Does the walker choose the path, or the path choose the walker?

Huh, I never really got that vibe off the narrative.

I was disappointed by Clariel mostly because

Spoiler: spoilers?

I wanted a fallen Abhorsen, not a quasi-Abhorsen who does some unwise shit in a well intentioned panic, but is only juuuuuust starting to get into a true fall where the book cuts off. Like I mean come on now.

 

@Wiwaxia

Well she has the setup all the way through that she's not into that, with the most explicit coming out as asexual/aromantic that I've ever read in a novel, very early on in the book (pages 14-15 in my copy). And that I was ecstatic about, but

Spoiler

later she's described as being cold and unfeeling, and it felt to me like we were meant to empathise with Bel and his pursuit of her which made me so uncomfortable.

And yeah, that she slipped and fell rather than striding downwards was disappointing. I was hoping she'd be a "I want this power, I'm going to take it for myself because that's what's important to me" villain like Kerrigor rather than a rushed and scared girlchild, although that being said, Mogget's manipulation of her was delicious, and it was really interesting to see how much he's changed between Clariel and Abhorsen. Also, I was expecting it to end much later in her fall too. She walks off into the sunset north and we're just meant to imagine how she turns evil I guess? Which is disappointing, unless maybe he's leaving room for another book in there?

 

yeah i was definitely expecting more of

Spoiler

fully realized abhorsen slowly Sauntering Downwards, the realization that "fallen abhorsen" referred to abhorsen as the bloodline as opposed to the actual role was a little annoying haha

 

As a Kintsugi Witch, I can definitely attst that regardless of practicality, some of us do dress like this.

 

@Starcrossedsky This makes me very happy :D

 

Re: Clariel:

Spoiler: Re: ace-ness

I didn't see it that way either? I took it as more that that was yet another thing isolating her not because it was anything wrong, but because most of the adults in her life didn't respect or listen to her about it. Like, her mom actually was considering marrying her off for political gain without even telling her about the plan, and when she tried to protest that she's got zero interest in getting married she got talked over. To me that was kind of the point of the story- everyone was trying to use her and didn't really respect who she was or what she wanted and even when they tried to give her help they gave her the wrong help, which is why she was easy prey for Mogget's manipulation.

That said, I agree that it felt sort of rushed and incomplete.

Spoiler

Not just in terms of where it cuts off or it not being what people were expecting from the subtitle- I feel like everything happens in way too short a timespan. She goes to class, like, ONCE. It could have benefited from giving her more time to stew in frustration in the city, I think. And I get what you mean about it feeling like a backstory- it feels like something that should have been told in flashback chapters in a story set while she was in the North. It's not really telling us how we got Chlorr, it's telling us how we got proto-Chlorr.

 

Oh, right, another thing that occurred to me when I was reading Clariel: if these books had a major Tumblr fandom, there would totally be Free Magic stans getting into ~discourse~ flame wars.

 

For once, a reason to be glad that it doesn't have a huge fan following!

 

"sabriel/touchstone is a pedophilic ship and if you ship if youre a pedophile too :^)"

 

That was not the ~discourse~ I was thinking of, but yes, that too. :::PPP

 

"The Charter forces constraints on magic and mages that aren't natural and it's tied to the authoritarian monarchy via their bloodline, it should be destroyed so people are free to use magic as they like: Free Magic."

 

I was also thinking "You're oppressing Free Magic beings for fundamental things about themselves they can't change, you horrible bigots." Woobifying them in exactly the way Clariel's sympathy was used against her and probably deciding Yrael's Choice in Abhorsen is pure Stockholm Syndrome.

 

@LadyNighteyes "The stilken was imprisoned for who knows how long in the Clayr library, no wonder it wanted to attack Lirael!" and "They're obviously rational, intelligent people!! The Free Magic being in the Creature in the Case held discussions and everything!"

 

Exactly. And whatshername from Clariel really did just want to make her pretty, pretty art. Why do you hate minority women artists, huh?!

Spoiler

And of course the thing about her wanting an excuse to get into the palace to ritually murder someone to break the Stones is PURE SPECULATION and it wouldn't be that bad even if she did it because the Charter is EVIL AND OPPRESSIVE.

EDIT: Wow, somehow I keep typing "Lirael" when I mean "Clariel." Go me.

 

@LadyNighteyes

Spoiler

But wait, if Free Magic beings should be free to be independent, then does that make Free Magic mages terribevil because they enslave them?

 

Possibly a cause of intra-community split, and some of the stans insist they only do it that way because they've been DECEIVED by the LIES OF THE ESTABLISHMENT and the EVIL ABHORSENS into thinking that's necessary, and therefore it isn't really their fault.

 

Ahhh yes of course, it all makes sense now! Thank you, Orannis, for showing me the truth.

 

so. Goldenhand, you guys, I just finished it and must congratulate Nix on tying Clariel and all the short stories up into it neatly.

 

HOLY SHIT I FORGOT THAT WAS COMING OUT AHHHHH