#use it differently but BROADLY do you prefer stories where characters time travel forwards or time travel backwards

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I was so excited to read this book upon its release, and then I didn't get to it for months! As I told a childhood friend in a text message, I think this book is what I was waiting for for about 10 years without actually knowing it. I absolutely loved Garth Nix’s books as a teenager and re-read the Abhorsen trilogy multiple times. The trilogy ends on a tantalizing note in terms of Lirael and Nick’s charged, potential relationship. When Clariel was released, I was disappointed to see that it would be a prequel, rather than continuing the plot after Abhorsen. I think there's part of me that assumed Garth Nix would never extend the story beyond the original trilogy. Every few months, Lirael and Nick, Sabriel and Touchstone would cross my mind and I’d Google whether or not there would be a new book, but without real hope.

As a teenager, I appreciated Garth Nix blindly. I certainly didn't spend much time reflecting on the satisfyingly powerful female characters that he creates. In reading Goldenhand, I was repeatedly struck by the overwhelming presence of women in every field and pursuing every career path in Garth Nix’s world. When a general or a messenger was mentioned, I often found myself pausing over the indication that this character was a woman, having initially assumed it was male character without doing so consciously. In literature and film where strong female characters have begun to appear, we are still used to uneven distribution. We are used to a few extraordinary female fighters and heroines set against a backdrop of secondary characters who are men. The regular, everyday militia is going to populated by men. Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom, on the other hand, has true equality, and in Goldenhand there are more women than men with the novel’s focus on the Clayr where all the roles in society are filled by women. Garth Nix crafts incredibly believable female characters. Part of me wonders whether I'm just expecting too little of other male writers when I’m impressed by Nix. Why can't most male writers create a female character who is, you know, a human being? Sabriel and Lirael often seem like strong leaders regardless of their gender, as if Garth Nix has done what should be the minimum and simply treated his female characters as rational people. 

That being said, I feel Garth Nix does occasionally venture into discussions of gender and portrays his characters as gendered. I think these discussions achieve a lot from a writer who clearly values equality and leadership roles for women. Those moments where Lirael and Nick and Sabriel and Touchstone confront their gender dynamics with their relationships are fascinating to me. Touchstone, for example, pushes back when Sabriel wants to go north of The Great Rift, but this seems motivated by concern for her as an individual, rather than as a women, and is accompanied by recognition of Sabriel’s incredible abilities and how they differ from his own. Sabriel and Touchstone do an excellent job as a couple with role division and distribution. They play to their strengths and while Touchstone is the leader of the people and an organizer of military men and women, Sabriel is a more independent force taking on and challenging the dead. I liked the moment where Sabriel remembered when she was pregnant with her first child and she stayed at the Abhorsen’s house while Touchstone traveled the Old Kingdom, fighting and problem-solving.This book touches on the dynamic that Lirael and Nick begin to define for themselves, which is different than that dynamic Sabriel and Touchstone have chosen. Sabriel reflected on the feeling of being left out of a fight while she was pregnant, and being left out of the action is something Nick frequently faces in this book as the one character who has access to magic, but neither control over it nor training. Will Nick often be left behind and left out when Lirael rushes to the source of trouble? For example, she prepares her owl Charter skin to travel alone to Yellowsands. The novel’s ending is satisfying, however, because Lirael and Nick benefit from their partnership. Nick is able to participate and play a supporting role to Lirael who is clearly our protagonist and hero. 

Further reflection on gender issues in this book is apparent in the way the female characters actively define themselves in romances and relationships. I see this as another forwarding-thinking aspect of this book, as it allows these strong women to express themselves through their gender identities, sexuality, and relationships. And I like that our female characters express a variety of self-identifies when it comes to sexuality, although this message felt a bit forced, plot-wise, when Ferin seduced Sameth, the final scene of the book. This scenes appears pages after Lirael speaks first of hers and Nick’s future marriage. These women are both actively defining the type of relationship that they want. This is a certain type of heroism as important as wielding a sword or a bow. There is no judgment from Garth Nix about the types of relationships or sexualities that are “correct” or “better.” Lirael directly tell Nick that she's never slept with a man before, taking charge over her body and her situation, but her innocence and her commitment to marriage and to Nick, her one true love, is not paired with any judgment of Ferin’s expansive and life-affirming sexuality. It's clear from the final scene with Sameth and Ferin that this is a spontaneous love scene without requests for commitment. I could see how this ending strove to contrast Lirael’s “one true love” approach. Nick and Lirael are clearly the main characters and their love and complex connection is intended to outlast trials and time, and it’s honored and celebrated for this, but it’s not presented as the only option for women. Importantly, this is the right option for Lirael who has always struggled to establish physical and emotional closeness to other people. But what is the right choice for Lirael does not have to be the right choice for Ferin. I like this about Garth Nix’s portrayal of his strong female characters.

At times, this book felt more rushed then the earlier trilogy. I wished this book were as long as Lirael and equally devoted to substantial world-building. Instead, this book seemed more focused on relationships between the characters and basic plot, which--while it does introduce the lands north of the Old Kingdom and Ferin’s world--doesn't do the same indulgent world building that Lirael’s time with the Clayr as a librarian did. I’m a big sucker for world-building in fantasy novels and when I love the world and the characters, I just want more and more of that, probably sometimes at detriment to the plot. I know books wouldn’t be broadly marketable, if they were written with my preferences mind. Still, maybe Garth Nix’s had a new (strict) editor, or maybe the pacing differences are simply due to the time that passed between the writing of the original novels and Goldenhand. Scenes in this book do feel rushed, for example Lirael and Nick’s journey to The Great Rift and the preparations for the battle against the nomad tribes. The majority of the action happens in the last thirty pages of the book. There's a weird acceleration in preparation for the action, which then passes very quickly. The earlier part of the book felt more like the first three novels in terms of pacing. I also feel like earlier parts of the book set up some things that weren't resolved. We did not get a clear understanding of or investigation into the relationship between free magic and Charter magic that exists inside Nick. Even though this power balance between the two forms of magic is later useful, we don't understand it or see its threat that hovers over the early parts of the book. 

I didn’t manage to read Clariel through to the end (shame on me). I was surprised by the antihero approach, as well as struggling to invest in and care about our protagonist. I clearly missed some things that would have helped me with Goldenhand, although it was all comprehensible without having read Clariel. I feel inspired to go back and read Clariel now that I understand the type of ethically complex character that we're heading toward. It was a joy to go back to the Old Kingdom. I cheered for the reappearance of old time friends, particularly the Disreputable Dog and Mogget, as I wasn’t sure whether we’d see these characters. The logistics of magic and the relationship between magic and technology at the border between Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom has always fascinated me. The various gates of death, the powers of dead beings and free magic sorcerers, the uses of the bells of the Abhorsen: all these things are as intriguing, vivid, and well-imagined as always in Garth Nix’s world.