Clariel

The city of Belisaire is the cultural heart of the Old Kingdom, a place where the fuss and ceremony of Charter Magic is being replaced by the rationalism and craft of the Guilds; and if such a transition requires the assistance of a little Free Magic, then so be it. Caught in the middle of a power grab, Clariel wants nothing more than to be left alone to pursue her own path in the world, but even a loner is not an island, and so long as there is anything she cares for there is danger.

The fourth novel in the Old Kingdom series is a prequel, exploring the early life of a minor member of the Abhorsen line who will one day become the powerful necromancer Chlorr of the Mask. Clariel is a complicated character, who longs for freedom yet feels a pull of duty nonetheless. She defies the path that her parents have chosen for her, yet her earnest wish is to do good, and the apathy of her kin spurs her to a reckless and life-altering decision.

Clariel is a dark novel, even by the standards of a series in which the protagonists fight zombies and regularly - if only temporarily - die a little bit in order to do so. It's a pretty decent adventure, although for my money not as good as the main trilogy, perhaps because some of the tension is lost by knowing that the monarchy doesn't fall and Clariel won't die but will end up a necromancer at some stage.