About book Across The Wall: A Tale Of The Abhorsen And Other Stories (2015)
A re-read - due to my somehow forgetting to mark down that I'd read the book, and finding another copy at the thrift store for $1. The stories are good enough that I didn't mind re-reading. Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case — This story features characters from the 'Abhorsen' series, but relates a stand-alone adventure. Nicholas gets involved with secret agents and has to save the aristocratic attendees of an annoying party from a vicious and magical creature from Across the Wall. Very action-oriented. Under the Lake — What if the Lady of The Lake, of Arthurian legend, was an amoral, inhuman creature, interacting with Merlin for her own purposes? Charlie Rabbit — A very sentimental, but effective story. Two boys are trapped in a bomb shelter after an air raid. The older boy tells his brother a story starring his toy rabbit to keep from panicking... From the Lighthouse — I really like this one. A boorish developer arrives at a remote island that he has (possibly) purchased, with all kinds of plans to change it utterly. But a clever woman does not intend on letting her home be stolen from her community. The Hill — Apparently, there was an objection to this story featuring Aboriginal Australian characters, and it got bowdlerized. I'd like to read the original. Still, it's good. Thematically similar to the previous selection: a boy and his grandfather team up to prevent the boy's father from selling the family land to developers. Lightning Bringer — This one reminds me a bit of Charles deLint. A young man sees a girl he knows killed by lightning summoned by a strange drifter... There's nothing he can do, but when the man arrives in town for the second time, and sets his sights on his girlfriend, he knows he has to somehow prevent a second crime. Down to the Scum Quarter — A 'Choose Your Own Adventure' story. If you remember the series, you'll find this hilarious. If you don't, you'll probably be mystified. Heart's Desire — A story of doomed love between Merlin and his apprentice Nimue. Hansel's Eyes — A cyberpunk-ish, dystopian & futuristic Hansel and Gretel story, where the witch's cabin is a video game store in a ghetto. Really quite creepy and disturbing. Hope Chest — In a Old West town, a foundling girl has a mysterious legacy - that will help her to defeat evil, but lose her the ones that she loved. My Really Epic New Fantasy Series — A brief, humorous speech given at a con. Not really necessary. But it's only two pages. Three Roses — A short-short with an authentic fairy-tale feel. A king high-handeldly demands ownership of a gardener's roses, but they always fail to thrive... Endings — Another short-short - but possibly the most powerful piece in the book. Love it.
I picked up this book the same day I finished reading Nix's "Old Kingdom" trilogy. I had really enjoyed Sabriel and its sequels, and wanted to round things out with the novella that opens this collection. "Nicholas Sayre and The Creature in the Case" is well worth it - though it's a novella, it takes up a third of this book's length, and it is set after the events of "Abhorsen" so it provides a satisfying glimpse at some of the aftermath of the trilogy proper. It also goes a long way to redeem the character Nick, who was (through no fault of his own) mostly weak and pointless in the other books.The rest of the book is rounded out by short stories, none of which have any connection to the "Old Kingdom" series but most of which are pretty good in their own right. There are two very enjoyable takes on the King Arthur mythos, and an incredibly cool retelling of Hansel and Gretel in a modern setting. One of the longest stories besides "Nicholas Sayre" is called "Hope Chest", and its curious blend of classic western and Lovecraftian darkness was enough to make me wish it was even longer. It felt like Buffy The Vampire Slayer set in the Old West, and man is that a show I would watch.The humorous stories are the ones that didn't really land for me. Nix's parody of a Choose Your Own Adventure book elicited a few chuckles from me but was mostly sort of flat, and his fake introduction to a fifty-eight book fantasy series is made up of what I almost have to call Dad Humor (referring to the third Lord of the Rings book as "The Return of the Mistakenly Purchased King" made me groan even though I kind of laughed).The final two stories, however, end things on a strong note. "Three Roses", at only four pages long, might be the loveliest thing in the collection, and the equally minimal "Endings" closes things on a note of mystery and beauty.Overall, there were more hits than misses here, and for fans of Lirael & company the novella would be well worth the price of admission.
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On first receiving this book, I hadn't expected it to be a collection of short, random stories written by Garth Nix but had expected it to be competly about The Old Kingdom, with a book title like ''Across THe Wall'', however when I did I was super excited to see it contained Nicholas Sayre and The Creature in the Case as, after just re-reading Abhorsen, I discovered that short stories existence and was eager to read it, although I wasn't too sure I'd enjoy the rest of Garth Nix's works.Nicholas Sayre and The Creature in the Case was a great stroy and I really enjoyed reading more about Nick, however, with the sounds of things I was really expecting more Lirael and ended up still having unanswered questions about Nick and Lirael and the world in general. I still loved it though and wanted more!I really enjoyed that Nix kept the font that he used in The Old KIngdom trilogy as it gave me some instant familiarity and I loved that he used introductions to explain a little about the background of the story and how it came to be. I really enjoyed all of the stories, to my surprise, as they are all incredibly different to one another and to the Garth Nix I am used to, but I loved that he always had a little element of fantasy or sci-fi running through the premises. For example, to name but a few, his re-telling of The Lady of The Lake was chilling and refershing as it took on a entirely new feel and his Charlie Rabbit story was so beautiful. Down to the Scum Quarter introduced me to a whole new genre. I had never really heard of ''Choose your own adventure''/''fighting fantasy'' before and will look out for more serious books. (It was more slow going after reading this because after I flicked through it in a way that sort of went along with how you're supposed to read it, I then went through and read the whole of the scenarios.)I have to say, I am glad I didn't read this book when I first discovered The Old Kingdom series because, I was quite young then and some of the stories included in this, such as Hope Chest, was rather intense and gory, though wonderfully executed all the same. I Also loved My New Really Epic Fantasy Series and I should really stop now because I'll end up listing all of the stories! Haha xDOverall, I can't see how anyone wouldn't enjoy this as it shows the diversity of Garth Nix, holds goregous chapter illustrations, shows how great his skills are and introduces new genres to you, however I can see myself having little to no interest in some of these stories if they were longer, for example From The Lighthouse.Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)
—I'mogén
I quite liked the title story (really more of a novella), which is a sequel of sorts to the Abhorsen series and involves Nicholas Sayre and an Old Kingdom monster running loose in Ancelstierre. I found the other stories a mixed bag: I liked "Hope Chest" (which I've read before in one of the Firebirds anthologies) and the short but poignant "Three Roses", while not getting on at all with the choose-your-own-adventure send-up or "From the Lighthouse", which I just didn't think went anywhere. Still, I mostly read it for "Across the Wall" anyway, and that was certainly worth it if only to get a little more closure on a couple of the characters from the Abhorsen books.
—Margaret
It's a collection of short stories, the first of which gives the anthology its title. The first story was the best one, frankly; some of the others were pretty good, one I already own in the Firebirds anthology, and a few I didn't really care for. The reason I bought it was primarily for the first story, because it provides the last bit of writing about the characters Nix left in Abhorsen, particularly Nick Sayre. I know I'm not the only person who wishes this short story would become the next novel in the series. Nick is a very scientifically-minded young man who was taken over by one of the primal forces of magic and still has the scars. What power he gained from that is only hinted in the short story here. For those who read and liked the Abhorsen trilogy, that first story is Highly Recommended. For the anthology as a whole, Recommended.
—Aelvana
