Review: Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix

Guys, I cannot tell you my excitement when I found out that there was going to be another book in the Old Kingdom series coming out, this series is one of my favourite and I just knew that I'd have to read it, luckily Hot Key accepted me for an e-ARC and I just flew through it! (If you're interested the link to my Sabriel review can be found HERE)

Here's the book:

In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen year-old orphan Terciel is learning the art of necromancy - but not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, 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, feared by all despite her sickness and impending death . . .

Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel to Ancelstierre. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself set on a path which 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.

So, if you're new to this series I will say you can start here if you would like, as it is a prequel to the original series starter, Sabriel. It is a mixed story of the younger lives of both her mother and father, which I found really interesting. You never hear much at all about Sabriel's mother in the first book, and you would have only known small amounts about her father, the previous Abhorsen, before this book came out. However, I would suggest reading the other books first purely because you meet a few of the characters from the other books - my particular favourite was Mirelle who you meet in the book Lirael.

Elinor was my favourite character in this, mainly because we got to learn a bit more about her history and it mixed in a lot with the Clayr, who are some of my favourite characters in Lirael (but I may be biased as Lirael is my favourite character of this series overall). We also got to see her come into her own as she learns about the Charter and how to use her Charter marks. I found this particularly fascinating as we had never really learnt too much about the Charter and how it is taught, but in this book you get to see the bare bones and how one would learn if they were just starting their tuition. I've always quite liked learning about the particulars of magic in different books, so getting into how you would learn the Charter magic was really exciting for me.

That is not to say I didn't like Terciel - seeing into his life prior to Sabriel was definitely exciting, and it was because of him we also got to see a bit more of Mogget (fans like me returning to the old kingdom will surely love to see the return of him) as well as how he became an Abhorsen. It's also very interesting to see his and Elinor's relationship develop through the book, and you really start to understand how his ideas changed on their relationship as you went through.

I could write for hours on this, but I'll keep it short, this is yet another great story from Garth Nix, and it is always a pleasure to return to the Old Kingdom when he brings out a new book. I don't think this review has given it nearly enough praise, but I tried to put my thoughts into words as best I could. Here's hoping there will be many more stories from the Old Kingdom to come, I'd love to see more development from so many of the other characters you see in the rest of the series too!

I give this book: 5 cats!

Terciel and Elinor is out today, and you should definitely go and pick up a copy, and whilst you're there get the rest of the series too!

Comment below and tell me if you have a favourite in the series.