As the book starts Lirael is depressed. She is a daughter of the Clayr and it is her fourteenth birthday. For her though, it is not a happy birthday as, by the standards of the Clayr, she should have received the gift of (precognitive) sight by this age.

Hearing that one of the younger girls is about to receive her gift, her depression turns deeper and she chooses not to attend the ceremony, but instead makes her way to the aerie at the top of the Clayr's mountain home with the intention of committing suicide.

Once there she is the chance observer to a secret meeting between the hierarchy of the Clayr and the King & Abhorsen.

Once discovered, the elders of the Clayr convince her that there is a purpose to her life and she assumes the role of an assistant librarian. This role however grants her access to the books and their secrets, which enables her to develop her magickal abilities. But that is not all that this library holds as some of the many doors trap magicks and creatures too dangerous to be free.

Skip forwards four years and across the border into the non-magickal land of Ancelstierre and to a sixth form college cricket match where Prince Sameth (the son of the restored King Touchstone and the Abhorsen Sabriel) is batting.

After the completion of the cricket match and on the way back to their school Sameth's team is attacked by the dead from over the nearby wall dividing Ancelstierre from the Old Kingdom.

In the third part of the book Lirael leaves the Clayr's Glacier to venture to the Red Lake, an area where the seers of the Clayr cannot see despite their increasingly large group seeing efforts outlined in the first part of this book.

It is on this journey when Lirael meets Prince Sameth, as he is on his way to rescue a friend of his who has been captured by the necromancer Hedge.

This is an addictive book, the first of the three sections extremely so. It is easy to read, the characters are friendly fully rounded and involving, it being a thoroughly enchanting absorbing tale.

My first thought when picking up this book, knowing it is a book intended for younger readers, related to its long length. But given the Harry Potter phenomenon of late there should be many younger readers out there that will find this book exactly what they might enjoy.

That said though this is also a book series that should appeal to older readers, after all a good story is a good story, and there are plenty of adults out there who enjoy Disney films.