The Old Kingdom series - author   novel   young adult   fantasy  
Issue Details: First known date: 1995-... 1995- The Old Kingdom
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y separately published work icon Terciel and Elinor Garth Nix , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 22585181 2021 single work novel young adult

'Bestselling novelist Garth Nix returns to the Old Kingdom for the never-before-told love story of Sabriel's parents, Terciel and Elinor, and the charter magic that brought them together - and threatened to tear them apart. A long-awaited prequel to a classic fantasy series.

'In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen-year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. But not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life.

'Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, nineteen-year-old Elinor lives a secluded life, her only friends an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. Her mother is a tyrant, who is feared by all despite her sickness and impending death . . . but perhaps there is even more to fear from that.

'Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, nor that magic can sometimes come across the Wall, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel and Tizanael to Ancelstierre. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself set on a path which will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciel's life, and will embroil her in the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead who will not stay dead.' (Publication summary)

y separately published work icon To Hold the Bridge : Tales from the Old Kingdom and Beyond Garth Nix , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2015 8348626 2015 selected work short story

'This is a masterful short story collection including a rarely seen Old Kingdom novella. Garth Nix proves he is a master of the short story with this intriguing collection of tales. Leading with the novella to hold the bridge, fans of Garth Nix will be more than satisfied with the richly detailed and thrilling tale of Charter Magic and a deathly duel. Fans new and old will delight in the subsequent tales, including fantasy and science fiction, with witches, vampires, strange worlds and stranger creatures making their appearance.' (Publication summary)

1
y separately published work icon Sabriel Garth Nix , Sydney : HarperCollins Australia , 1995 Z822173 1995 single work novel young adult fantasy (taught in 2 units) Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.
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y separately published work icon Lirael : Daughter of the Clayr Garth Nix , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2001 Z816641 2001 single work novel young adult fantasy "Dark forces are abroad once more in the Old Kingdom. Lirael, solitary daughter of the Clayr, and Sameth, the reluctant Abhorsen-in-Waiting, both seek the same man who may hold the key to an ancient evil stirring in the West. But the Dead cannot be laid to rest until the strange secret linking the fate of Lirael and Sameth is revealed." (Source: Allen & Unwin)
3
y separately published work icon Abhorsen Garth Nix , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2003 Z1004257 2003 single work novel young adult adventure fantasy 'Lirael, newly come into her inheritance as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, knows that the fate of the world is in her hands. With only a vision from the Clayr to guide her, and the uncertain help of her companions - Sam, the Disreputable Dog and Mogget - Lirael sets out on her perilous mission. The answer must be found somewhere in Life or Death - but can a former Second Assistant Librarian possibly discover the means to defeat the Destroyer ... before it is too late?'
(Source: Back cover)
3.5
y separately published work icon Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case Garth Nix , London : HarperCollins Children's Books , 2005 Z1220009 2005 single work novella fantasy young adult

Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case is a short story entry in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series. Set six months after the events in the novel Abhorsen, it tells of Nicholas's encounter with a Free magic creature in Ancelstierre and his return to the Old Kingdom. The story begins with Nicholas recuperating from the injuries he received at the hands of the Destroyer. After several idle months in Ancelstierre, he is desperate to return to the Old Kingdom, so when the opportunity arrives to actually do something, he accepts immediately. As a favour to his Uncle Edward, the Chief Minister of Ancelstierre, he travels to spend the weekend in a remote country house, the home of a family which would make a good political alliance. That seems easy enough, till he discovers that the house holds many secrets, and the worst of them is a relic of the Old Kingdom, too far from the Wall for any spark of its magical life to reignite. Unless someone finds a way to unleash its power...'

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y separately published work icon Clariel Garth Nix , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2014 7587971 2014 single work novel young adult fantasy

'Clariel is the daughter of the one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen and, most importantly, to the King. When her family moves to the city of Belisaere, there are rumors that her mother is next in line for the throne. However, Clariel wants no part of it—a natural hunter, all she ever thinks about is escaping the city’s confining walls and journeying back to the quiet, green world of the Great Forest.

