Customer Reviews

Archer's Goon

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4 star:		(3)
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This is one of Jones's best. With an incredibly surprising ending--and its anticlimax that is almost as good. One of the best and most captivating beginnings in existence. Incredible characters, from stubborn Quentin Sykes to the Goon himself to our minor but no less valuable and amusing Fifi. Awful is one of the best children I have ever read (the way she's portrayed, not the way she behaves) and Howard is an incredibly simple, yet complicated character.

DIANA WYNNE JONES IS ONE OF THE BEST AUTHORS IN EXISTENCE. READ ALL HER BOOKS--NO FOOLING< NO JOKING< NO LIES--THEN BUY THEM ALL--DITTO.

I had been wanting to read Archer's Goon for quite some time, following my discovery of Jones' Chrestomanci series and generally feeling that she was my type of writer, something that hadn't been dispelled by the enjoyment of a couple of her other novels like Eight Days of Luke and Howl's Moving Castle (which, I believe, is soon to be a motion picture). But Archer's Goon had been originally published in 1984 and no one had seen fit to bring it back into print. I searched in vain at used book stores while at the same time refusing to pay for overpriced copies over the Internet.

Then J.K. Rowling happened (the analogy to a force of nature is intended), and young adult novels with magic in them have returned to the bestseller lists and the bookshelves. HarperCollins likely combed through their backlist to find this, and I'm glad they did, for it finally gave me an affordable chance to read this novel.

The anticipation was well worth it, too. The book starts immediately with the introduction of the Goon of the title (an oversized ogre of a man) crowding the Sykes household, which consists of the protagonist Howard, aged 13; his little sister Awful; their live-in sitter Fifi; their father Quentin, a writer; and their mother Catriona, a music teacher. Archer sent the Goon there to collect 2,000 words from Quentin, something that Archer...and Archer's brothers and sisters...believe is keeping them from ruling the world. Wait? What was that again?

Yes, Archer is a wizard, and so is the rest of his family. But none of them trust the others, although they've divided the town up into different areas that each of them "farm": for example, Shine controls crime, Torquil music, Dillian law and order, Erskine the sewers, and Archer controls electricity and gas. But one of them is keeping the others from branching out and controlling the world, and it has something to do with those 2,000 words that Howard's father Quentin provides every month. Unfortunately, Quentin refuses to write those words for any of those people--not wanting to help them take over the world--and the wizards begin causing all sorts of problems for the Sykes family very quickly.

The pleasure of Jones' books is how the magic is integrated as a natural part of her worlds. While the characters who aren't magicians still see the magic as surprising, they quickly come to accept and even understand it. In the context of a children's book, such ready acceptance of the irrational mirrors the arbitrary world around young people, which oftentimes seems, if not actually is, illogical: Why can't I stay out late? Why don't we ever see dad's brothers for holidays? Why don't we always let the answering machine answer the phone, even when we are here?

Archer's Goon has plenty of twists in it, as Howard and Awful learn more about the world around them, including how their parents react to each other and the two of them, not to mention the secret of the Goon. I recommend this one highly.

This book was way fun to read, full of humor, magic and character. Amazing to think that when Diana Wynne Jones wrote this even SHE didn't know what was going to happen.

Howard Sykes comes home one day to find a goon- a huge dirty guy, anyway- sitting in his kitchen, saying that he comes from Archer, and refusing to move until he gets the 2000 words Howard's father owes him.

But the words got misplaced by Fifi, a college student who stays at the Sykes's house. So Fifi, Howard and Howard's little sister, Awful (who can live up to her name at times) go to find it.

Well, one thing leads to another and they soon find out that the whole town is run by 7 wizards (who are all related).

For me to give you a play by play here would take too long, but if you're thinking of reading this or just looking for a great book to read, I HIGHLY recommend this.

I have recently read Archer's Goon, and it is one of the best books by Diana Wynne Jones you will EVER read! It's sadly out of print, which amazes me because I doubt it ever got the publicity it deserves. It truly is an amazing book, it's lively, readable and unpredictable. I would say it's for readers of 11 and upwards.

