The Old Kingdom
#1154.20 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 6 books Status Ongoing 1995–present Reading commitment Medium Garth Nix Last reviewed 2026-08-05
Overview
Garth Nix's The Old Kingdom (also published as the Abhorsen trilogy) follows necromancer-hunters in a magical kingdom bordered by a non-magical modern-day Ancelstierre. Internal chronology diverges sharply from publication order: two prequels (Clariel, 2014; Terciel and Elinor, 2021) are set generations before the original trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen) but were published decades later. The opening novel, Sabriel (1995), follows its title character, a student at an Ancelstierre boarding school, after her father the Abhorsen is trapped in the realm of Death; she crosses the Wall separating the two lands to rescue him and, in doing so, discovers her own inherited role as guardian of the Old Kingdom's borders between life and death. Ancelstierre is built on a pre-World War I British model, largely without magic except near the Wall, while the Old Kingdom itself -- geographically evocative of Scotland -- is the sole source of the series' Charter Magic, a contrast between technological and magical worlds that has become one of the series' most distinctive and frequently cited structural devices.
Dark fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (6 works) counts toward ranking
The Old Kingdom Garth Nix
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Clariel; Prequel, set ~600 years before Sabriel. | 2014 | 1 | core | 3.89 (31,132 ratings) |
 | Terciel and Elinor; Prequel; Sabriel's parents' story, shortly before Sabriel. | 2021 | 2 | core | 4.19 (8,465 ratings) |
 | Sabriel | 1995 | 3 | core | 4.16 (221,894 ratings) |
 | Lirael | 2001 | 4 | core | 4.29 (125,488 ratings) |
 | Abhorsen | 2003 | 5 | core | 4.25 (129,678 ratings) |
 | Goldenhand | 2016 | 6 | core | 4.12 (19,774 ratings) |
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.
Library / Expanded (2 works)
Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case (2005) ; Originally 'The Creature in the Case' (World Book Day, 2005); collected under this title in Across the Wall (2006).
To Hold the Bridge (2010) ; First appeared in the anthology Legends of Australian Fantasy (2010); later the title novella of the 2016 collection To Hold the Bridge: Tales from the Old Kingdom and Beyond (a collection mostly of non-Old-Kingdom stories, not registered as a universe work).
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Old Kingdom? The Old Kingdom's Core Canon is 6 books, plus 2 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for The Old Kingdom? Publication order, starting with Clariel. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Old Kingdom finished? Ongoing (1995–present).
- How much reading does The Old Kingdom take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 6 Core Canon books · ~2,406 pages).
- How is The Old Kingdom ranked? #115 in this site's official ranking, based on 536,431 reader ratings across 6 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #115?
Ranked #115 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.20 across 6 core books.
- Backed by 536k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #114, Forgotten Realms (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 6 books · Ongoing · 536k ratings · Ranks #115 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length dark fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (6 Core Canon books)
- Sabriel (1995)
- Lirael (2001)
- Abhorsen (2003)
- Clariel (2014)
- Goldenhand (2016)
- Terciel and Elinor (2021)
Documented internal/story order
- Clariel (2014)
- Terciel and Elinor (2021)
- Sabriel (1995)
- Lirael (2001)
- Abhorsen (2003)
- Goldenhand (2016)
Awards (verified)
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 1995: won: Sabriel
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 1995: won: Sabriel; Joint winner with Deucalion (Brian Caswell).
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2003: won: Abhorsen
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 2003: won: Abhorsen; Joint winner with Dragon Keeper (Carole Wilkinson).
- Ditmar Award (Novel), 2002: won: Lirael
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2001: nominated: Lirael
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 2001: nominated: Lirael
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 2015: nominated: Clariel
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 2016: nominated: Goldenhand
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 2021: nominated: Terciel and Elinor
- Ditmar Award (Novel), 1996: nominated: Sabriel
- Ditmar Award (Novel), 2004: nominated: Abhorsen
- Ditmar Award (Novel), 2015: nominated: Clariel
- Mythopoeic Award (Children's Literature), 2005: finalist: Sabriel; Awarded collectively to the trilogy (Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen), not to a single volume.
- Mythopoeic Award (Adult Literature), 2022: finalist: Terciel and Elinor
- Golden Aurealis, 2006: won: Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case; Overall best short story across all categories.
- Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Short Story), 2006: won: Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case
Related universes
- Same author The Keys to the Kingdom: Both by Garth Nix; confirmed separate, unrelated worlds.
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Suggestions computed from what The Old Kingdom and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.20 across 536,431 ratings on 6 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Old Kingdom admitted; Core Canon accepted 2026-08-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-06
Rule: New universe. Core = the 6 novels (1995-2021): Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Clariel (prequel), Goldenhand, Terciel and Elinor (prequel). internal chronology reflects the documented in-world order (Clariel -> Terciel and Elinor -> Sabriel -> Lirael -> Abhorsen -> Goldenhand), sharply diverging from publication order. Expanded = two novellas (Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case, 2005; To Hold the Bridge, 2010). A claimed short story "Ferin and Astilaran" could not be verified as a real title and is not registered: likely a conflation of a character name (Ferin) and a place/item name (Astilaran) from Goldenhand. Rich Aurealis/Ditmar/Mythopoeic award history, with wins for Sabriel and Abhorsen in both the Fantasy and Young Adult categories.