Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories

by Garth Nix

I absolutely loved the Abhorsen trilogy, so when I saw that there was another book linked to it; I started dancing in my computer chair! "Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories" is a compilation of short stories by Garth Nix. Some are more of the length of a novella, and some of them are only a couple of pages long. Only one of the stories is set in the world of the Abhorsen trilogy, but the rest made for interesting reading as well!

One thing I really liked about this book is that each story has an introduction to it where we get to hear from Garth Nix why the story was written, and some of his stories surrounding it. I guess I'm just a sucker for stories, because I like even the stories about stories!

"Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case," is the first story in this book and the one that's based in the world of the Abhorsen trilogy. I loved the fact that we got to find out more of what happened to Nick, because while he is redeemed at the end of the last book, we're left with no idea of where his life is going to go from there. The only thing that frustrated me about the story is he left me wanting even more as he hinted at a blooming romance...

There are twelve other stories in this book and they vary vastly in topic and style – which I liked. While there is a degree of his "flavor" to all of them, it's always fun to see an author who can apply his talents to a variety of subjects.

Many of these pieces (maybe all, I can't remember) have appeared before in different anthologies or other print mediums. One of them (Hansel's Eyes) I had actually read before! Two are based in Arthurian legend, one is based in Nix's homeland of Australia, and we even have a "choose your own adventure" type story in here! Readers of Nix new and old will love this anthology of his work.