Review by Evie Doyle of "Sabriel" by Garth Nix

Garth Nix is a talented and well-known author but his Old Kingdom series is definitely one of my favourites. Sabriel combines magic, adventure and death in a completely original way. The story follows Sabriel, a young necromancer who has spent her whole life outside the Old Kingdom, where free magic and death roam. On the disappearance of her father, however, Sabriel is forced to cross the Wall and embark on a quest to find him.

This book begins with a beautiful prologue which thrusts you into the Old Kingdom, inspiring so many questions about the realm that are not answered straight away, forcing you to turn that extra page before putting the book down. There are countless enchanting descriptions of the Old Kingdom and every explanation of its rules and features is written in a way that is neither tedious nor expository. 

The magic in this series takes on an entirely new form in the charter, an ordered power which has rules and limits. Formed of charter marks that can be spoken, whistled or drawn, your power is as great as your knowledge when delving into the unending sea of the charter. These rules ground the charter and the story as a whole as every action has a purpose and it means that not every problem is solved by magic. As well as the charter, the seven bells of a necromancer are unique and are wonderfully described. Their chilling properties add an even greater sense of danger to the plot and I cannot imagine the book without them. 

Sabriel’s characters are just as intriguing as its locations. The namesake of the book is instantly likeable, and charmingly realistic. She is mature and clever but made more interesting by her own desires. Her flaws only make her more compelling; I found myself hoping again and again that her confidence and knowledge would be enough to save her from the dangers that lie north of the Wall.

One of the other most intriguing characters within the book, interestingly enough, takes the form of a cat. Mogget is by far the biggest mystery in the book. A servant bound to serve the Abhorsen, a powerful necromancer, we know that Mogget is not to be trusted, and yet he proves to be a true companion to Sabriel. His quips and sarcastic nature making you forget the potentially bloodthirsty creature that is kept at bay by the collar round his neck.

I would seriously recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy, adventure and strong female role models who can do amazing feats of magic.


About the reviewer
Evie Doyle is currently studying Psychology, Biology and Performing Arts at Charnwood College. She is an avid reader in her spare time as well as a scout and guide. She is also part of an amateur theatre group.

Interview with Katherine Hetzel

Katherine Hetzel has been an egg-pickler, weigher-outer of pic ’n’mix sweets, bacon-and-cheese-slicer, a pharmaceutical microbiologist (the serious job choice), a mum, a learning assistant, and a volunteer librarian at a primary school. She’s a published author who writes fiction for children (StarMark and Kingstone with Dragonfeather Books, Granny Rainbow and More Granny Rainbow with Panda Eyes) and visits schools to share her love of creative writing. She also writes short stories for adults, and blogs about life and writing at Squidge’s Scribbles, http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk 

Interviewed by Evie Doyle

ED: Where did the idea for Kingstone start?

KH:  It started with a challenge at our writer's group - find a picture you like, and write something inspired by it. I ended up with a picture of a woman whose skin was covered in square patterns. I had it in my head she was a priestess and wrote 'Puzzle Piece.' In that piece of flash, the priestess was going to 'read the destiny' of a girl deemed unworthy by her parents. That little nugget grew and filled out ... and I decided I wanted to write a novel that explored faith. I had wanted to write a novel that explored faith for some time, but had a couple of failed attempts before Katia jumped out at me and demanded for her story to be told! As a Christian, I try to live by a certain 'code,' but I'm all too aware that I often fall short and question what I believe. That sort of grew into an idea for a story where, if you were forced to do 'wrong' things for the sake of your faith, how would that turn out? What would happen if you had to lie or steal to protect something you really believed in? The Triple Gods and belief system of Katia's world in Kingstone became something which reflected some of my own beliefs and experiences. 

ED: Where did the idea come from for the gods to be of sun, moon and mountain? Sun and moon are common deities, but 'mountain' less so. 

KH: I needed three gods to reflect the Trinity with which I'm familiar. Sun and moon, like you say, seemed obvious ones to pick and didn't need too much thinking about! But I needed something to anchor them. My first attempt was sun, moon, earth, but as I played around with the earth bit, I had the idea of earth reaching towards the sun and moon, and bingo - mountain. It sounds good when you say it - as Katia would have had to in the temple. There's a rhythm to the words and the images lend themselves very well to both a recognisable faith symbol and hand gesture. I have great fun making it all up! 