'But many forces conspire against Clariel’s dream. 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 discovers 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?' (Publication summary)

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y separately published work icon Goldenhand Garth Nix , Sydney : HarperCollins Australia , 2016 9476957 2016 single work novel fantasy young adult

'Lirael knows the blood that runs in her veins and her true powers. She also knows that Chlorr of the Mask has been conspiring with the clans of the steppe, from a message she’s received from her long-dead mother, Arielle.

'But no one else believes that nomads can be a real threat. Accompanied by Nicholas Sayre and a young mountain nomad, Lirael goes on a dangerous journey across the steppe and into the mountains to see for herself. There Lirael discovers the future Arielle saw long ago that is now coming to pass: Chlorr has gathered the clans to attack the unsuspecting Old Kingdom.

'The only way Lirael and her companions can stop the attack is to find Chlorr’s original, better human self—Clariel. Only, Clariel has been asleep for centuries beyond the Great Rift. Lirael must reach her—and help her go beyond the Ninth Gate to die the final Death—before it is too late.' (Publication summary)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Reflections on an Australian Fantasy : Constructing the Impossible John Ryan , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 18 2016; (p. 16-22)
'The following article explores the importance of fantasy as an important literary form. I specifically focus on the social function of fantasy genre texts produced in the Australian context to address the following key questions. First, is there such a thing as Australian fantasy? And second, what are the ethical considerations and issues around the use of Aboriginal and European mythic systems to provide non-indigenous writers with their material for creating fantasy worlds?' (Publication abstract)
'The Keepers Book 1' Lian Tanner , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 55 no. 1 2011; (p. 5-6)
Forms of Death in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea, and Garth Nix's Old Kingdom Novels Alice Mills , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Literature and Aesthetics , December vol. 19 no. 2 2009; (p. 92-104)

'As soon as fantasy writers make factual statements about the nature of their fictional worlds, limits come into play. If this is a world ruled by one omnipotent deity, it is going to be tricky to introduce the Greek gods later on; if magic works by a certain set of rules, it cannot work by conflicting rules without the need for justification; if ghosts exist, some explanation will be required when the narrator asserts that no-one comes back from the dead. This paper explores and evaluates ways in which three contemporary fantasy writers set up and dissolve such limits with regard to the after life. Each of these writers has produced an extended, multi-volume fantasy opus amply establishing rules and limits for its fictional world or worlds: Ursula Le Guin in her six-volume Earthsea series, Philip Pullman in his trilogy, His Dark Materials, and Garth Nix in his Old Kingdom series of novels (four volumes to date). Each of these writers sets up what I shall term a ‘first death’ and a ‘second death’; the second death is presented in their fictions as a final stage of being while the first death, although it may initially seem permanent, turns out to be transitional. Each of these fictions ultimately dissolves the limits that seem to have been set up in the first death, but their strategies of release are arguably not always as liberatory as claimed.' (Introduction)

Fantastic Worlds Tim Lloyd , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 22 March 2003; (p. 13)
Completing Garth Nix's The Old Kingdom Series Kerry White , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , March vol. 18 no. 1 2003; (p. 8-9)
In the Kingdom of Coogee Madeleine Murray , 2003 single work biography
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 2 March 2003; (p. 10)

— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 1-2 March 2003; (p. 3)
Everybody's Talking About Children's Fantasy Jason Nahrung , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 8 March 2003; (p. 7)
Reality Bites for Fantasy Writer Colin Steele , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 March 2003; (p. 3a)
Completing Garth Nix's The Old Kingdom Series Kerry White , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , March vol. 18 no. 1 2003; (p. 8-9)
Fantastic Worlds Tim Lloyd , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 22 March 2003; (p. 13)
Last amended 14 Jul 2014 15:48:12
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