Sabriel Kicks Ass

One of my favorite authors, Garth Nix, is having a contest.  I kind of almost didn't want to tell you guys because naturally I want to win it and I don't want you all running to enter.  But the only way to win is to write a review/musing of one of his books online.  Plus if I could enlighten you all about this book and how completely and totally awesome it is, I'll jump at the chance!

If you have ever been a 14 year old girl, you know how awesome it is to read books with strong female characters.  If you have never been a 14 year old girl...just pretend.  Besides I'm pretty sure 14 year old boys love kick-ass male characters so you know what it's like.  And if you are a 14 year old boy and you love kick-ass female characters?  You are going to go far in life, my friend.

Anyway, when I was in Junior High I was at a point in my life where I devoured books with independent, kick butt female characters (side note: I'm 30 and I STILL devour YA books with independent, kick butt female characters).  She had to be strong, witty, smart, (and beautiful of course).  I loved to get lost in a completely different world, leave my worries behind and pretend I was that girl in which there was always a romance and always some kind of epic battle.

Photo Credit - Garth Nix

I picked up Sabriel by Garth Nix around that time.  It had all the elements I wanted in a fantasy.  A main character, Sabriel, that was smart, had magical abilities (she could walk in death- how cool is that??), she was independent and actually rescued the love interest (not once, but twice!), Touchstone, whom annoyed her at first but she soon grew fond of.  I mean, how awesome is that?  Now this was a character I wanted to be like!  She wasn't a snively little whiny-butt who could do nothing without a man.  She took matters into her own hands and controlled the dead with the ring of a bell.

After reading this book, I knew some day I wanted to be a fantasy writer.  It changed my life because of how vivid his storytelling and characters are.  How it made me feel after reading it.  How I kept thinking about it after putting it down.  How I devoured any little anthology with stories taking place in that world after the trilogy had come out.  I wanted to make readers feel the same way I felt after reading that book. I wanted my main characters to be like Sabriel.

Garth Nix was one of the first pioneers of strong YA female protagonists.  I will be forever thankful to him for inspiring me to make up fantastical worlds with girls who kick some serious booty.  The time of the Damsel in Distress is long gone.  In her place is the girl who saves the Prince in Distress.

What's Your READ Book Choice?

The fabulous GreenBeanTeenQueen blogged the other day about celebrities promoting books and how many of us just want to know why they picked the book they are reading in those famous READ posters.  Has Catcher in the Rye really shaped that many people's lives, or was because it's required reading in school and is the only book they remember reading?

It's hard to tell.  Some probably have read the book and have a great reason for picking it, like Nathan Fillion:

Nathan is a co-founder of KNTR (Kids Need To Read), and he's reading a book by his friend and co-founder YA Sci Fi author PJ Haarsma.  The book is Softwire: Awakening on Orbis.  You can really tell this is something he has a passion for, and is not afraid to talk about it.

But some may argue, at least they are promoting reading and it shouldn't matter what book they pick.  Which is totally true- at least the celebrity is taking the time to promote a book.  But if you are taking the time to do a READ photoshoot, give us a little line about what you loved about the book, or why you chose it for the poster.

So this brings me to my question.  What would you choose as your READ book?

I've had to sit and think about this one for a while.  There are so many books that I love, that have shaped and influenced me, and I want to hold all of them!

I narrowed it down to four:
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (the Dragonriders of Pern series really launched my love of fantasy)
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (I bawled like a baby at the end of the 3rd book, and I still ponder it sometimes)
Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn (I grew to love the characters throughout the series, and waited with baited breath for each subsequent book to come out- I again, bawled like a baby at the end because I was losing my friends)

But my choice would be Sabriel by Garth Nix. 




This is what the cover looked like back when I read it



 Sabriel struck a certain chord with me, that is still hard to explain to this day.  I still remember when I read it in Junior High and thought if I ever wrote a book, this is what I would want it to be like.  I never thought I would be a writer at the time, but this book pretty much is what permanently glued me to YA fantasy.  Garth Nix just has the natural ability to weave a fantasy adventure story with a little bit of romance, all the while doing it under 90,000 words.  Sabriel is what I would consider the perfect "formula" for a YA fantasy.

But if I could be holding Sabriel, and have the other three stacked next to me with the spines showing, that would be perfect.

So, what would be your pick for your own READ poster?