ED: How in-depth is the lore behind the story? Are there myths and procedures within the temple that didn't appear in the book? 

KH: I tend to write character-driven stories, so write to infuse my books with enough detail to let the reader know the important things about the world the characters inhabit - in this case, Katia's home, her desires, and the impact they have on her. It's a fine balance, trying to make a fantasy world believable without overwhelming the reader with so much that's different to their experience, they get lost. Having said that, I'm sure there are lots more myths and procedures I could've written ... it's only really limited by my imagination! There are lots of scribbled ideas in my handwritten notes which play around with the temple procedures and outlines of myths, but not all of them made the cut, as they say. 

ED: How long did it take you to write Kingstone?

KH: This is the only book I can tell you exactly! An author friend (the lovely Amanda Berriman) had begun a writing chart, where she challenged herself to write every day for a year. I'm not a very disciplined writer - I don't have set times to work - but I thought I'd give it a go. I set myself the target of 100 days. I didn't write every day, and not always on Kingstone, but I had a first handwritten draft after 74 days. It took another 65 to edit and type up before I showed it to anyone. Those writing days were spread over a good six month period, and after that, there was more work to do before I was happy enough to send it to Bedazzled Ink. I think I was relatively lucky in that the idea had been in my head for some time and when I started to write, it came fairly easily. Other novels have taken much, much longer. 

ED: Both Kingstone and Starmark could be described as fantasy novels. What is it about fantasy that you enjoy writing?

KH: As a reader, I've always loved losing myself in different worlds (my favourite has got to be Discworld), so I suppose it was natural I'd end up writing fantasy myself. I like the fact that you can shape the world how you want it to be, and stretch the muscles of imagination of both myself as a writer and of the end readers. I've tried to write stories about 'the real world,' and somehow they never feel as real as what I create in my head. Perhaps I just have a desire to escape 'real' life and lose myself for a while. 

ED: Is Kingstone inspired by any specific period in history?

KH: Not consciously. I suppose it might be that I tend to a more olde-worlde (definitely pre-tech) setting because it can help highlight the differences between what we experience nowadays and the life my characters live in my imagination. I do look to past history for inspiration for certain scenes and settings, but I don't replicate them exactly; I'd be worried about getting the details right!

ED: What age range is Kingstone directed at? And why that age range?

KH: It's aimed at middle grade readers, or 9-12 years according to the way the publishing industry likes to label books. I prefer to write for children because they are still able to let their imaginations fly and ready to believe the worlds you present them with, but my main motivation in writing for children is to try to encourage a love of reading from an early age. Having said that, I think adults also enjoy reading children's books because of the escapism they offer; so long as the books I write are read and enjoyed, I don't really mind how old the reader is.

ED: For a while, I didn't think we'd get to see the triple gods. Why did you decide to have them appear?

KH: I wasn't sure myself, until I reached that point in the novel! For many who believe in God or other deity, there is often a personal encounter which impacts on their faith, which serves to strengthen their belief. It felt right for Katia to have that kind of encounter for herself, at a point when she's at her lowest and believes that she isn't worthy of the gods she worships - and to see how that affected her. What was more fun was making them appear for others.

ED: And finally, have you got anything I can look forward to reading next?

KH: Well, I signed a contract earlier this month with Bedazzled Ink for publication of The Mage of Merjan, the first in what I hope will be a series of five fantasy adventure novels collectively called The Chronicles of Issraya. I don't have a publication date yet, but I would imagine it'll be out sometime next year. (It usually takes up to eighteen months from signing a contract to getting the book 'out there'). I'm writing up No 2 in the series at the moment, working title The Black Diamond. The stories focus on a young girl called Tilda as she learns to use the Power of Issraya and helps to protect it - and the people of Issraya who depend on it - from those who would steal it for their own dark ends. So fingers crossed, there's lots more for you to look forward to - providing I can get them written reasonably quickly.

About the interviewer

Evie Doyle is currently studying Psychology, Biology and Performing Arts at Charnwood College. She is an avid reader in her spare time as well as a scout and guide. She is also part of an amateur theatre group.

