Words I Write Crazy: Week 14 Reviews: Abhorsen, The Creature in the Case, Across the Wall, The Nine Gates of Death - An Extract of the Journal of Idrach the Lesser Necromancer, To Hold the Bridge

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Week 14 Reviews: Abhorsen, The Creature in the Case, Across the Wall, The Nine Gates of Death - An Extract of the Journal of Idrach the Lesser Necromancer, To Hold the Bridge

From Goodreads:

When the ninth gate calls, who can resist its summons?

An old evil has arisen - freed from its subterranean prison and seeking to escape the binding silver hemispheres which prevent it from finally unleashing its terrible powers.

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.

Then 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?

From Goodreads:

The Creature in the Case delves deeper into New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix's Old Kingdom. Fans of Rae Carson, Kristin Cashore, Scott Westerfeld, and Cassandra Clare will be enthralled by this rich fantasy world.

Nicholas Sayre has just fought off the Destroyer and is eager to return to the Old Kingdom. The only thing standing in his way is a party organized by his powerful uncle. But when he arrives at the party he finds a house full of guests who don't believe in magic or necromancy and a strange creature locked up in a display case.

After a disastrous twist of events involving the guest of honor, the creature in the case drinks Nicholas's Charter-infused blood—and breaks free. Will Nicholas be able to stop the new Free Magic creature?

From Goodreads:

From renowned fantasy author of the Old Kingdom series, Garth Nix, comes an entertaining collection of stories, including one Old Kingdom novella.

Across the Wall brings together an electic mix of Garth Nix's writing spanning several years, beginning with the novella set in the Old Kingdom, "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case," winner of two Aurealis Awards.

The collection also includes two tales inspired by Arthurian legend, a war story, a western, a traditional tale with a twist and a hilarious choose-your-own-adventure spoof. The volume is introduced by the author himself and, even better, so is each story—giving context, anecdotes and a glimpse into the exceptional mind of Garth Nix.

From Goodreads:

From the copy made safe, deciphered and written plain by Jalerel, First Assistant Librarian of the Clayr.

From Goodreads:

An entertaining short-story collection from the bestselling fantasy author Garth Nix, including an Old Kingdom novella, a short story set in the same world as Shade's Children, and another story set in the world of A Confusion of Princes.

Garth Nix is renowned for his legendary fantasy works, but To Hold the Bridge showcases his versatility, as the collection offers nineteen short stories from genres including science fiction, paranormal, realistic fiction, mystery, and adventure. Whether writing about vampires, detectives, ancient spirits, or odd jobs, Garth Nix's ability to pull his readers into new worlds is

extraordinary.

My Review:
Oh man, I loved reading these books! I didn't know that the short story collections were from all sorts of sources of his work, not just in the Abhorsen/Old Kingdom world, but I enjoyed reading all of them, though those were the ones that I most enjoyed!

Abhorsen was utterly fantastic! Things were built up in Lirael, and it was great to see how things went from there! From the beginning, things were pretty intense, what with an attempt on Sabriel and Touchstone's lives! Loved all the developments and what we learned-and how it all played out!

Reading The Nine Gates of Death-it has me wondering if this is the threat in Terciel and Elinor, because there were comments about the current Abhorsen and Abhrosen-in-Waiting. So I'm excited to see if that's correct or not!

The short stories covered a lot of variety, from fantasy to sci fi. A lot of them were either grim, or had a grim or at least bittersweet ending. One of my favourites (besides the Abhorsen worlds which are automatically favorites!) is The Quiet Knight, the role playing story! And there was a lot of humour that I didn't expect, though it's true that even in the darkest moments in this series, there's still some light, so that was great!

Loved reading these stories, and I can't wait to read more!

Author: Garth Nix
Series: Abhsorsen #3, 3.5, 3.75, 3.8, Old Kingdom #3, 3.5
Read: April 5th, 5th, 5th, 5th, 5th, 2022
Source: Library, Ebook.bike, Own
Reason Why: Loved the first two books, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Books!
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books, Harper Teen, Garth Nix, Harper Collins
Published: January 7th 2003, March 3rd 2005, July 1st 2005, September 2005, June 9th 2015

Abhorsen: