Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

An absolutely amazing addition to the lore of the Old Kingdom. I was delighted to get to know more about Sabriels parents and this actually prompted a re-read of the whole series and the details in T&E added so much depth and flavor to the stories.

I am always happy to return beyond The Wall and this book is no exception. Anyone who has read the Abbhorsen books will be happy with this prequel.

The Abhorsen series is my all-time favorite and I loved traveling back to Ancelstiere and the Old Kingdom to meet Sabriel's parents. Reading this book was like being enfolded in a hug or sinking into a warm bath - familiar and comforting.

This look into Sabriel's parents lives before she was born was as well-written, thoughtful, and full of action and adventure as all of the Old Kingdom books. Terciel and Elinor are great characters, and it was really interesting to see what aspects Sabriel has of them in her. Also very interesting to see the roots of one of the first evil entities and some of Mogget's backstory.

I enjoyed this book. It has been a while since I've read any of the Abhorsen books, so I was a little rusty, but there were enough references that I wasn't completely lost.

I don't even know how to categorize this book because it felt like GOT on the page without George R R Martin's sense writing.

Thank you for the advanced readers copy.

As per usual Garth has knocked it out of the park. After discovering Sabriel, I was so excited to read this ahead of the release - it did not disappoint. You have incredible character development, romance, action and a magic system I can’t get enough of. Additionally the twists in this book are the cherries on top. I have no faults with this book and will be telling everyone to buy it.

Garth Nix is back again and this time with a prequel to his first novel, Sabriel. Terciel & Elinor proves Nix' as one of the best authors of our time with a fun and enthralling story.

ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am so torn about my feelings of this book. Lirael is one of my all time favorite books that inspired me to become a librarian. After the last few Old Kingdom books I was not expecting a whole lot, but I was expecting just a little bit more. This feels more like a very lengthy tale that does not really go anywhere until the last third of the book. Even then, everything felt slow including the action. Despite all of this I did enjoy the book. I loved seeing Terciel as his own character especially his feelings knowing that his two children will somehow be important. I just wish we got more adventure and less talk about juggling.

This book was a bit strange to read as ultimately we know how these character's lives end. I read Sabriel about 20 years ago and I'll always read any book that returns to the Old Kingdom. It took forever for Terciel and Elinor's paths to cross in a significant way. They spend most of the book apart except for their brief initial meeting. The Kerrigor storyline was almost pointless in that there wasn't much development of that back story and we know who he is and how he is eventually defeated some 20+ years later in Sabriel's time. While I did enjoy it and getting back to the Old Kingdom, it took me a. long time to finish because I felt like I already knew where it was going and didn't feel the need to pick it up and find out what happens next.

This newest addition to the Old Kingdom series felt like reentering the world of the original Abhorsen trilogy. I love a good prequel-sequel and this book about Sabriel's parents was a great addition. My favorite parts of the series were always the ones that took place in Death, with the gates and the bells, but I enjoyed learning about how Mogget was with other Abhorsens before he was the sort of loving trickster Free Magic feline of Sabriel's time. It also felt like a book done in three parts, with Elinor at home and ignorant of the Charter; Elinor at a girls school trying to get north and learn Charter magic; and Elinor and Terciel on an epic world-saving quest.

This book made me want to go back and reread them all just to go back to the world of Charter magic.

This was a wonderful prequel to one of my favorite series ever so I am a little bias in my enjoyment of it. So of course as a fan, I loved this book. But I think this is a great book even if you are not a longtime fan.

As always, Nix's writing is lyrical and the world unique and magical. There would be a little confusing for new readings about this world that I think the first 3 books rectify. Some of the world-building is not as well defined as in the other books (like the whole deal with Abhorsens and the realms of Death). As we switch POV a lot, we are able to see the world from an outsider with Elinor, but even that is not enough as a new reader. I definitely recommend this book to be read after reading the other ones first.

There could be some work on the pacing with the lead-up a little slow and the climax all at once. I can see that how someone might think the same of the romance (which is not the main focus of the book), but I think where it lead was perfectly reasonable of young adults that like each other, have a stressful situation, and want to learn more about each other afterward.

The characters were strong with Elinor being a real favorite with her theater-loving self. I wish we could get more with her in it with her being awesome after the book. Terciel was the weaker of the two, but still well characterized. Terzinael on the other hand was interesting but I would be so frustrated to know her in real life. I wish Nix explored the was way Terzinael was not a good mentor to Terciel and neglected him. I wanted some confrontation with them.

Overall I enjoyed this book as a longtime fan. It is a great prequel filled with good characters and a magical world, though I would not recommend this book as a starting point for the series.

Returning to the Old Kingdom for story of Sabriel’s parents was lovely and nostalgic. Garth Nix’s stories are usually well-told. If you have not read Sabriel, I would read this and then Sabriel. It is still my favorite of Nix’s works.

This series clicks all the boxes for me: mystery, magic, devotion to duty at all costs, friendship, and love. This book was a delightful edition and introduced some early history to Sabriel's story. Even though it clocks in at over 500 pages, I didn't want it to end. Nix is a powerful storyteller and has created a world that can be loved by many. Some questions get answered and others get introduced in this prequel story. The path is opened to explore this timeline a little more in another book.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.