I read this book as a kid and I loved it. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood the book became lost and I searched and searched for it. It is one of the greatest young adult books I've ever read and when I reread it I was compleatly enraptured. Not often has a book meant for children been so vivid in it's descriptions and it's settings. The plot has so many twists and turns that I was kept entertained the whole time while reading it. I felt like the Goon was at my kitchen table and he wouldn't leave until I finished the book.

"A Goon is a being who melts into the foreground and sticks there."
"All power corrupts, but we need electricity."
"It pays to increase your word power."
- from the author's note

Although Jones seems to be classified as a "children's" author, I've found her a very fine fantasy writer with a sly sense of humor ever since I took amazon.com's advice and first read HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE. While ARCHER'S GOON (a stand-alone work rather than a volume in any of Jones' series) has a young protagonist, but like Jones' other work can be enjoyed by any fantasy reader, since she doesn't talk down to her audience.

On the morning the story opens, Howard Sykes faces a typical day of school, avoiding violin practice, and the usual clashes with his little sister (nicknamed 'Awful', with a voice like an ambulance siren). Just an ordinary day in an ordinary little town, right?

Then the title character, a huge thug promptly nicknamed 'the Goon', shows up.

"What's Dad done?"
"Told her. Sykes got behind with his payment. Archer wants his two thousand. Here to collect it."
"Who *is* Archer?"
"Archer farms this part of town. Your dad pays, Archer doesn't make trouble."

In exchange for being let off his taxes - and maybe other things - Howard's father has been sending 2000 words in an envelope to City Hall every month for years. Sykes tries to laugh this off, saying it's a private joke he used to break his writer's block years ago - but now one sibling after another of the seven siblings running the town wants to get hold of the last batch of words and figure out what Archer's been up to all this time. Despite being adults, the siblings don't get on any better than Howard and Awful do; they've just got a truce by which they've divvied up the city. (One sister runs law enforcement while her twin handles crime, for example; Archer runs city power, Hathaway transportation. The brother who got last choice got waste management.) We eventually meet each sibling in turn; in some cases, the main characters must work out where that particular sibling's HQ must be, given their discipline.

The siblings settled into town about a decade before the story opens, planning to use it as a base for taking over the world - but they can't even get along with each other except for staying out of each other's way, and some seem to have changed their minds about running the world. But at least one appears to be interfering with all the others - all of them seem magically constrained to stay within the city limits, although they all deny knowing who did it, how, or why. The siblings have different personalities, and one or two really *are* efficient enough at organization to run the world if they can get free of the town.

Sitting down and asking myself why I like this book so much, I think it's basically the same reason I like some of GK Chesterton's grand conspiracy stories: on the surface we have an ordinary, apparently completely mundane and boring setting - but underneath that surface, even the most mundane activity may cover the activities of some agent of a colorful conspiracy. For instance, Hathaway doesn't get out much, which explains the town's disorganized road construction programs and why potholes don't get fixed properly. Archer has his secret lair in a bank vault and likes gadgets. The brother who runs entertainment travels with an entourage of disco dancers and the local cathedral choir when he wants to foil eavesdroppers.

The Goon himself *looks* very threatening, and refuses to leave without Archer's overdue batch of words, but he's easily bullied about little things like where he puts his feet, and can almost be overlooked like a large pet or easygoing protector - a dangerous assumption to make, perhaps.

This is far from a typical children's book! It is a fabulous, funny, wildly imaginative coming-of-age tale about a family (or two families) and ... wars. Parental wars, sibling wars, wizard wars, gang wars!

It is impossible to convey the feel of the wacky, warm, confused and confusing bunch of characters that Jones created in this amazing yarn. Successive versions of reality are revealed and then peeled away to reveal another below, like an onion. She has created many wonderful and wildly differing worlds in her many books; this may just be the best and most original.

