Finished reading Sabriel the other day, and since then I’ve been trying to figure out what to say about it. It’s definitely not what I expected. Not that unexpected is bad, but the story defies easy summaries. Every time I try to line up the words to say, “It’s about. . . ” it seems too many words have gone on vacation, leaving me unable to adequately explain anything.

It’s a good story; the pacing is a bit stately, an interesting choice for something so caught up in Life and Death. Definitely one of the more interesting fictional worlds I’ve encountered. I’m recommendingSabriel to anyone who enjoyed Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Both have amazingly realized alternate realities that sometimes put Reality to shame, worlds in which animals talk and the salvation of everything is in the hands of a child making difficult choices.