To be published 02/11/2021…
Having grown up in isolation in her family’s slowly failing manor house Elinor does not have much experience of the world; until an undead tragedy thrusts her out into it and she finds that she may be destined to be one of the world’s key players after all.
Plucked from the workhouse by an unknown and distant relative, Terciel is bought up in the thick of luxury and danger. His destiny is to be the Abhorsen, the one who makes sure the dead stay dead, but he is determined that there is still more to life than the bells and the dead and the Abhorsen’s house.
When their paths cross, Elinor begins to see the truth of their destinies as visions in water. Will she embrace her destiny or run from it?
Elinor is the perfect combination of fun and serious which you can clearly see as having been influenced by her two main childhood supporters, Ham and Mrs Watkins. The evidence of this influence adds a touch of realism and heart to her character. In comparison Terciel, influenced by his hard childhood and kind but aloof guardian, combines experience and youth in an unexpected but effective way. The depth that this creates in their characters allows them to stand out beyond the already spectacularly rendered accompanying cast that surrounds them.
The extensively and expertly crafted magical elements in this books are described in just enough detail to provide an understanding of the scene without weighing the text down with too much exposition. Although I had already read the other books in the series and so cannot comment with infallible certainty that the world and magic could be fully understood if you were reading it as a stand-alone book. In any case I would recommend reading the others first as the foreknowledge of later events really adds an extra element of intrigue throughout the narrative. For those who have read the rest of the series I will mention Hedge, Kerrigor and Sabriel’s mother as enticing nuggets to draw you in.
Escape to the Bookshelf 