I first picked this book up 3 years ago, and not a month has gone by when I have not reread this book. Its characters are delightful and funny, that combined with a plot with great twists, forms a story that anyone would love. I have made everyone in my family read this book, and all have enjoyed it as much as I have. I would really recommend this book!!!!

Archer's Goon is the story of a boy named Howard who discovers himself to be more important than he would have ever imagined. Who is really in control of Howard's town? Why are the seven wizard's unable to go beyond the town's boundaries? Where is the seventh wizard hiding? And how does Howard's dad's writing figure into it all? When Howard's family becomes caught up in the mad power struggle between the rivaling family of wizards they realize that they must find out; their lives, or at the very least their sanity is at risk. This book manages to blend every day living with fantasy to come out with something so impossibly wacky, it's almost believable. I'm 14 and love this book. This is the book for anyone, adult or kid, who ever wished that the world had a little less science and a bit more magic

I'm not gonna lie to you. This book is about a Goon belonging to Archer. To be exact, it is about the repercussions of living with a Goon for an extended amount of time. I've slowly been devouring the collected works of Diana Wynne Jones and so far I haven't been disappointed by a single one of her titles. Each book is even odder and more bizarre than the last, often causing the reader to clasp his or her head from time to time and shout, "How does she think this stuff up?". "Arthur's Goon" is no exception to this rule. A brilliantly warped view of absolute power corrupting absolutely and the power plays that go on between siblings (no matter what their age), this book deserves to be remembered as one of the best children's novels out there today.

Walter comes home one day to discover a Goon sitting in his family's kitchen. Your typical hired heavy, the Goon has been sent by the mysterious Archer to collect from Walter's dad about 2000 words. It seems that for the last 13 years Walter's father (Howard) has been writing 2000 words a month and sending them off to a mysterious somebody. Now the words have become misplaced and the Goon has been sent to collect. As Howard steadfastly refuses to type any more, things start to go a little crazy. It isn't long before Walter and his family come to realize that their town is run by seven power mad sibling wizards. These wizards have been trapped in the town and each one runs a different part of it. For example, Dillian farms (that means runs) the police force while Shine farms crime. Now it's up to Walter to solve the mystery of the seven mysterious beings and to figure out who exactly is behind their entrapment within the town.

Author Jones is equally a master at engaging peculiar characters as she is creating complex multi-layered plots. You grow to love the Goon as he grows horribly lovesick for a young college student staying with Walter and his family. And who wouldn't identify with Walter when he has to deal with his appropriately nicknamed little sister Awful. I would venture to guess that she's the worst little sister character I have ever encountered in a kid's book, and that's saying a lot. Then there's the mystery to contend with. As Walter meets more and more of the seven the reader slowly is given clues to understand who's behind it all. Not since Raskin's, "The Westing Game" did I have this much fun with a mysterious kid's book. And to be honest, I never guessed the ending until I was told. The surprise twist this book carries is a doozy. If you figure out who's behind it all before they tell you then you're probably the kind of person who downs Agatha Christie novels like pop tarts.

Unfortunately, I have a bone to pick with this book. Sad to say, either I wasn't bright enough for some of the loose ends here or they were just too darn loose. The ending of this story is never fully explained and (to be frank) I don't believe we ever do find out EXACTLY how the seven brothers and sisters were trapped in the town at all. Some of these points are glossed over so beautifully that it takes a full three hours after putting the book down to realize what it is that you have missed. Now I'm 26 years of age and if I can't understand parts of this tale it's probably a fair guess that your average 10 year-old reader with have similar problems.

Still, that's my only quarrel. There's so much to love here that I feel a little dour making these kinds of comments. I mean, how can you dislike a book where a character like Awful is constantly asking the seven wizards where they come in order of birth so that she can better understand the pecking order in the family? It's a delightful tale about family fights and what it is that exactly makes up a family at all. And then of course there's the goon. Last of all I display for you the fabulous goon that starts this book rolling and, quite possibly, ends it. Here's to goons, ladies and gentlemen! May they grace the pages of more and more children's books in the future.