At any given moment, supernatural forces are probably at work in Sabriel's life. Not only does she hail from a land entirely governed by the laws of magic, but she's entangled in an intense battle with a dead guy.
In Sabriel, supernatural forces show up in a lot of different ways: dead creatures, enchanted airplanes, talking cats, necromantic magic, ghostly servants made entirely from spells—that sort of stuff. We see the power of the supernatural in contrast to the mostly magic-free land of Ancelstierre, where the otherworldly starts to lose its grip south of the Wall. But once in the Old Kingdom, the supernatural seems perfectly natural.
Questions About The Supernatural
- The Wall is a physical dividing line between the supernatural Old Kingdom and the natural land of Ancelstierre. How do the Wall guards cope with this?
- Having grown up in Ancelstierre, Sabriel must return to the Old Kingdom without a lot of knowledge about how the supernatural works there. What kinds of things surprise her? How does she adapt to the Old Kingdom over the course of the story?
- A lot of supernatural things in the Old Kingdom are, like the name of the place, very old—spells and enchantments that have been passed down over time, or built into walls and swords. The act of baptism is also magical. How is magic linked to tradition in the Old Kingdom? What about religion?
- In this book, the supernatural can be seen as a terrifying force or a great power of good. Would you rather live in the Old Kingdom, or in Ancelstierre? What do the citizens of Ancelstierre miss by living in a land without Old Kingdom magic? Which kind of life would be less stressful?
Chew on This
Living in a world of magic is a lot more stressful and dangerous than living in a world of technology.
The people who live in Ancelstierre are at a big disadvantage without magic.