Sabriel by Garth Nix

Sabriel by Garth Nix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw one of the newer books in this series in a used book store, and picked it up, and that has prompted me to reread the whole series, since I'm the type of person who likes to start at the beginning and end at the end. After A Confusion of Princes I'm seeing a pattern with Nix. His books are pretty random for the first 3rd, but with enough compelling story and characters to keep you reading. By the last 3rd you have been totally sucked in and can't put it down.

I learned in this book that you don't always need all the details in magic systems. For example, if Brandon Sanderson had written this one there would have been complete descriptions and diagrams of the charter marks, but Nix just has the characters use them. We don't know what they look like or how they work, yet their use and function are consistent, so we accept that.

I really enjoyed this story and look forward to reading the rest of the series, especially the two newest books that weren't published as of my last reading of this series.