Sabriel (cont.): The Platypus Reads Part CCCXXVII
So here we go. The end run of Sabriel is all about locating Kerrigor's bronze coffin (pictured at left: marker on boarding pass stub) and putting an end to his preserved remains ala Dracula or The Mummy. As I said before, we're now out of Brooks and Le Guin territory and into Room With a View and All Quiet on the Western Front. Signs and portents gather as Col. Horyse, like Yates' Irish Airman, foresees his own death. We also learn that there was an incident 20 years earlier with the dead crossing The Wall in large numbers and that the towns of northern Ancelstierre have been drilling ever since. Nix, being ex-military himself, narrates the military preparations and motorcade extremely well. The building tension is accented by a brief "I love you" moment between Sabriel and Touchstone that is just right (-no awkward teen sex in the back of a jalopy!). Eeriness resumes as technology fails in the wake of Kerrigor's coming and the opening of his tomb is full of pulpy goodness on the level of Blackwood, Stoker, or Lovecraft.
Did we mention that Kerrigor's tomb sprays hot acid like The Mummy? Nice little touch there, though Sabriel, it should be pointed out, precedes the Brendan Fraser movie by several years. Like Rick and Evee, Sabriel and Touchstone make quite a good team at this point. In a burst of good writing, Chapter 27 not only brings us back to Ancelstierre, but it also takes us right back to where we started: Wyverly College. As Sabriel is forced to enlist the 3rd and 4th year magic students to help open Kerrigor's coffin, I was reminded of the Dr. Who episode Family of Blood and the Battle of Hogwarts at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In the first chapter, we had Sabriel facing a Grendel-like incident that turned out to be nothing of the sort. Now, Grendel-Kerrigor has come, and Sabriel had better be ready for him. This Hero has returned not with the Elixir, but with Danger. The circle is complete when Magistrix (not Magistra?) Greenwood addresses Sabriel as "Abhorsen". That brings us to Chapter 28.
The opening fight with the Dead is phenomenally well-narrated. Sabriel keeps her Anglo discipline under fire, but in doing do forgets to ring the bells and thus wastes ammo and energy -a sign that she is not ready for this. Nix is careful not to lose the perversity of the battle taking place at a school. He masterfully draws the threads together as the assembled girls and soldiers open the coffin, Kerrigor blasts through the wall, and Mogget returns in elemental form to deliver the final bell and sword. Mogget's refusal to forgo his blood-price works exactly as Sabriel's father must have planned it (more tight writing), and the ensuing fight between the elemental and Kerrigor buys Sabriel precious time.
Our end in Chapter 29 is masterful Kerrigor is undone by his own perversity and greed. All the magics of the Wall-Builders unite to bind the necromancer to his body. I do have some qualms about the assault imagery as Kerrigor attempts to force himself on Sabriel. This is such a common trope that I wonder if it accidentally plays into rape culture by its very ubiquity. On the other hand, given how many women face assault, it is something that may be important to address in a Y.A. novel. I don't know what I think about that. However, the fact that a dying Kerrigor can still try to kill Touchstone and Sabriel turns the tables quite nicely. Like her father, Sabriel slips into Death with the sign of the cross over her.
Epilogue: This story needs its short epilogue. We catch a glimpse of hope that there might be something blessed beyond the nine gates of Death as the shining forms of the Abhorsens push Sabriel back into life. We learn that we can't self-immolate to find a purpose, and that's a good message for anyone under 30. The story ends at just the right moment and Nix sets himself up for the sequel!
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