Sabriel has been one of my favorite books since one of my closest friends introduced me to the book when we were young. Since then, I’ve faithfully read (and reread) all of the additions to the Old Kingdom series. So hearing we were getting the story of Sabriel’s parents was seriously a dream come true.

All of that being said, you don’t need to have read the other books in the series to read this one! Terciel and Elinor is a great introductory point to this brilliant world. But, if you’re like me and grew up along Sabriel and Lirael, Terciel and Elinor feels like coming home. It’s at once comforting and entirely new, while seamlessly fitting in with the rest of the series. I also loved that we got more of a view into the Abhorsens and their history.

Anyway, I would highly recommend both this book and this series in general. It has one of the most original and unique magic systems (both magic and necromancy are common in one world!!), excellent characters, and a fantastic plot. Plus one of the books centers around a library.

While it definitely didn’t hit me with the same force and all-consuming obsession at this point in my life as Sabriel did back in…oh, 2007 or so, Terciel and Elinor was still a very lovely return to the Old Kingdom. Fans new to the series may very well find it as engrossing as the first installment of the series; Nix did a great job making the story and the world accessible to newcomers.

My few quibbles had to do with the slight head-hopping that happened whenever Terciel and Elinor were together and the POV shifts every single chapter when they were apart. I also felt like their relationship didn’t quite know what it wanted to be, and solidified a little more quickly than seemed smooth.

Like I said, quibbles. I really liked this and now just kind of want to reread the whole series.

I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley. I have strong emotional attachments to Sabriel, so Terciel & Elinor was a very bittersweet read for me. While it was wonderful to read a more humanized version of the enigmatic Abhorsen, if you've read the original series, then you know how Sabriel begins. I actually got about 40% of the way through the book before I couldn't stand it any longer, and skipped to the very end to figure out how Garth Nix was going to make this impossible plot work, and I'm still feeling unsure about it after properly finishing the book.
With that being said, I really loved this book. Elinor was such a fun character to read, and I got invested in her rather quickly. She could juggle, throw knives, and work magic; what's not to like? While Terciel was a bit less fully fleshed as a character than Elinor, it was still nice to see a younger, less self assured version of the almighty character we met in Sabriel. The two of them together are sweet, and I do wish that we got to spend more time developing their relationship. This is an action packed story, and I was completely drawn into it very quickly. While ultimately a bittersweet read, I'm glad I got to read it.

In the Old Kingdom, where the roam and the country disintegrates into chaos, Terciel serves his aunt as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, one of two necromancers whose purpose is to keep the dead in Death. Across the wall in nearby Ancelstierre, Elinor lives a life of boredom: pretending to be an actor or circus performer while her mother nears ever closer to death. But sometimes the wind comes down from the north, and strange things are brought in…and when two teenagers meet they will encounter danger and destiny unlike anything they had ever imagined.

A Catalogue of the Library of the Abhorsens Saving Those Too Secret to Mention and Sundry Others Excluded for Important Reasons.

I dunno. I really enjoyed this in terms of knowing more about the backstory of the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre, but was left wanting to know more about these two kingdoms instead of the brief glimpse I had through Elinor’s eyes (she who was cooped up in Coldhallow House knowing absolutely nothing about anything except how to act and put on plays…the fighting comes in handy though) and the briefest of glimpses through Terciel’s POV that is mainly the walk from Wall to House and then the house itself (always fascinating). And I enjoyed having more time spent in Abhorsen House, particularly with the Sendings because they have always fascinated me.

Elinor and Terciel meet briefly in the beginning, then are separated for the majority of the book until the end. Their chemistry is more thrust-together than not, although they do have an immediate attraction.

Overall, not too much happens over the course of 560 pages (if you’ve read Sabriel, you already know what happens to the Big Bad), and unlike the usual frantic chase scenes leading to a rough climax and quick finish I’ve gotten to expect from the Abhorsen series, this was more a slow build in establishing characters (particularly Elinor’s, Terciel was just kinda whiny and studying all the time), and really delving into the world of Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom, and laying down why Wyverly College, of all places.

But now, what I’d really like to see is an adult fantasy that is not adult-fantasy-pegged-as-YA-because-that’s-what-the-others-were about Terzinael and her life, because that sounds absolutely fascinating. Or the life of Mirelle, one of the Ranger Clayr.

Or I’d even love the years Terciel and Elinor had together before the birth of Sabriel. Because this story was long and yet not enough. But at least I got some glimpses of Mogget in all his petulant glory.

“That ring is a cruel and entirely unnecessary accessory to my already vile captivity,” said a voice from under the table. Moregrim’s voice. “The Abhorsen who made the rings was a greater monster than anything he ever sent back into Death.”

“Who was it?” asked Terciel.

“I can’t remember.”

TW: death, graphic murder

Garth Nix does such a wonderful job of including the perfect balance of dialogue and description. It’s wonderful to see the prologue to Sabriel and find out the origins of some characters that play a large part in the bigger story. Even knowing the fate of the characters from the beginning you still can feel happy for their successes.