Having discussed the importance of Australian children's writers in my last post, I realise that I have not yet actually written up here any of the recent books by the key fantasy author Garth Nix. This omission needs to be rectified as he is not only a wonderful writer in his own right but also a key influence on the fantasy genre itself. So much so that, if his YA novels seem somewhat familiar in approach and style, it must be remembered that it is he who set a trend since followed by others and not the other way around. Garth Nix is very much an originator and not an imitator.
Of course the start of what is almost certainly his most important work, the Old Kingdom trilogy (sometimes called the Abhorsen trilogy), is now some twenty years old, with Sabriel, its initial volume published in 1995. The two sequels, Lirael and Abhorsen followed in the early Noughties and this original sequence lies on the cusp of the C21 achievements I have set out to discover. In fact it is broadly contemporary in genesis with much of Harry Potter and can, in many ways, be considered the YA equivalent of that children's blockbuster in terms of its seminal significance.
However Garth Nix has far more recently produced a further substantial addition to the Old Kingdom sequence, Clariel, 2014, and this certainly qualifies as a gem amongst my recent reading. It is not only a hugely worthwhile extension of his earlier creation, but also a truly great work of fantasy fiction in its own right.
Clariel is actually a prequel to the earlier trilogy. It is set fully within the Old Kingdom, but about six hundred years before the birth of Sabriel. However there is much about her world as reimagined here that is immediately recognisable. For previous readers of the Abhorsen sequence it comes as a thrill to learn some of the history that shaped the society they already know. However it's nature as a prequel means that Clariel can also serve as a perfectly valid introduction to the Old Kingdom books, albeit without providing that same sense of illumination that it will for those already familiar with subsequent events. New readers have so much yet to discover. Whilst it is almost impossible to imagine that they will not want to go back, or perhaps rather go on, to the earlier books, Clariel does in fact also constitute a totally viable stand alone fantasy. Whichever way it is approached it is a very rich and rewarding read indeed.
In many ways Clariel epitomises what Garth Nix has achieved so fully in creating and defining high fantasy for a YA readership, even whilst it is also a shocking departure from the expected.
The first thing that this author does, and does supremely well, is to create an imagined world of extraordinary richness and detail. It is essentially a classic high fantasy world, a complex society with a broadly mediaeval feel: a highly stratified society of kings and lords, of hierarchical and powerful guilds, of downtrodden impoverished masses, but also of magic and powerful mages, of demons and monsters and of a wilder, older magic too. But these are no glib stereotypes. Everything is imagined and conveyed with rich and compelling complexity, glued together with its own convincing logic and described in vivid and telling detail. Just as tellingly conveyed is the vast topography of a whole world. In Clariel this is at its height in the creation and description of the principal city of the Old Kingdom, where streets, markets, hovels, towers and palaces all exist with staggering, often mesmerising presence. Similarly conjured for the reader are the varied landscapes of the countyside and the more rural Abhorsen House where Clariel finds herself later in the story. Garth Nix peoples this world with a staggeringly large array of beautifully drawn characters. And all of this is managed with a masterly skill which makes even his descriptive writing compelling, and fully integrated into some of the best and most enthralling storytelling I have encountered in a long time. The result of all this is a world and a book which is totally and completely involving; one which provides what I always think of as 'the Tolkein factor', a substantial immersive experience where the reader can vicariously live in a completely fantastical world which is magically imbued with a totally compelling reality.
However the key thing which Garth Nix began to do twenty years ago, so pioneering this particular genre of YA fantasy, was to place totally convincing teenage protagonists within this wonderfully rich and complex world; to tell stories which resonated emotionally with his young readership whilst still sitting with total credibility within their fantasy setting. In fact this setting created a very special context, where issues and feelings pertinent to his readers could be worked out at a 'safe' remove; allowing the process of growing towards adulthood to be explored vicariously; permitting hopes and fantasies to be pursued, perhaps even fulfilled, in a viscerally exciting way,whilst still protected from their actual consequences. This is something which he again achieves superbly in Clariel, but with the addition of further dimensions and subtleties.
Clariel is again primarily for a YA audience, although it undoubtedly also comes into the category which will enthrall and delight many adult readers too. It contains scattered sexually references, although these are very mild and never explicit. However what makes it ideally suited for YA readers is the fact that Clariel and her story are most skillful conceived to engender close identification from this particular audience. She lives fully in the world of the Old Kingdom, yet her issues are those of so many adolescents. Although aware that she is growing up, and in many ways wanting to do so, Clariel is not fully ready to enter into the 'adult' and demanding social and political world. She is on the verge of rebelling against her parents' wishes to fit her into this society and dreams instead of a future life away from other people, in the forest where she has spent an idyllic childhood. She also has a propensity towards violent outburst of anger, which she realises she must learn to master, but has not yet learned to control. Even though placed here in the context of raw magical power, this is a dilemma with which many young readers will be able to identify. Clariel is quite beautifully brought to virtual life by Garth Nix and soon engenders the reader's fully involvement with her story. We think and feel with her every moment; we share the confusion of her dilemmas and the naive optimism of her every decision.
Here it becomes very difficult to explain the real greatness of Clariel as a novel without indulging in what would be spoilers, and I would never wish at all to mar some other reader's pleasure in this way. For it is in the amazing, development of Clariel's character and story, essentially and intimately intertwined, that the genius and originally of this book lies. The directions which she takes and the outcomes of her actions are all the more devastatingly powerful because of the total reader identification which has inescapably been set up. Suffice it to say that Clariel is no Frodo figure, saving her whole world through innocent bravery. She does, in her own way, grow up and she certainly influences her world, by the end of her story - and beyond. However, the ways in which she does this are as disturbing as they are remarkable. She is a magical protagonist - but not really as we might have expected.
The result is that Clariel is one of the truly great works of fantasy fiction. It is a most notable addition to a modern classic sequence, but also a wonderful literary achievement in its own right.
One further short addition to the Old Kingdom sequence has been published very recently, although its actual writing predates Clariel. To Hold the Bridge is a novella first published in Australia in 2010, but now finally released here in a volume of Garth Nix short stories of the same name. It is the only item in the collection which relates to the Abhorsen world, and as a novella is not of the stature of the earlier works, or of Clariel which followed. It is nevertheless a very enjoyable read and an important further extension and elaboration of the Old Kingdom world.
The content of this novella is not part of the ongoing story of the Abhorsens as such nor does it involve the principal characters of any of the other volumes. However it does contribute new aspects to the topography, sociology and history of the Old Kingrom in vivid detail and as such further enriches the whole. Again, too, it treats of a young protagonist with whom easy identification is most effectively engendered. This time it is a young man, Morghan, who had been physically abused and emotionally neglected in his upbringing, who now seeks to establish an identity for himself and to carve out a significant role for himself in the world.
Although short, To Hold the Bridge still manages to engross the reader for a while in the magnificently imaginative creation that is the world of the Old Kingdom. It succeeds beautifully too in engendering involvement in the fate of a protagonist with whom it is easy to identify. Is is also far more positive in its outcome that Clariel. It may not share the greatness of the rest of the sequence, however, for those who do want to save the world, in their fantasies at least, this extra read is a wonderful quick fix.
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