Old Kingdom Books In Order

Publication Order of Old Kingdom Books

Chronological Order of Old Kingdom Books

The Old Kingdom series is a popular series of young adult and fantasy books written by an award winning Australian author named Garth Nix.

After being originally published in Australia, the series was re-published in the United States under the new title of the Abhorsen series. The series first began in 1995 with its first book called Sabriel. Following the release of its third book in 2003, author Nix came up with a prequel novel titled Clariel in 2014.

In addition to the five main novels, the series is also comprised of a novella called The Creature in the Case, published in 2005, and several short fiction stories. An omnibus version of this series was released in Australia that consisted of 3 novels and a novella, and was given the title, The Old Kingdom Chronicles. Also, a couple of omnibus editions have been released in North America titled as The Abhorsen Trilogy & The Abhorsen Chronicles in 2003 and 2009 respectively. In the ISFDB catalogues, all the contributions of author Garth Nix in this particular fantasy series are included in The Old Kingdom/Abhorsen novel series.

Each and every book of this series takes their titles based on their chief protagonists; namely, Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Clariel, except the 5th book, Goldenhand. Author Nix has set the stories’ plots in the fictional worlds of Ancelstierre and Old Kingdom. Ancelstierre represents England and is described as the technological and cultural era of Britain during its pre-World Ward I time.

Old Kingdom roughly corresponds to Scotland and is shown as the setting for the series’ most parts. These two places travel through time differently. Their yearly seasons and day hours are seldom in synchrony. The second of the series suggested that the places are different realities running parallel to one another and overlapping at certain points occasionally. Nix has divided the people in two main groups, The Clayr and the Abhorsens.

The Clayrs reside on a snowy mountain called Clayr’s Glacier. This group consists of mainly women, who are extremely beautiful. On the other hand, the Abhorsens include a lineage of the ones, who destroy and imprison Free Magic and Dead, whenever they feel that mortal life is threatened. The next in the line to become an Abhorsen is not necessarily the child of the current Abhorsen. In fact, he could be his sibling or a cousin or a niece.

All of Old Kingdom is filled with magic and it is present in two forms, Charter Magic and Free Magic. The Free Magic is old and has a natural origin, whereas the Charter Magic is imposed by the Bright Shiners. Free Magic is seen mainly in the form of monsters and Charter Magic describes cosmos. Along with magic, there is also presense of supernatural creatures in the fantasy world of Old Kingdom. They are primarily divided into five basic ones, The Dead, Constructs, Charter Sendings, Free Magic Elements, and the Mordicants. Dead is further divided into the Greater and Lesser classes.

Garth Nix is a very well known Australian author, who is famous for writing fantasy stories. He has been writing exciting young adult stories since 1995 and his fan base comprises of mainly younger readers. Author Nix was born on July 19, 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, as Garth Richard Nix. His specialization lies in writing fantasy books in the children and young adult genres. Nix is notably popular for writing the Seventh Tower, Old Kingdom, and the Keys to the Kingdom novel series. He is very often asked if his name is a pen name, as the name seems a typical name for a writer. And Nix is forced to clarify every time something like this comes up.

Author Nix was brought up in Canberra. He completed his school education from the Lyneham School and the Turner Primary School. Later, he joined the Dickson College for his further studies. While he was still studying in college, he joined the Army Reserve and began working for the government of Australia. During his time in the army, Nix traveled all across Europe and finally returned to his country in 1983. After this, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Canberra University in professional writing. Following his graduation,

Nix worked in a bookshop in Canberra for a brief period. In 1987, he moved to Sydney and attempt to work things up for himself in the field of publishing.

Nix worked as a publicist and a sales representative at the HarperCollins before making his way through to the post of Senior editor. Then, he decided to go on a trip to Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. After returning from this long trip, Nix became a consultant in the marketing field and also laid down the foundation of his company, the Gotley Nix-Evans. In the period between 1999 and 2002, he was involved in working for Curtis Brown as their literary agent in Australia. Finally, he decided to become a full time writer and publish his own works. Author Nix is married and resides in Sydney along with his beloved wife named Anna McFarlane. He is blessed with two sons named Edward and Thomas.

The debut book of the Old Kingdom series written by author Garth Nix is entitled ‘Sabriel’. It was released by the Harper Collins publishing in 1995. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Sabriel is sent to Ancelstierre to study in a boarding school when she is very young.

Because of this, she didn’t have any acquaintance with the Free Magic or Dead in Old Kingdom. But, when she reaches the final semester, Sabriel learns that her father, who is the Abhorsen, has gone missing. She realizes that the time has come for her to enter Old Kingdom and deal with the supernatural creatures, overcome them, and get his father back. The next installment of the series is entitled ‘Lirael’. This novel was published by the Eos publication in 2015, after its first release in 2001.

The chief characters mentioned in this book by Nix are Lirael, Sabriel, Chlorr, Mogget, Nicholas Sayre, Touchstone, Prince Sameth, Disreputable Dog, Kirrith, etc. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Lirael belongs to the Clayr, but she has never had the feeling of being a Clayr’s daughter. After the passage of 2 years of her denial of the Sight, which is the birthright of any Clayr, Lirael feels abandoned, alone, and unsure of her true identity. She has to her side Disreputable Dog, who is her only faithful companion. Later, Lirael comes to know that she has to undertake a difficult mission and face a deadly evil to achieve what belongs to her.

6 Responses to “Old Kingdom”

1. Raine: 2 months ago

   Thank you so much for the chronological order, was looking to reread this series today and this is exactly what I needed!

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 months ago

     You’re welcome 🙂

     Reply
2. Laura Harvey: 2 years ago

   I am looking to read the chronological order of the series, not publication order. Are there any recommendations for that order since Terciel and Elinor got published? Thanks!

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     I’ve updated the listing with what I believe is the correct chronological order 🙂 Cheers

     Reply
3. Jessie: 3 years ago

   Clariel, published in 2014 – Prequel to the original trilogy is not on this list

   Reply
   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     Hi Jesse – Clariel is on the list.

     Reply