Lirael
core novel 2001 The Old Kingdom
Record
| First published | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.29 (125,488 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 464 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780060278236 |
| Internal chronology | 4 |
Synopsis
Lirael is the second novel of Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series, set roughly fourteen years after Sabriel, whose title character now rules the Old Kingdom alongside her husband Touchstone while their children Ellimere and Sameth grow up partly in Ancelstierre. Lirael, the novel's protagonist, has been raised among the Clayr, a community of women gifted with precognitive Sight, but she lacks that gift herself and feels like an outsider within her own family. Working in the Clayr's vast Library, she discovers an unusual magical talent of her own and befriends a mysterious creature called the Disreputable Dog. When Prince Sameth is gravely harmed in an encounter with the necromancer Hedge, and his friend Nicholas Sayre is drawn into danger at the remote Red Lake, Lirael is sent on her nineteenth birthday to attempt a rescue, setting her quest in motion.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Old Kingdom
- Series: The Old Kingdom core; position 4 of 6 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Garth Nix
Awards (verified)
- Ditmar Award (Novel), 2002: won
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2001: nominated
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 2001: nominated
Notes
- From the series record (The Old Kingdom): Publication order (Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen/Clariel/Goldenhand/Terciel and Elinor) diverges sharply from internal chronology (Clariel and Terciel and Elinor are prequels). No 7th novel confirmed announced; series status (open/closed) is unconfirmed either way.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Old Kingdom: position 2 of 6: previous Sabriel (1995) · next Abhorsen (2003)
- Internal chronology, within The Old Kingdom: position 4 of 6: previous Sabriel (1995) · next Abhorsen (2003)
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Kingdom
- Garth Nix official site
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lirael
- https://www.sfadb.com/Garth_Nix
- Aurealis Awards
← The Old Kingdom dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.