Old kingdom

[Jayngfet]

Anybody here read the old kingdom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Kingdom_Trilogy) series by Garth Nix? If so what dis you think of them?

[H. Zee]

I thought these books were very good. It was an interesting take on the magic system, I loved the way that the bells worked, and I thought that both Hedge and Kerrigor made for interesting villains (though Orannis was a textbook Sealed Evil in a Can.) Also, perhaps the first series I've read where I haven't hated the animal companions with a passion, but in fact liked them quite a lot, so extra points there.

All in all, I thought they were excellent, and I can't wait for the prequel he's writing.

[Revlid]

I greatly enjoyed the Old Kingdom books. Wonderfully written, resoundingly imaginative and possessed of a brilliant originality not often seen this side of Neil Gaiman. Its only predictable element was its excellence, given that it was written by Garth Nix.
Other great books include The Keys To The Kingdom series, and Shade's Children.

A prequel? Focusing on Chlorr, I presume?

[Jayngfet]

A prequel? Focusing on Chlorr, I presume?

Yup, Clareal the lost abhorsen, due in 2010 according to Nix's blog.

[warty goblin]

I liked Sabriel best, and felt the second duology was basically a retread of the first book but twice as long, at least in terms of plot, the characters were nicely different. Also deserves credit as one of the only series I've read where character angst is treated with some respect, but they actually move on from it, Lireal in particular does a good job of this.

I agree the magic system is pretty nifty, and I seriously dig the way Death is portrayed, it's hard to think of a creepier place, particularly with that ill-defined boundary between Life and Death.

[Mx.Silver]

I never got past Sabriel which (in complete opposition to Revlid) I found not too well written, unimaginative and uninteresting. The plot such as it was held nothing worth commenting on, being fairly bland and run-of-the-mill at the best of times. Plus any author who manages to spend half a chapter detailing a lone girl's ascent of a hill without using a single female pronoun really needs to do some re-writing.

That said, my sister was into the books when she was about 13 so I may just have come to them a bit late.

[Arioch]

I really like the Old Kingdom trilogy. I think Nix managed to write an immersive fantasy series without it becoming a poorly-thought-out clichefest. They were my favourite books for several years.

[Prustan]

Brilliant trilogy, and also enjoyed the short story about Nick. I rather liked how the closer you got to the Old Kingdom, the less reliable modern technology became. Looking forward to the prequel book.

[Jayngfet]

Movie version (http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK3LDVT9K1OCDEG), guess there's some sort of fantasy fad what with caspian and potter and such going on.

[warty goblin]

Movie version (http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK3LDVT9K1OCDEG), guess there's some sort of fantasy fad what with caspian and potter and such going on.

I'm really not sure how a movie of Sabriel would work. I mean, it's not straight horror by any means, but is definately way darker than Narnia, Potter or LOTR, if only because the magic is scary and not whizz-bang cool. Also because being stalked by walking corpses through villages of the dead is just plain creepy.

Don't get me wrong, if done right it could be fracking brilliant, and the atmosphere could be incrediable, I'm just afraid it would get dumbed down and the horror downplayed, or else the horror overplayed and we end up with Yet Another Zombie Movie.

[Silver2195]

The books were awesome, although the first one suffered a bit from being the first and having to do all the exposition.

[Prustan]

I'm agreeing with warty goblin - done right, Old Kingdom movies would be absolutely brilliant. Done wrong, and fans will be screaming in outrage. Any ideas on who would be a good director for the movie version?

[H. Zee]

I'm agreeing with warty goblin - done right, Old Kingdom movies would be absolutely brilliant. Done wrong, and fans will be screaming in outrage. Any ideas on who would be a good director for the movie version?

Guillermo Del Toro?

Same director as did Pan's Labyrinth. There's a man who knows how to do dark fantasy, all right.