Garth Nix

Garth Nix is a best selling fantasy author from Australia. He currently has two series of books in print: The Keys to the Kingdom is a 7 part series featuring books with the days of the week in the title (eg. Mister Monday, Drowned Wednesday); the other series is The Old Kingdom series. This series began as a trilogy: Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen, but there is now a follow up novella, The Creature in the Case, which was published for World Book Day in Great Britain this March. This short story takes place six months after the end of Abhorsen and concentrates on Nicholas Sayre, who was a secondary character in that book.

Nicholas is still recovering from the injuries he received at the end of Abhorsen, but after several months spent rather idly in Ancelstierre, he is very keen to return north to the Old Kingdom. His uncle, who is a politician in the Ancelstierrian government offers him a way to get what he wants, but first he has to attend a country house party. Nicholas thinks will be an easy way to achieve his goal, but then he discovers that there is a dormant Free Magic creature in the basement far under Dorrance Hall. The owner of the house is in thrall to the creature and seeks to free it by means of Nicholas' blood, for although Nicholas was born an Ancelstierrian, he became a citizen of the Old Kingdom as a result of the events in Abhorsen. The creature in the case needs the blood of someone imbued with the Charter Magic that protects the Old Kingdom in order to be reanimated, but there is something different about Nicholas' blood and the creature runs out of the control of Dorrance. Nicholas feels impelled by guilt at his association with a far stronger Free Magic creature, to try to prevent the creature from reaching the Old Kingdom, and this 100+ page novella is a fast-paced race across Ancelstierre to the border with the Old Kingdom, where Nicholas hopes to overcome the creature.

Charter Magic and Free Magic are inimical to each other - the Charter of the Old Kingdom names, describes and contains everything within the Old Kingdom. Charter Magic is available to those who, by birth or baptism (or both), are Charter Mages, although wielding this magic (as with any magic) is risky, even to the trained user. Free Magic, on the hand, uses different powers, which are not described or contained the Charter, and all necromancers, except for the Abhorsens, are Free Magic sorcerers. The Abhorsens are the only Charter Mages who can also use Free Magic, but they must use it carefully and resist the lure of its power. Sabriel, the eponymous heroine of the first Old Kingdom book is an Abhorsen and she uses Charter Magic and necromancy to protect the Old Kingdom. An Abhorsen is equipped with a set of seven bells which they use to fight the Dead who are always ready to attempt to invade the Old Kingdom. Lirael, the eponymous heroine of the second book discovers she is both an Abhorsen in Waiting, and a Remembrancer - someone who can go into the past with the aid of certain magical artefacts and can recall the past to those who need its knowledge.

I highly recommend this series - the stories are gripping and the characters are very believable, and both Sabriel and Lirael are strong, heroic young women. American readers will find The Creature in the Case included in Garth Nix's short story collection Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories.