I figured out what story this was a little more than halfway through, and I was psyched. I did kind of think that we would get to see a bit more of it than we did, though. Also, I felt significantly less clever when Nix actually confirmed what I thought was my clever guess in the afterword. Particularly since he prefaced it with "Obviously..." On evaluation, it kind of was obvious.
Clariel was cool, if a bit scary. Bel was wonderful and grand. Mogget was Mogget, and I am always happy to see him.
The whole idea of there being multiple Abhorsens (or at least of it being basically a clan) is very cool, and now I find myself wondering what on earth happened to them. Clearly this is not true by the time Sabriel is set. We also have further evidence that apparently the office is chosen not by strict heredity, but by something or someone else. The house, even, maybe? Mogget clearly remembers this, but apparently the knowledge has been lost to the Abhorsen line themselves at some point. I find myself wondering what else has been lost.
For all that it is obviously fantasy, this book has a strange historical fiction feel. I found myself, upon finishing it, thinking about how I wanted to look up how Tathiel's reign went and what was said about it, before I realized that unless he writes something to fill that in, I have no idea.
I would love to see more prequels to the main series; there is so much I find myself wondering about.
