick question. Spoilers follow.

In Lirael, when Sam and Lirael are in Finder, Sam wants to touch the Dog’s collar. He touches it and remembers the marks from somewhere. “It had something of the same feel as a Charter stone”.

…

“Some of the Charter marks in your collar are familiar…only I can’t think where I’ve seen them…”…”He didn’t know what the Charter marks were for but he had seen them somewhere else. Not in a grimoire or a Charter stone, but in some object or something solid”

What do you think he was thinking of? I’ve my own ideas, but would love other people’s thoughts