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45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holds a "Key", July 3, 2003
This review is from: Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Dark fantasy writer Garth Nix expanded his readership with his excellent "Seventh Tower" series. Now he expands further, in a darker, grittier, more realistic fantasy set in our world, where a confused young boy has to escape dark forces that want to use him for their own ends -- or kill him. Arthur Penhaligon has asthma. As a result, he ends up in the hospital regularly. But one day he encounters a strange man called Mr. Monday and his creepy butler, who leave him with a Key shaped like a minute hand and a little book with dancing letters. When he returns home after another stay in the hospital, Arthur finds that the Key seems to be attracting unwanted attention -- a statue of a Komodo dragon comes alive, and a winged man-dog tries to come into his house. What's more, a House has appeared -- one that is also inside the little book. Soon Arthur is being pursued by more dog-faced Fetchers, and a strange plague is sweeping his town -- and somehow the Key is keeping him alive, even though he was supposed to die of an asthma attack. His answers lie inside the House. But what lies beyond it is like nothing in our world, where ghastly nithlings roam and the Piper's children run wild in the streets. And the sinister Mr. Monday wants the Key back. Garth Nix takes his focus from high fantasy (such as the Abhorsen trilogy or the Seventh Tower series) to a more modern fantasy that takes place in our world. Though Arthur skips to another world, he's clearly from our own world. But Nix doesn't downplay his brand of horrific fantasy either; stuff that would seem silly for most other authors is magic in his hands. As in his other books, he melds an exceptional, original fantasy world with elements of horror. The handling of the parallel world, the Will, Sneezer, and the Key and Atlas are all wonderfully woven together (not to mention the characters of Dawn, Dusk, Noon for each day, and so on). At the same time, we have the bloodwinged, silver-tongued Noon and the ugly Fetchers, not to mention the hideous nithlings. This is dark fantasy at its best. Arthur is a likable kid, with an unusual problem (asthma). Like most of Nix's heroes, he's desperately running and searching, and learning from those ahead of him. Quirky Suzy is reminiscent of a Lloyd Alexander heroine. The writing is detailed, evocative, and never lags for a minute. "Mister Monday" is another great book from Garth Nix, combining darkness and fantasy and leaving me eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Brilliant.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
He Was Never Supposed to Be a Hero!, August 19, 2003
This review is from: Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Arthur Penhaligon dreaded his first day at his new school. His family had just moved to the area and he was starting two weeks later than everyone else because he was in the hospital with a severe asthma attack. His PE teacher thought he was just slacking off when Arthur told him that he couldn't run so Arthur thought it was best to just go with the flow and joined the other kids. Arthur knew it was a mistake when he felt his lungs start to shut down in the middle of the park - far away from help. Not even his inhaler seemed to be giving him oxygen. When he saw a cadaverously thin man with terrible teeth pushing the most beautiful man Arthur had ever seen in an old fashioned wicker wheelchair, Arthur was sure that he was having a weird, oxygen-deprived dream. Then the beautiful man gave Arthur a key and he could breathe again. After Arthur recovered from his asthma attack, he discovered that the key was actually the key to a clock and that it came with a book, the Compleat Atlas of the House and Immediate Environs, which shows pictures of how to use the key to get into a big house on the block that only Arthur can see. Arthur doesn't know what to do, but he knows that he cannot stay at school when an army of dog-faced Fetchers show up to get the key from him. Even more frightening than the Fetchers is Mr. Noon, who is just as beautiful as the man who gave him the key, and just as deadly. When a deadly virus strikes Arthur's new town, he knows that he has no choice but to go into the House. When he passes through the gateway, Arthur is immediately plunged into a strange world where people collect paper and writing and the children the Pied Piper lured off are trapped. Suzy, one of the trapped children, decides to help Arthur and, together with the Will, a mysterious creature that Arthur is not sure is helping him or not, Arthur and Suzy set out to win the other key from Mr. Monday and take over the world so that Arthur can return home. But it seems that everyone Arthur meets has another plan and he doesn't know who to trust and why was he chosen to have the key anyway? Mister Monday was a good book and I enjoyed it, but it was pretty confusing and very different than other books that I have read. I was kind of expecting this because Garth Nix writes a lot of really good dark fantasy, but it isn't what you would call easy to understand. I liked Arthur, but he was a little standoffish and the other characters were pretty weird too. The worlds that Arthur explored were the most confusing, but this may be on purpose because the reader only learned and understood things when Arthur learned and understood them. I think it may be too confusing for younger readers, but older readers and those who have enjoyed the Harry Potter series will enjoy having another set of books to read in between waiting for Rowling's next offering. This appears to be the first in what will be a new series for Nix and I am eagerly awaiting the next - Mr. Tuesday, I presume?
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great book by Garth Nix:, July 3, 2003
This review is from: Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I think Keys to the Kingdom is my new favorite series by Mr. Nix. Once again, he has created a deep, detailed and believable world that leaves readers hungry for the next book. The story of Mister Monday begins in the normal world, where Arthur is starting his first term at his new private school. During a PE endurance run, his asthma leaves him gasping for breath, and he collapses. Just when he's about to pass out, he meets two strange men, who give him a small book and a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock. Once Arthur touches the key, his asthma attack suddenly stops as if it had never started. The two men begin to fight, and then they vanish, leaving a confused Arthur with the book and key, wondering if he had been seeing things. Things escalate from there, and as Arthur realizes the extent of the key's powers, he finds that lots of intruders from the House, another world, would be willing to kill to get it. Left with no other options after a mysterious plague sweeps his town following an attack by intruders, Arthur travels to the House to unravel the mystery of the key and the book. It's really amazing how, over and over again, Nix can imagine new, perfectly functional, interesting societies, with suspenseful and enthralling plots to match. I think Mister Monday is a great book for people of all ages, not just for teens and young adults.
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