Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen

Clariel has just moved to Belisaere. The city is full of wonders — thousands of inhabitants, the coruscant Guilds (to which Clariel is fortunate to belong), and the outstanding Academy, but Clariel cares for none of these. She merely wants to return to her beloved Great Forest, and she is willing to go to any lengths to get there. Any lengths whatsoever, even if she must slaughter all in her path.

The plot, setting, and text are all fine; unfortunately, for the main part of the book she is a hippopotomonstrous Mary Sue. She is gorgeous, erudite, desired, progressive, martially and mentally gifted, wealthy; her personality flaws consist of stubbornness and a bad temper (which actually help her in most situations, giving her the will to press on and the strength to slay her foes), she is loved and adored by all she encounters (unless they are utterly jealous of Clariel’s beauty), and she is strong without unsightly bulging muscles. After she leaves the city, most of these skills become useless, making Clariel into a much better character. Overall, this book is a disappointment. Although it stands head and shoulders over other modern fantasy books, it is of a lower-caliber than Nix’s other works.