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Book reviews for "Nix,_Garth" sorted by average review score:

Castle
Published in Hardcover by Turtleback Books Distributed by Demco Media (2001)
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $11.24
Average review score:

A work of art.
The story begins after the shield maidens rescue Tal and Milla. Once Milla is heald they set off with a map carved by someone who came from the castle years ago. They use the map and nearly get themselves killed by going over a hudge abyss and climbing through the pipes in the castle. All their troubles result in them getting caught. The people of the castle however live in ignorance of the outside world though and they think that only they and the underfolk exist and that the underfolk exit to serve them. So when Milla is discovered she is thought to be a rebel underfolk who has formed the world of Icecarls in her imagination and she is sent to the hall af nightmares. A place that has driven many people before her into insanity. Tal is sent to prison and he discovers ther something about his father's disaperence (which is what got him into all the trouble in the first place.)The book ends on a cliff hanger again and leaves you wanting more. I was so impatient that I picked up 'Aenir' instantly and continued reading as if I hadn't even changed books.

What is Slimy Sushin's problem?
Just had to ask that question - that creep Sushin, who kept Tal from getting his Sunstone in The Fall (1st in the series), has somehow been promoted by the time Tal and Milla get back to the castle, and he's scheming...

In addition to the great mental pictures the author skillfully paints in this book (for a small example, I kind of had the same reaction as Tal did to the Mother Crone's eyes...) I really liked how 13-year-old Tal and 14-year-old Milla learned how to work together despite their differences. What's really cool is how neither Tal nor Milla change who they are for the other person (though their characters DO grow) and still manage to form a team. Now we don't really know that Tal and Milla like each other, necessarily, and they still argue and tease each other, but as the two face more challenges - sometimes even apart (they get separated and Tal faces the Pit while Milla gets tossed into the Hall of Nightmares), they find ways to get back together and to help one another. I can't wait to see what happens next!

An amazing sequel to an amazing book.
The Seventh Tower #2, Castle , is set with an exciting plot that is sure to keep eyesy glued. Continued from a breathtaking ending of Book One, Tal and Milla struggle to the Castle. Tal still needs a Sunstone for his mother , and Milla needs a Sunstone for her family. For Milla, an Icecarl warrior, Tal is person she must trust in order for her to survive. For Tal, a Chosen, he knows that he must forge an alliance with Milla, but she is far stronger and violent then Tal. The two are different, but they must learn to trust one another no matter what. But it looks as if there are other people out for Tal and Milla. Who are these conspirers, and why are they doing what they are doing ?


Above the Veil
Published in Library Binding by Turtleback Books Distributed by Demco Media (2000)
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $11.24
Average review score:

Interesting Writing Style. . .
WOW! This is an amazing book. I've read all of the books in the series (actually, I've read them twice) and I really like the way the story stretched farther and farther, the characters changing drastically. I also found slight careless mistakes in this book-- Nix claimed that Milla's eyes were grey, while in the first book, they were green. Also, I felt this book was a change. For some readers, they might box their expectations by judging the characters, but Nix's other pieces show that he is capable of the amazing, so don't be surprised if the plot or characters swerve around drastically. In this book, Tal and Milla are still on the run from the maniacal Sushin, and encounter a rebel gang of underfolk. Milla feels the compelling urge to return to the ice--her characteristic flame slightly dimmed. But everything starts to fall into place in this book, paving the way for a possible ending that I believe will leave each reader breathless.

Gives you something to think about
I really like this book. The series certainly doesn't get boring and this book continues the epic very well. Above the Veil doesn't start off as slow as the other 3. This one starts off with Tal and Milla in the underfolk levels and from there they meet a rebelious underfolk group with less than 10 people in the "society". Not much later Milla heads home and Tal along with one of the rebellious underfolk head up the red tower to find and free the keeper so that Tal can free his father from the orange tower. Milla heads to the ice and finds herself with a surprise beyond everything she ever hoped for. I think that this book has set the stage for a lot of action for the following books ahead. I can't wait for the next ones.

I might die of exitement before the fifth book comes out!
In this book we discover what happened to Tal's father. So the intricate web of problems and mysteries is beginnig to come undone. But new ones arise.

After their escape into the underfolk levels Milla leaves to deliver her information and give herself to the ice. But her seeminly simple plan goes awry when she is forced to go into the tenth Rockvir breathing pattern, the last resort to keep yourself alive long enough to accomplish a task. But after having managed he first part of her mission she does not kill herself since the crones have a different plan for her. Meanwhile Tal and Crow are doing the very thing that began Tal's adventure. They are climbing the red tower. As Tal and Milla risk their lives to prevent it someone is trying to do something terrible to the veil.


Lirael
Published in Digital by PerfectBound ()
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $6.99
Average review score:

A Great Sequel
Sabriel was an awesome novel that left many readers hanging with questions and anticipation. The same can be said for Lirael. I was quite skeptical when it first came out because sequels usually aren't nearly as good as the first one. However, this wasn't the case. It took a while to get used to some new characters, and put the old ones on hold, but the story line was very gripping. Lirael doesn't answer all of the questions left from Sabriel, but it does introduce a new abhorsen and foes. It also creates the same chilling mood with more necromancers and greater dead. By the end I couldn't wait for the third and final novel to be released, which I'm sure will be just as good.

AN IMAGINATIVE TALE EXCITINGLY READ
He's menacing, he's mesmerizing - he's Tony Award nominee Tim Curry reading a fascinating sequel to "Sabriel" (1996).

Imaginative Australian author Garth Nix gives new zest to fantasy fiction with this return to the Old Kingdom. We focus on Lirael and who she is. Unaware of her parentage and abandoned by her mother, she is unlike any other clairvoyant living in the Clayr's Glacier. Moreover, she does not posses what should be her birthright, the Sight, the gift of being able to see into the present and future.

