I’ve seen several of Garth Nix’s young adult novels at my bookstore recently. Please tell me about his writing in general (i.e., is it good? what writers are similar?) and specifically (i.e., where should I start? what’s the general premise of each series?). Thanks.
I read Sabriel when I was past the intended audience age, a friend gave it to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s fantasy and it has some interesting ideas but I found that I liked the second and third books much less than his first.
Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen - They are all part of the ‘Old Kingdom’ series and are all linked in their story, sequentially.
I am not familiar with any of his other works, but I do recommend Sabriel 
– IG
I am hooked on the Keys To The Kingdom series. I don’t have a lot of time to describe it (I’ll come back and do that later), but it’s very well-written in a way that is richly descriptive without being flowery and overbearing. The second book, Grim Tuesday, has a wonderfully executed twist at the end.
Most of the story takes place in an alternate reality and the rest takes place in the near-enough-to-be-familiar future of our world. I bought the first two books for cheap at a book sale table, but they captivated me so much that I paid full price for the last two that came out. The fifth book, Lady Friday is coming out in two months and it’s too long to wait!
Two months? squeals
2007 is going to be a good year - Jumper movie, Lady Friday, the sequel to Dreamhunter…
can’t wait
Sabriel was wonderful, as was the rest of the trilogy. The Seventh Tower series was entertaining, but not enough that I would buy them full price.
Shades Children is my favorite of his books, nearly making me cry at the end. Its obviously targeted at early-mid teens, but still a great read.
I liked the Abhorsen trilogy too. I’m not good at describing someone’s writing style, but I like Nix – no unnecessary flourishes or fancy tricks, not too many adverbs, realistic dialogue – good story-telling with a respect for the reader.
Really, he’s awesome. When I was at a library conference, to my great surprise and mortal shock I turned around and there was Tamora Pierce! Now, when I say that, you need to understand that her Song of the Lioness books were my absolute favorite desert island books when I was a young teenager. I’ve read them dozens and dozens of times and could probably still quote them at you if I had to. So anyway, I just lost it and was this bizarre mix of frozen and babbling incoherency, and I apologized, and she said, “That’s okay, I was the same way when I met Garth Nix. I mean, can you believe I met Garth Nix?”
In other words, yeah, he’s pretty good (although I agree about the others in the trilogy not being as good as Sabriel.) Also, Tamora Pierce is a gracious lady.
The Abhorsen Trilogy, starting with Sabriel, is fantastic. I had nightmares about one scene in particular. I just bought the boxed set for myself.
I’ve only read one of the Keys to the Kingdom books so far, but it’s awfully good, too.
Not spectacularly impressed with the first book in the Seventh Tower series.
Two standalone novels are Shade’s Children (post-apocalyptic sf) and Ragwitch. When I reviewed them, I gave the former 3 stars and the latter 4 . Sabriel I gave 5 .
I guess I’m a dissenting voice here.
In a thread from last year, I had this to say about Sabriel:
Since then, I have forced myself to read the novel, and I am still not a fan. There are some good ideas in it (along with a few cliches), but on the whole I am unimpressed with Nix’s storytelling.
I’m not a fan of the Sabriel either. I couldn’t get more than a third of the way through it. I disagree with AuntiePam since I found it overly descriptive to no particular purpose.
The writing style between it and the first book of the Seventh Tower are radicially different. That surprises me some, since authors usually have a distinct voice no matter what the subject is that they’re writing about.
I read his Abhorsen trilogy and quite enjoyed it. The first time I tried to read his first in that trilogy I was on massive amounts of post-op morphine and had trouble getting into it. I tried it a second time and found it to be a fun read - this despite the fact that I am a middle-aged male (and therefore not in his target market.)
I’ve enjoyed everything of his that I’ve read, including the Sabriel trilogy and the first few of the Keys to the Kingdom series. I love the subtle humour in his writing. His characterisation is also top-notch - they’re very real.
I keep meaning to pick up Thursday - and am pleased to hear Friday won’t be too much longer!