How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
In fact, the Perimeter was much more successful in keeping people from Ancelstierre out of the Old Kingdom, than it was in preventing things from the Old Kingdom going the other way. Anything powerful enough to cross the Wall usually retained enough magic to assume the shape of a soldier; or to become invisible and simply go where it willed […]. (2.2)
The supernatural works in unusual ways in Sabriel's world, and here's an example: Magic functions in the Old Kingdom, but not in Ancelstierre. That makes the Wall a pretty strange place.
Quote #2
Here, she could feel magic potential brewing, lurking in the atmosphere like charged air before a thunderstorm. (2.4)
Magic, in Sabriel's world, is a force that she can feel, and this is a great description of what that feeling is like.
Quote #3
In his face, Sabriel suddenly realized what it meant to use magic on the Perimeter, and she held herself absolutely still, blanking out the partly made signs in her mind. (2.33)
In a world that has a clear, physical wall dividing magic and technology, Sabriel is just starting to understand the subtleties of the transition between the supernatural and the natural worlds.
Quote #4
The cat was no cat, but a Free Magic creature of ancient power. "Abhorsen," mewed the cat, its little pink tongue darting. "About time you got here." (7.45)
Yep, a talking cat isn't normal. Something supernatural is definitely at work here.
Quote #5
"So," she said, addressing the figurehead like a lawyer before the court. "You are the victim of some Free Magic spell and necromantic trickery. Your spirit lies neither in Life nor Death, but somewhere in between." (13.40)
When Sabriel first finds Touchstone frozen as a wooden figure on the prow of a ship, he's so extremely lifelike that she suspects he's not a carved statue at all. It's an illustration of how she's adapting to the supernatural world of the Old Kingdom that she even considers this to be a possibility.
Quote #6
"There is a spell… a binding on us. But someone who is not a Charter Mage, or otherwise closely bound to the Charter, might be able to speak. A child, perhaps, baptized with the Charter mark, but not grown into power." (15.57)
In the Old Kingdom, magic is so pervasive that a single spell affects the entire population's ability to speak about Charter Magic.
Quote #7
Closer now, Sabriel was sure that the fisherman was a vassal of the Dead. Technically, he was still alive, but a Dead spirit had suppressed his will, riding on his flesh like some shadowy string-puller, using his body as a puppet. (17.19)
Here we find out one of the many ways that Dead spirits can harm the living—this sounds a lot like The Exorcist, doesn't it?
Quote #8
There were other things in Death than the Dead—inexplicable beings of Free Magic, strange constructs and incomprehensible forces. (22.7)
So Death isn't just a place for dead people—it's chock-full of serious supernatural happenings. Must be quite the party.
Quote #9
"The only reason that Ancelstierre isn't like the Old Kingdom is the Wall, and it won't last once Kerrigor breaks the remaining stones." (27.24)
Another illustration of the division between the supernatural and natural worlds, and what might happen if some evil guy comes along to mess everything up. Magic in this world can be really dangerous, and is best contained by walls and Charters.
Quote #10
Sabriel stood where she was, and conjured the Charter marks for light. They came easily, flowing down to her fingertips like cool water from a shower. She let them hang there for a moment, then cast them at the ceiling, drops of light that grew to the size of dinner plates and cast a steady light all down the hall. (27.62)
After Sabriel's long journey to the Old Kingdom, she's so familiar with magic that it comes naturally to her, without any effort. If she was good at magic before, now she's… well, really good at it. Here we see how much she's become accustomed to the Old Kingdom, and how much she really belongs on the supernatural side of the fence.