An
ancient evil has made its
presence known in the Old
Kingdom.The dark forces in
operation were separated and
bound into two hemispheres many,
many years ago by powerful
magi’s.If these hemispheres
should rejoin and become one
again the end of the world will
be unleashed.The apparent
assassination of the current
Abhorsen leaves the Old Kingdom with no protection until Lirael takes up the role.As wielder of the bells
Lirael must battle a powerful
necromancer by the name of Hedge
who is ruthlessly determined
that nothing will interfere with
his masters’ plans.
Armed
with the bells and her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, she must
venture forth into death to discover the magic that was used to contain
the evil in the first place.Watched
over by Sameth, a powerful wilder of Charter Magic, she must battle her
way through the nine gates of hell, facing all manner of horror and danger
along the way.Her
concentration must never waver or she may be sucked into the grip of death
and once her spirit dies her body will also.
Despite
feeling ill equipped to face this monumental task Lirael and Sameth must
engage in the ultimate battle of good against evil, joining forces with
strangers along the way.
This
is the third instalment in the
Old Kingdom Trilogy and even
though I had not read the other
two, I loved it.The unusual story premise
kept me fascinated right to the
end.Not having read the other
two parts, I did find that it
was a little difficult initially
to grasp the relationships
within the story and as such I
will be purchasing the other two
parts so that I can fully
understand it.Whilst I did read it as a
stand-alone story, I would not
recommend for this.I got the impression that
this book works better as the
conclusion of a larger story,
rather than just one segment of
it.
