Tag Archives: Garth NIx

Bedtime Stories: Lirael

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix.

It’s audiobook season up here in the Bed Blog! When slogging through a long, soggy commute, or plodding through a massive mindless task, audiobooks are a great way to get some reading done and take the pain out of an otherwise burdensome or stressful task. Also, to be quite honest, I read at a ninth-grade speed so I don’t get a lot of novels finished in my down time. All this, I suppose, is to justify listening to audiobooks. So there. I listen to audiobooks, but only if the narrator is fantastic.

Lirael is the follow-up novel in the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. I reviewed Sabriel some time ago and recently re-read it. When I picked up a copy of the audiobook for Lirael, I was delighted to see that it is read by Tim Curry! And although I can’t help but hear his character from Clue sometimes while I listen, he does a great job. I love the character of Lirael because she is a misfit in the Clayr, who are the seers that live on a glacier. Lirael doesn’t have the Sight, but she has a far better grasp of magic than anyone else on the glacier. She even managed to create a companion for herself, a magical (but very real) dog who declared herself to be The Disreputable Dog. Garth Nix creates wonderful, snarky, talking magical animals. Lirael is my favorite second assistant librarian with a sword and the book is great fun. If you haven’t picked up this trilogy, you are missing out.

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Bedtime Stories: Space Operas!


Post by Mark T. Locker.

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix.

As long as there are no dragons, I tend to enjoy young adult/teen fantasy. Science fiction is, generally speaking, a different story. I discovered Douglas Adams in my middle school years and he has always been the exception to my disinterest in sci-fi. But you know how there are some authors who could write a phone book and it would be amazing? That’s kind of how I feel about Garth Nix. Although mostly a YA/teen fantasy novelist, he has breached the sci-fi genre with his most recent novel, A Confusion of Princes. I figured, what the heck, I’d give it a try despite the obvious science fiction overtones. Note: I just learned that technically, it’s a “space opera”, whatever that is.

Here’s my takeaway: it was good enough to read all the way through. Nix has a way of creating imaginative worlds that don’t come across as silly and contrived. Sometimes I open a book and see all the names are Llethywynn and Glêmrax and I just close it straight away, because it’s silly! This one isn’t overly serious or overly silly. It’s intriguing, exciting, fun. My only criticism would be that 75% of the way through the book, I was sure it would lead to a sequel, but instead he just wraps it up very, very rapidly and I was left thinking: huh. I guess it’s over, then. Other than that, totally fun and will give you some interesting dreams.

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