Review by Evie Doyle of "Kingstone" by Katherine Hetzel

Katherine Hetzel's second novel Kingstone introduces us to a world in which the triple gods reign supreme, where temples lie in every corner and where a devious plot is hatching. From the very first page, Hetzel's descriptions of Indigon will draw you into a world of fantasy, treachery and adventure. 

The hero of this story is Katia, a simple temple novice who is struggling to learn the arts and nuances of religion. Katia is written is such a way that makes it impossible not to feel sympathetic for her. Her ambition and determination make her a compelling character, despite her flaws. Perhaps it is those flaws, in fact, that make Katia such a well rounded character. Even while disguised as a boy, Katia wheedles her way into your heart, so that by the climax you are left on the edge of your seat, heart pounding and praying that she will survive.

This novel is most definitely a page turner; each moment is filled with action or suspense, and the story never loses speed or tension. From the moment Katia finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time - or perhaps it is the right place at the right time - her faith guides her to take the Kingstone and run. We see her moral struggle as she breaks rules and laws to get the stone to its final destination: Eraton and the prince. The story has essentially a religious plot line, Katia's desire to work in the temple and her faith being the main driving forces behind the story.

There are so many intriguing characters, minor characters and antagonists included. I wanted to know more about all of them. Katherine is a splendid writer who kept me interested through the entire book and still managed to shock me with the ending. This book is definitely worth a read.

About the reviewer
Evie Doyle is currently studying Psychology, Biology and Performing Arts at Charnwood College. She is an avid reader in her spare time as well as a scout and guide. She is also part of an amateur theatre group.

Review by Evie Doyle of "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire

Every child knows the wonderful story of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: a light-hearted children’s tale of a wicked witch and a pair of magical shoes. Gregory Maguire took this world and twisted it into something new, dark and political. In Wicked Maguire built a world where talking animals, dwarves and magic are real; but the world he envisioned involves issues of race, class and a corrupted dictator. He creates a sense of an entirely original world that has its own dialect, quirks, charms and hidden secrets. The story of Elphaba Thropp will leave you unsettled, but intrigued to the last page.

Born with unnaturally green skin, Elphaba faces discrimination from the beginning, though perhaps this is what makes her such an intriguing character. Sarcastic, witty and cynical, Maguire writes her as a protagonist you cannot help but root for. The main secondary character is Glinda, Elphaba’s roommate due to an unfortunate accident. She is pompous and childish, which is what makes her development throughout the book even more satisfying. Over the many years that the book takes place, not only do we see the growth of their relationships and the growth of all the characters within the book, but we are introduced to the mystery of the Wizard, a dictator who has begun dark workings reminiscent of Nazism. 

The issue of racism is the main dilemma within the book, seen not only with the segregation of Animals but with the Vinkus and Quadlings as well. It is the motivation behind many of Elphaba’s actions and sets a wondrously dark theme to the whole story. The religious undertones, though not essential to the plot, help create a realistic world, for in a world where there is magic wouldn’t there be a great controversy about religion? I personally was captivated by the religions Maguire has created, and can only attribute this to his skill in writing something unique but relatable.

Inspired by the likes of Orwell and C.S. Lewis, Maguire has been unafraid of broaching subjects that shroud the story in a sinister mystery: death, discrimination and torture, awaiting young Miss Elphaba around every corner. As mysteries unfold and the intent of the Wizard comes to light, we witness the formation of his private army, and Elphaba living underground. Maguire amps up the tension in this final section as we wonder whether Elphaba will survive.  

This novel, though quite long, is an intriguing read that introduces a completely new take on the Land of Oz. Filled with tragedy and suspense it does not fail to create empathy for a whole host of characters, including multiple animals and Miss Elphaba Thropp from start to finish. Perhaps this novel's greatest asset is, as I’ve mentioned before, the unique nature of the world it presents: dark though it is, it draws one in and I for one will remember it for a long time to come.


About the reviewer
Evie Doyle is currently studying Psychology, Biology and Performing Arts at Charnwood College. She is an avid reader in her spare time as well as a scout and guide. She is also part of an amateur theatre group.