Nonetheless, it is on her young shoulders that the very existence of the Old Kingdom rests. There is much to oppose her, including an age old evil force. Lirael has little to help her save her own heart, courage, and the ever faithful Disreputable Dog.

Those hoping for a neatly packaged and happy ending will not find it. Instead the story concludes whetting appetites for more with hints that there is greater danger and adventure to come in Nix's third in this series, tentatively titled "Abhorsen."

- Gail Cooke


The Ragwitch
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Forge (1995)
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $3.99
Average review score:

It was ok
The book Ragwitch was okay, it was pretty typical. Because of the vivid descriptions of the evil creatures in the book, I gave it a 4, otherwise, it deserved a 3. Buy this book if you are just looking for a book to read. However, Garth Nix is not a bad writer. Other books by him are Shades's Children, The Seventh Tower,etc. Those are all great books. So just take a look at those books also.

Nix provides another escape from genre fantasy
Okay, okay, so it has the classic kids-get-pulled-into-magic-world-from-earth kind of beginning, but The Ragwitch is not your typical fantasy. While some fantasy authors tend to sound a bit like copyists of the greats-Tolkien, Lewis, Nesbit etc-Nix is obviously different. He and Philip Pullman come to mind as the cream of the recent fantasy writer crop. Each of Nix's worlds is totally unique, with new creatures that remind you of no one (Gwarulch, Angarling, Meepers and the title character for the Baddies, Rowan ladies, May Dancers, Elementals, and the Wise for the Goodies).

Nix's other great strength (along with originality) is plot weaving and this is true for the earlier Ragwitch almost as much as for Sabriel and Lirael. You are immediately engaged when the Ragwitch takes over the body of a girl from our world-Julia-and flees to her world, followed by chance by Paul, Julia's sister. Paul is taken in by the kindly people of the strange country who are desperately unprepared for war with the returning Ragwitch. They aid him as he searches for a way to save his sister, and action follows at every turn, as both Paul and also Julia (from within) battle to Ragwitch. There are no strong fighters to help Paul, no saviors for him. He must find his own way, and that it what makes the book and unique. Because Paul is no hero, his war is one of bravery and brains, not braun. Julia has her own story. Although she is more full of bravado than Paul and a sister spirit to Sabriel (and maybe the inspiration for her), her war is one of the mind, resisting the power of the Ragwitch from within the witch's very body.

From what I have said, the book might sound pretty boring: no epic battles, no clash of roaring powerful mages. If I can guarantee you one thing about this book, though, I can guarantee that this book does not lack action. There ARE battles, fights, and struggles, and they are ferocious and gripping. It is almost as much of a page turner as Sabriel and Lirael. Anyone who liked those books is bound to find the earlier Nix just as engaging. Read this book, and you'll be glad of it. I give it five stars for originality and the fact that I at least, was never bored.

Hansel and Gretel on steroids
Julia and her brother, Paul are two perfectly ordinary children who happen to discover a ragdoll in a midden heap. Julia is sucked up into the mind of the ragdoll who is really a powerful and evil witch. When Julia and the ragwitch disappear through a ring of fire, Paul bravely follows them. From then on, "Ragwitch" follows the ancient fairy-tale structure of children versus evil---a 'Hansel and Gretel' story where the witch actually devours one of the children. Garth Nix adds a ferocious edge to Paul and Julia's adventure. I never knew what was going to happen next.

Both children actively oppose the ragwitch, although Julia's situation is far more horrific. She is wired into the ragwitch's nervous system while the evil, old sorceress shambles from atrocity to atrocity.

(Actually, I grew fond of some of her minions, called the Stone Knights. If you've ever seen the movie, 'Monolith Monsters' you'll be able to figure how the Knights pounded into combat).

Once Paul is transferred to ragwitch's original world through the ring of fire, he suffers more than his share of perils, including a battle or two. He finally finds friends and sets out on a quest to locate each of the four Elementals, Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth. If he can talk a good line, they might help him defeat the ragwitch and her destructive minions.

This is my favorite part of 'Ragwitch.' The Elementals are not the usual clichéd characters found in other fantasies I could mention. The author expends lots of imagination on them---I was never certain whether Paul was going to succeed in his quest, or die trying.

It isn't every boy who gets to meet Mother Earth, while digging for potatoes.

I can't remember how I would have handled this horror-fantasy mixture when I was under the drinking age. The book certainly veers toward the gruesome edge of Young Adult fantasy ---think of it as 'Hansel and Gretel' on steroids.


Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction
Published in Hardcover by Firebird Books (2003)
Authors: Lloyd Alexander, Meredith Ann Pierce, Kara Dalkey, Nancy Farmer, Sharyn November, Elizabeth E. Wein, Diana Wynne Jones, and Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $13.99
List price: $19.99 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Grim Tuesday
Published in Paperback by Scholastic (2004)
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $5.99
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr
Published in Audio Cassette by Listening Library (2002)
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $53.00
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Los Calusari/the Calusari (Coleccion "Expediente X"/the X Files Series)
Published in Paperback by Everest De Ediciones Y Distribucion (1998)
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $7.95
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Serena and the Sea Serpent (Aussie Bites)
Published in Paperback by Penguin Books Australia Ltd ()
Authors: Garth Nix and Stephen Michael King
Amazon base price: $
Average review score:
No reviews found.

The Seventh Tower
Published in Library Binding by Turtleback Books Distributed by Demco Media (2000)
Author: Garth Nix
Amazon base price: $11.24
Used price: $9.99
Average review score:
No reviews found.

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