Best Garth Nix Books
Garth Nix built one of young adult fantasy's most haunting and original worlds with the Abhorsen series — a place where necromancy is heroic, death has seven precincts, and bells are weapons. Sabriel introduced a heroine navigating a crumbling magical boundary between the living and the dead, establishing Nix's gift for mythology that feels ancient even when freshly invented. His prose is precise and unhurried, trusting readers to absorb rules and stakes without over-explanation. The Keys to the Kingdom series shows his range: baroque, inventive, and stranger in tone, each book ratcheting up an elaborate cosmological puzzle. Nix writes for readers who want their fantasy dark enough to feel consequential but constructed with enough internal logic to be genuinely satisfying. If you love immersive secondary worlds where the magic has real weight and real cost, Nix rewards close attention.
Where to Start with Garth Nix
- Best entry point → Sabriel
- Best standalone → Old Venus
- Start The Keys to the Kingdom series → Mister Monday
- What readers keep coming back to → Drowned Wednesday
- Highest rated by readers → Lord Sunday (The Keys to the Kingdom #7)
Best Garth Nix Books
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Sabriel
Abhorsen/The Old Kingdom • Book 1
by Garth Nix
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Boarding school student Sabriel inherits her father's role as Abhorsen — a necromancer who puts the dead to rest rather than raising them. Nix creates a richly detailed world where death has rules and the undead have agency.
★ 4.16 Goodreads (219.2K ratings) - 2
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Rogues
Ancient World
by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Joe Abercrombie, Gillian Flynn, Matthew Hughes, Joe R. Lansdale, Michael Swanwick, David Ball, Carrie Vaughn, Scott Lynch, Bradley Denton, Cherie Priest, Daniel Abraham, Paul Cornell, Steven Saylor, Garth Nix, Walter Jon Williams, Phyllis Eisenstein, Lisa Tuttle, Neil Gaiman, Connie Willis, Patrick Rothfuss
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Thieves, con artists, and morally flexible heroes populate these original stories from genre heavyweights like Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss. The anthology celebrates characters who operate in ethical gray areas.
★ 3.87 Goodreads (24.6K ratings) - 9
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The Book of Swords
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz #7 - A Long, Cold Trail
by Gardner Dozois, K.J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, Matthew Hughes, Kate Elliott, Walter Jon Williams, Daniel Abraham, C.J. Cherryh, Garth Nix, Ellen Kushner, Scott Lynch, Rich Larson, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Cecelia Holland, George R.R. Martin
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Seventeen fantasy luminaries including George R.R. Martin and Robin Hobb craft new sword-and-sorcery tales inspired by Conan and Elric. Each story channels the classic pulp spirit while showcasing contemporary fantasy's evolution.
★ 3.67 Goodreads (2.2K ratings) - 11
The Book of Magic
Spiritwalker #Bloom
by Gardner Dozois, K.J. Parker, Megan Lindholm, John Crowley, Matthew Hughes, Ysabeau S. Wilce, Rachel Pollack, Eleanor Arnason, Tim Powers, Liz Williams, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Greg Van Eekhout, George R.R. Martin, Andy Duncan, Kate Elliott, Scott Lynch
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Magic wielders embody both salvation and destruction across eighteen stories from masters like George R.R. Martin and Kate Elliott. Each tale examines power's price, from wise mentors to corrupt sorcerers, creating a comprehensive exploration of fantasy's most essential element.
★ 3.70 Goodreads (839 ratings) - 12
Old Venus
by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Ian McDonald, Garth Nix, Joe Haldeman, Gwyneth Jones, Matthew Hughes, Paul McAuley, Lavie Tidhar, Allen M. Steele, Stephen Leigh, Eleanor Arnason, David Brin, Michael Cassutt, Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Joe R. Lansdale, Mike Resnick
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Sixteen authors resurrect the steamy, dangerous Venus of pulp fiction—complete with dripping jungles, strange creatures, and the adventurous spirit of classic sci-fi.
★ 3.57 Goodreads (734 ratings) - 13
The Book of Witches
by Jonathan Strahan, Linda D. Addison, P. Djèlí Clark, Kathleen Jennings, Tade Thompson, Ken Liu, Darcie Little Badger, Andrea Hairston, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Khaw, Tobi Ogundiran, Kelly Robson, C.L. Clark, Millie Ho, Indrapramit Das, Saad Z. Hossain, Garth Nix, Premee Mohamed, Maureen F. McHugh, Andrea Stewart, Tochi Onyebuchi, Sheree Renée Thomas, Angela Slatter, Fonda Lee, Usman T. Malik, E. Lily Yu, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Emily Y. Teng, Amal El-Mohtar, Alyssa Winans
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Global perspectives on witchcraft span from traditional folklore to futuristic magic systems, though the anthology's breadth sacrifices consistency for ambition across its thirty stories.
★ 3.46 Goodreads (690 ratings)