Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Starred Review Nix's fans have long awaited more Old Kingdom tales, and this stand-alone prequel, taking place 600 years before Sabriel's birth, recounts the poignant origin story of sorcerer and necromancer Chlorr of the Mask. Strong-willed, solitary Clariel wishes only to live in the Great Forest as one of its wardens, but her parents move them to the capital of Belisaere when her mother is invited into the Goldsmiths' High Guild. Clariel is ill suited to city life, where she must attend finishing school and study tedious Charter magic as the Abhorsen's granddaughter. But it's the prospect of an arranged marriage to the cruel governor's son that fuels her desperation. When a dangerous Free Magic creature is released into the city rt of the governor's plan to depose the king ariel sees a way out, though she may lose herself in the escape. Clariel is a deeply sympathetic character faced with complicated choices, the consequences of which are frighteningly uncertain as she is pulled between the wild Free Magic and the disciplined Charter. Nix's intricate world building reveals more Old Kingdom history and its ever-shifting alliance between the political and magical. Themes of freedom and destiny underpin Clariel's harrowing, bittersweet story, and readers will delight in the telling (and in fan favorite Mogget's return).

School Library Journal Starred Review (Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Gr 7 Up-Over a decade has passed since Nix's last Old Kingdom novel, Abhorsen (HarperCollins, 2003 ) , but he has lost none of his skill in depicting this fantasy realm. Nix sets Clariel 600 years before his other Old Kingdom novels, in a time when the king is old and weary and the current Abhorsen prefers to hunt game rather than Free Magic creatures and necromancers. Clariel is a young woman who is close kin to both the King and the Abhorsen but with little knowledge of either. She has reluctantly come to the capital city of Belisaere with her mother, Jaciel, who has been declared a High Goldsmith. Clariel would prefer to roam free amongst the forest near her childhood home of Estwael and seeks any way to escape the odious city with its lifeless streets and political squabbles. Clariel's instructor in Charter Magic, Magister Kargrin, promises his help to leave the city in return for her aid in capturing a Free Magic creature that he believes is in league with Governor Kilp. Little does she realize the effect that the touch of the creature will have on her or the depths to which Kilp will stoop to assuage his ambition. Nix pens a compelling character in Clariel while his skill in rendering both politics and magic is strong. This excellent work can be enjoyed independently of the other Old Kingdom novels, but will certainly draw readers to those works.— Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

Six centuries before the events of Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen, seventeen-year-old Clariel wants nothing more than to live in the Great Forest--until her parents are murdered. This prequel is a tonal departure; Clariel is both less likable and less noble-minded than Nix's other heroic protagonists. But series fans will treasure this long-awaited opportunity to return to a much-loved world, built with originality and richness.