When I was in seventh grade, I had an English teacher with a full bookshelf, who encouraged me to borrow from it and read voraciously in addition to my assigned reading for class. One of the first books I borrowed from her was Sabriel by Garth Nix, which quickly lodged itself in my heart and became one of my all-time favorites. I adore the protagonist, the realistically-painted world, the limitations of the magic within, and the fact that necromancers use a series of seven bells to control the Dead. Bells. Genius.

I reread Sabriel at least once a year, and quite often the two sequels Lirael and Abhorsen. Finally, after many years of there being nothing new in the Old Kingdom, Clariel is coming.

This forthcoming novel is a prequel to the others, taking place some few hundred years before the events of Sabriel. Here’s the blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped within the stone city walls. And in Belisaere she is forced to follow the plans, plots and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilip. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away. It seems too that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr appear to be disintegrating.

With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever, until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her – and it is herself she must question most of all.

I’m greatly looking forward to it, and have already preordered it for my Kobo. It comes out October 14, and I can’t wait to go back to the Old Kingdom.