Sabriel

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Sabriel is a fantasy novel by Garth Nix, first published in 1995. It’s the first book in The Old Kingdom series. The story takes place in two neighboring lands: Ancelstierre, which is like early 20th‑century technology, and the Old Kingdom, where two kinds of magic exist—Charter Magic (good) and Free Magic (evil). The world is protected by the Abhorsen, a necromancer who uses a belt of seven bells and a sword to lay the dead to rest. Sabriel, the daughter of the current Abhorsen, is at a girls’ school in Ancelstierre when her father’s spirit speaks to her through an undead messenger and asks her to return to the Old Kingdom to take up the Abhorsen’s role.

Sabriel crosses the Wall to reach the Abhorsen’s House and begins her training in the arts of death. She is joined by Mogget, a talking Free Magic cat bound to serve the Abhorsen. A dangerous foe named Kerrigor, a powerful necromancer, is trying to break Charter magic. Sabriel travels with Mogget, meets a mysterious ally named Touchstone, and makes her way to Belisaere to free her father from Death. She learns Kerrigor’s plan and fights to stop him, using the Abhorsen’s bells and the help of her father’s guidance.

In the end, Sabriel defeats Kerrigor by binding him and Mogget, but she dies and is brought back to life by her bloodline’s power. The book explains the larger history of the Old Kingdom, including the three great magical families—the Abhorsen, the Royal Family, and the Clayr—and the powerful artifacts called the Charter Stones that keep the world in balance. Sabriel begins her life as the new Abhorsen, ready to defend the boundary between Life and Death, and the story continues in the rest of the series.