Clariel is a prequel set very far in the past of Sabriel's world. Clariel, granddaughter to the Abhorsen and cousin to the king, is brought by her parents to the city Belisaere. Once there, she finds herself the unwilling center of a conspiracy to usurp the monarchy.
I'll say this straight up. Before I read this, I was concerned that this would be a retread of Sabriel or Lirael.
It's not. It's really not.
There are definitely similarities to the other books, but only enough to give you that familiar taste while building a completely different situation. Like Lirael, it could be seen as a variation on Sabriel's journey, but where Lirael asks 'what if I have a dream that I might not be capable of fulfilling?' this one asks 'what if I am prevented from fulfilling my dream?' It's a biting rejoinder against every call to adventure that summoned unwilling farm boys away from home.
The main character Clariel shares some characteristics with the characters Sabriel and Lirael. All are teenage girls with very strong ideas about who they want to be. They all have remarkably good sense for teen heroines - when confronted with a charming young assassin, Clariel doesn't upgrade him to love interest, finding his overtures genuinely threatening - and none of them are afraid to go after what they want. However, there's a restrained anger and frustration within Clariel that was lacking in her cohorts, swirling dangerously beneath the surface. While Sabriel tended to be very collected under pressure and Lirael relied more on guile and stealth, Clariel really just wants to break a chair and beat her enemies' heads in with it.
On my second read-through, I was actually kind wishing she'd gone and done it. Because this time I knew what was coming, and I could see how literally everyone else in the book had contributed to create an impossible situation. I won't spoil the ending, but like the best tragedies, there were so many moments that could have avoided an awful outcome. On the surface, it's a relatively happy ending but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the undead didn't lose. They just suffered a setback, and arguably achieved something more than worth the inconvenience. And all it would have taken was just one person had listening to Clariel instead of focusing on their own goals.
The cultural building was interesting, because you get to see a relatively prosperous era in the Old Kingdom, prior to the crapsack world of Sabriel's time. The character Clariel, as a newcomer, offered great insight into the idiosyncrasies of the culture and people. I liked as well that her resistance wasn't her offering up a token protest at being forced to do girlish things; she was genuinely uncomfortable, and every attempt to force her to fit in grated like a square peg being forced into a round hole.
All up, Clariel is a great contribution to the Sabriel world. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it's exactly what I needed. I ordered my copy from Booktopia (see link above), but it's also available at most bookstores in the teen section, online from Book Depository, and can be ordered electronically from Amazon,
