Abhorsen

by Garth Nix

Info

Date Finished: 4/4/2026

First Sentence: Fog rose from the river, great billows of white weaving into the soot and smoke of the city Corvere, to become the hybrid that thing the more popular newspapers called “smog” and the Times “miasma fog.”

Last Sentence: Then she wandered off, following the zigzag path along the border between Life and Death, her tail wagging so hard, the tip of it beat the river into a froth behind her.

Companion Album:

New Cover

A book cover for "Abhorsen" by Garth Nix on a textured dark blue background. In the center, a hand-drawn sketch with a warm golden glow depicts a young woman with glasses holding a sword and a bell, standing beside a dark, sketchy dog. The text "garth nix" is at the top, and "abhorsen" is written at the bottom in a large, stylized medieval font, subtitled "sequel to sabriel and lirael."

A Few Thoughts

Upon finishing Abhorsen, I feel even more strongly that I should've read this series as a teenager. Nix has this way of balancing topics like death and impermanence with whimsy and wonder. It entranced me today as it would have back then. But now that I'm more well-read, I notice the flaws. The pacing, like with Lirael, is a tad off.

The Big Bad Guy is paint-by-numbers, which is frustrating because we have a better villain right there in Hedge. I think Nix bit off a little more than he could chew and had to wrap things up, no matter how messy.

That said, there are some fantastic characters and some really fun payoffs with Mogget, Sam, and even Nicholas. The Disreputable Dog and Lirael have entered my own personal pantheon of favorite duos in fiction. I'm honestly going to miss following those two around on their adventures.

One thought on the series as a whole: the best part was the first half of Lirael. Growing up with her and The Disreputable Dog as she learns who she is and what she's capable of.

Not much of that in this book, but the finale captures some of the same energy of Lirael and The Disreputable Dog cautiously and bravely exploring the unknown together one last time. I hope I capture that energy in my covers. Read these books if you haven't. And give 'em a reread if you have.

Related:

Lirael

Cover Notes

I shot myself in the foot with the Lirael cover! I found it very difficult to recapture that illustration style and energy, and I ended up hitting my time limit for these covers, so I just wrapped it up. Again, this is me trying to copy Tommy Brenthall's style a bit.