The Ragwitch - Softcover

Nix, Garth

3.47

3,622 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007174993 ISBN 13: 9780007174997

Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks, 2011

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From the author of Abhorsen comes classic fantasy set in a world dominated by the Ragwitch, a being of sinister, destructive intent.

An ancient spirit wreaks death and destruction on the world that sought to cripple her powers.

“Julia turned around – and Paul skidded to a stop in shock. He felt like he’d been winded, struck so hard he couldn’t breathe at all. For the person in front of him wasn’t Julia at all, but a hideous mixture of girl and doll: half flesh, half cloth, and the eyes and face had nothing of Julia left at all, only the evil features of the doll.”

When Julia finds the ugly doll in the strange ball of feathers on the beach, Paul instinctively knows that his sister has meddled with something that is going to cause trouble. But already it’s too late – the power behind the doll already has his sister in its thrall and, later that night, the Ragwitch claims Julia for its own.

Fighting against his natural urge to run from this hideous being, Paul is drawn into the creature’s own world. Can he save his sister – or even himself?

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Review:

Giving young readers a tantalising taste of the imagination unleashed in books to come, The Ragwitch is Garth Nix’s first novel, dating from 1990, and a book that is only now making its deserved first appearance in the UK. Nix’s immense reputation as a fantasy writer has been subsequently built on the success of books such as Sabriel and Lirael from his Old Kingdom trilogy, and Mister Monday and Grim Tuesday, early episodes of the Keys to the Kingdom sequence, but his debut, nevertheless, remains a readable and enjoyable adventure.

The story concerns a brother and sister, Paul and Julia, who discover a feather-covered ragdoll in a large nest on an Aboriginal midden heap besides an Australian beach. At breakneck speed, the plot has Julia possessed by the ragdoll, who is revealed as a powerful witch, and then the pair are transported through magic into the Ragwitch’s own alternate kingdom. Paul, not brave by nature, instinctively follows them in order to save his sister.

While the Ragwitch tries to regain control of her old world, with Julia trapped inside her and giving her form, Paul is lost and at the behest of a host of strange creatures in a nearby forest. His task, in order to save his sibling and defeat the evil that has overtaken her, involves finding four talismans, representing Earth, Air, Fire and Water, so that he can call upon Wild Magic to do so.

All the signs were there that with The Ragwitch, Nix was at the exciting beginning of his storytelling abilities with its glorious cast of quirky characters and weird and wonderful new monsters. This earlier work is not as crisply executed, nor as boldly original, as later efforts but it remains a worthwhile encounter and is an illuminating taste of what was to come from this author.

(Age 10 and over) --John McLay

Review:

Praise for Garth Nix

“[Garth Nix is] the coolest read in the playground.” Amanda Craig

"Sabriel is a winner, a fantasy that reads like realism. Here is a world with the same solidity and four-dimensional authority as our own, created with invention, clarity and intellience." Philip Pullman

“I think Garth Nix has created a really remarkable and persuasive wold, and done it in the grand style of high fantasy and heroic romance, with some wonderful twists and turns. His Sabriel is a heroine truly worthy of that role.” Lloyd Alexander

“By turns rousing, charming and slyly funny, Sabriel is an engaging tale that slays sexual stereotypes along with its monsters.” San Francisco Chronicle

“What makes LIRAEL a delight is the magic that Nix brings to his story and to his characters. It is filled with twists and turns, playful inventiveness and dark magic, and is sure to satisfy his many readers.” Locus

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