#Review - Terciel and Elinor (The Old Kingdom #6) by Garth Nix #Fantasy

Series: The Old Kingdom # 6, Abhorsen # 6
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Release Date: November 2, 2021
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Epic

A quarter of a century after the series began, bestselling novelist Garth Nix returns to the Old Kingdom for the never-before-told love story of Sabriel’s parents, Terciel and Elinor, and the Charter and Free Magic that define their world. A long-awaited prequel to a classic fantasy series.

In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen-year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. But not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life.

Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, nineteen-year-old Elinor lives a secluded life. Her only friends an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. Her mother is a tyrant who is feared by all despite her sickness and impending death . . . but perhaps there is even more to fear from that.

Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, nor that magic can sometimes come across the Wall, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel and Tizanael to Ancelstierre. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself set on a path that will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciel’s life, and will embroil her in the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead who will not stay dead.

 

A quarter of a century after the series began, bestselling novelist Garth Nix returns to the Old Kingdom for the never-before-told love story of Sabriel’s parents, Terciel and Elinor, and the Charter and Free Magic that define their world. A long-awaited prequel to a classic fantasy series. The story actually alternates between Terciel and Elinor so take notes!

Terciel and Elinor is being sold as the Sixth installment in author Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series, as well as the Sixth installment in the authors Abhorsen series. Because this is a prequel to the series, one does not have to have read the rest of the series in order to enjoy this story. As the author said, he couldn't leave well enough alone since Sabriel left many unanswered questions as to what happened to her mother, and the fact that her father also has another daughter.

In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen-year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. He is not given any choice in the matter, and this comes to define his character. Terciel is a somewhat reluctant Abhorsen-In-Waiting who laments his lack of choice, lack of training, and lack of time before being forced to assume the terrible responsibilities of the Abhorsen. 

His companion is a sort of shifter named Moregrim who appears as a cat. While he accepts his fate and his duty, he is determined to balance his work with the Dead with connections and relationships to the Living. But not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life. 

Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, nineteen-year-old Elinor lives a secluded life. Her father died 8 years ago. Her only friends an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. Her mother is a tyrant who is feared by all despite her sickness and impending death but perhaps there is even more to fear from that. Elinor grew up not knowing that the scar on her forehead was a Charter mark or even what that would be.  

Elinor knows absolutely nothing about the Old Kingdom, the Charter, or the Dead, or the levels of Death. She was blessed with a Charter mark by her grandmother, Myrien of the Clayr, but her mother wanted nothing to do with magic and kept its true nature from her. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself set on a path that will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciel’s life, and will embroil her in the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead who will not stay dead.    

Elinor learns that she's descended from one of the Clayr, who are able to glimpse the future, and goes to Wyverly College to try to learn Charter magic from a teacher there. Elinor is a talented performer, having been taught juggling, knife throwing, and acrobatics by a family servant, and her passion for theater is charming. She is a likeable mix of competent yet naïve. Her employment at Wyverly College is a mixture of one professor hating her, to training with magic students, to being attacked by the villain of the stories puppet, to being rescued by a Clayr and flown by paperwing over the wall to the Abhorsen's home. 

If you've read Sabriel, then you've already met the villain of the story in Kerrigor. The book is not a romance per se, as the two titular characters meet briefly in the beginning, experience a sort of “insta-love” and then interact again much later in the book. The main focus of this story is the development of the two characters separate from one another. It is fair to say that no, I have not read Sabriel but I did read Clariel thanks to the folks at Epic Reads, and I do have Goldenhand on my Kindle that I may get to eventually. Should I go back to the beginning and attempt to read Sabriel? We'll see. 

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Book Despository