Terciel & Elinor (Old Kingdom)

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A worthy addition to the Old Kingdom series that will satisfy your nostalgia craving. Charter spells and paperwings, bells and Sendings! Exploring old underground places filled with potentially dangerous Free Magic. Familiar cozy spaces of mahogany and grimoires. The precincts of the River, which I’m amazed I remember with such clarity still. And Mogget! It has also been published outside of Australia in a new collection of the author's works, To Hold the Bridge (HarperCollins, 2015, ISBN 978-0-0622-9252-0). [7] Doctor Crake Crosses the Wall [ edit ] By the end of the book, though, Elinor was my favorite. Terciel was endearing and lonely, competent enough to be cool and unsure enough to be a realistic teenage Abhorsen-in-Waiting. Elinor's perspective, though, was the strongest. Her journey from an isolated, ordinary girl to discovering her Old Kingdom heritage had my attention and interest the entire time. Elinor Hallett doesn’t know a thing about magic, or necromancy. Raised at Coldhallow House primarily by her governess, Mrs. Watkins, and an old circus performer named Ham Corbin, she knows all of Charlotte Breakspear’s plays, how to juggle, how to do stage fighting, and how to act, but she’s ignorant about the Old Kingdom, despite the fact that the Wall separating the two countries is only miles away. This story closes the loop on so many things fans have been waiting to know throughout the series and still surprises and offers something new and enjoyable.

There are so many elements that connect and information that’s been woven through the previous 5 (ish) books but it’s still fresh and exciting even to someone who’s been visiting this world for decades (I started my journey reading Lirael in around 2001/02 so this has been a long time coming for me!) As this series has progressed over the decades, the aesthetics have largely remained the same. There are ghastly creatures of Death who want to slither through gates into our world. They possess the living, sometimes festering for months or years before they manifest as deadly monstrosities. The Abhorsen is a kind of good necromancer who fights the undead with bells and rings and swords. Old Kingdom readers know what happens to Terciel and Elinor, but somehow that makes it all the more disappointing that their shift from acquaintances to lovers happens so swiftly, and in the same manner. The presence of a Clayr, one of the women who See visions of many futures, shifts things from “inevitable” to “fated” in a way that feels like a shortcut. He’s there, she’s there, Terciel has to have kids and Elinor has been Seen to be important, so they like each other and fall into bed. My only issue with this book is that it ended to early...I wanted to read more more MORE! The story itself is concluded in this book, so it was more an issue of me wanting more story than the book itself ending early. The book is written perfection. I am hoping more will be written about these characters, and potentially others within the Old Kingdom and the world/story is expanded yet again. Elinor, too old to be a student, is hired as a choreographer for Wyverley's theater program. During her time there, she requests to learn Charter magic from the Magistrix, Mrs. Tallowe; the woman refuses, as she is secretly afraid of Charter magic and only teaches the extreme rudiments. Elinor therefore looks to the students of the school, three of whom (Hazra, Corinna, and Angharad) hold secret meetings in the cellar to teach Charter magic to each other. Elinor finally begins to learn, no longer considering her baptismal mark a flaw.The Eighth Precinct resembles the First and Fourth, but interspersed with flashes of fire. The Eighth Gate is a wall of darkness, which needs a spell to send a necromancer into the Ninth Precinct.

i do love the old kingdom and will read any book set in this world just because it's so real and developed mordicant". Oxford English Dictionary (Onlineed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

The Third Precinct has slightly warmer ankle-deep water and visibility is slightly improved. Periodic, irresistible waves carry dead creatures through the Gate (a wall of mist), often beyond the final Ninth Gate. The Ninth Precinct is an endless pool of deep, still, clear water. It is warmer than the other precincts and there is no fog, allowing a necromancer to see in every direction. The Ninth Gate, resembling a starry sky, confirms the final death of any who look upon it, except those to whom remain a native span of years. Those claimed by the Gate rise at varying speeds and vanish, never to return. Because Astarael appears under Abhorsen's House and Kibeth as the Disreputable Dog, it can be inferred that Ranna, Mosrael, Dyrim, Belgaer, and Saraneth became the Five Great Charters. These Great Charters invested themselves entirely within the bloodlines and artifacts of the Old Kingdom, as opposed to Astarael and Kibeth, who retained enough of themselves to remain separate entities (the Disreputable Dog points out that she is only Kibeth in a "hand-me-down sort of way"). It is implied that Saraneth and Mosrael wove themselves into the Abhorsen and Clayr bloodlines respectively. Additionally, Lirael (a "Remembrancer", only made possible by her shared Clayr and Abhorsen heritage) is referred to as "Astarael's get" in The Creature in the Case, and Prince Sameth is referred to as a "Wallmaker" (Ranna and Belgaer) in Abhorsen. Dyrim is considered the Great Charter of the royal bloodline. Charter Sendings: Charter Sendings are servants or sentries constructed entirely of Charter Marks. Many may only act within a given function, which can be of indefinite complexity. Certain fixtures excepted (such as a surcoat or insignia), Charter Sendings do not possess a concrete physical shape, and derive identity primarily from their function. They are capable of emotive response, but show little desire except to fulfill their mandates. Free Magic Elementals: These are free-willed beings wholly composed of Free Magic. The most common elementals belong to specific "breeds" (such as Stilken, Magrue, Jerreq, or Hish), while the most powerful are unique, or "of a singular nature". Though "many thousands" of Free Magic Elementals escaped the creation of the Charter, most were later imprisoned or enslaved by it. Of the remainder, "no truly dangerous creature of Free Magic has woken in a thousand years, save to the sound of Mosrael and Saraneth, or by a direct summons using their secret names". Some cannot be destroyed except by a Free Magic sorcerer more powerful than they, or by immersion in running water (though Free Magic creatures of the Third Kindred, or those infused with the essence of the Nine, are exempt from this rule). Charter Magic is typically ineffective.