Sabriel
by Garth Nix
★ Top 25 book of 1995 · #12 on Best Books of 1995
Sabriel has grown up beyond the Old Kingdom, far from Free Magic and the restless Dead. When her father, the Mage Abhorsen, vanishes, she crosses back into that realm with two unusual companions to confront forces of life and death.
Best for: Readers who enjoy dark magic, bold heroines and a quest among the Dead
Sabriel is #12 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar.
What Sabriel is about
Sabriel attends Wyverly College, a boarding school in Ancelstierre, far from the magic that shaped her family. She also has an unusual gift: she can raise the dead. Then a bound undead messenger arrives from her father, the Abhorsen, with an order to take up his role and stop the necromancer Kerrigor, a Free Magic power who wants to return to Life and break the Charter that holds such magic in check.
Armed with her father's bells, sword, and a map, Sabriel crosses the Wall into the Old Kingdom. A Mordicant stalks her, and at Abhorsen's House she meets Mogget, a small white cat who is not what he seems. Along the way she finds Touchstone, long imprisoned as a boat's figurehead. Together they set out for the capital, Belisaere, to find her missing father. Dark and atmospheric, with duty, family, and the pull of life and death at its heart, this is the first of the Old Kingdom series.
Sabriel on the Best Books of 1995
Sabriel came out in 1995. Of the 28 books first published in 1995 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #12 on our Best Books of 1995 list.
Why it made the list: 288 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (47 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 1995 list
- Kiss the Girls James Patterson, #10
- Assassin's Apprentice Robin Hobb, #11
- Poppy Avi, #13
- Conversations with God, Book 1 Neale Donald Walsch, #14
See all Best Books of 1995 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1994 Best Books of 1996.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 193 want to read it, 7 are reading it now and 88 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 from 47 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 54 | 55% |
| Reader love | 96 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 18 | 20% |
Questions about Sabriel
When was Sabriel published?
Sabriel by Garth Nix was first published in 1995.
Was Sabriel one of the best books of 1995?
Sabriel is #12 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar. 288 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (47 ratings).
Why is Sabriel on the Best Books of 1995 list?
288 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (47 ratings).
More of the best books of 1995
- The Lost World Michael Crichton, #1
- Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman, #2
- Northern Lights Philip Pullman, #3
- Mindhunter John E. Douglas, #4
- Rose Madder Stephen King, #5
- Wicked Gregory Maguire, #6
See the full Best Books of 1995, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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