Sabriel

I very much enjoyed this rather dark toned YA book,which made few compromises for its younger audience.The young heroine,Sabriel,faces dreadful magic ccreatures,as well as experiencing sorrow,fear,and self doubt The world building is interesting,with an intriguing take on death,where through the gates of the dead a river runs,taking the spirits of the dead through increasingly frightening and dangerous Gates of Death,till through the ninth gate they go into oblivion.Sabriel has magic powers to return spirits back to the world but not from the final gate.Her father,a mage has been captured by an evil sorcerer,and Sabriel endeavours to save him,while trying to prevent the sorcerer bringing an army of terrifying creatures through the gates to take over the world.

The magic elements are well handled in a fresh way in the context of the story,the rituals seeming credible yet eerie There is a very slight romance element which never slows down the storyThe heroine is well drawn,,vulnerable but brave,never whining as so many young YA heroines do(possibly because of the male author!).There's lots of tension,rollercoaster action,and well depicted settings that seem solid and real amid the magic so the obligatory journey in such books seemed realistic. Very enjoyable indeed,with some frissons along the way,and interesting characters,including a cat that is very malevolent when released from a spell! Excellent.