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Mister Monday (The Keys to the Kingdom #1), Garth NixMister Monday is the first novel in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. The other books in the series are: Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, Sir Thursday, Lady Friday, Superior Saturday and Lord Sunday. Mister Monday is afflicted with the deadly sin of Sloth. On Earth, a boy named Arthur Penhaligon (the main character) is at a new school. He collapses during an outdoor cross country run during gym because of his severe asthma. Two of h...
This is Garth Nix's series for middle grade. There's a book for each day of the week, so that's quite a commitment as far as a series goes. I found it very creative, unpredictable, and fast moving with solid writing and interesting characters.--------------------Re-read to refresh my memory before continuing the series.
I remember picking this book up because I liked Nix's Abhorsen trilogy so much, but this one is kind of a big letdown after the greatness that was Abhorsen. It's just a run of the mill mid-grade fantasy quest Arthurian/Christian symbolism story. And to make matters worse, for me anyway, is that it is just so whimsical and overly descriptive. Two things I dislike on their own, but in combination? STABSTABSTAB. Also, I pretty much just hate stories where the magic has no logic or rules or structur...
The one where dangerously asthmatic Arthur gains possession of a clock hand that embroils him in a conflict with supernatural agents -- one that takes the form of a strange journey in one realm, and a deadly plague in another.This was wildly original and yet also boring, which takes some doing. Part of the trouble was the writing, which was often clunky and weighed down with unnecessary details. Part of it was the plotting; sometimes the rules and complications were just right, but other times t...
This didn't pull me in as much as the Abhorsen Chronicles did from the very start, maybe because of the target audience being younger for this. I liked the sketch-style artwork included in the book, and the general "visual" aesthetics of the world Arthur is pulled into. The story as such is interesting enough and, at this point, nebulous enough, too, to make me want to continue the series in time, despite the lengthy passage here and there.
I found this first book to be extremely entertaining. Filled with mythological and folkloric motifs, mixed with plenty of steampunk settings, and stirred with non-stop action, I devoured this novel in (almost) one sitting. Arthur (the asthmatic, unlikely hero) was well-developed and loyal as was his equally heroic sidekick, Suzy Turquoise Blue (she’s my favorite). Everyone else was dubiously trustworthy for various reasons and I can’t wait to journey to Tuesday to find out. There were also numer...
4.5 Silver Starswith Golden SparksRTC after re-readin the gap between waiting for Pendragon & the secrets of Nicholas Flamel I found this series, intriguing & cool; sometimes a bit confusing in plot or scene, with an interesting world building.I liked it, I liked the characters, as always, Arthur was my favourite.
It's Garth Nix. Was there ever a chance I wouldn't like it?That said, I wouldn't have read this book - let alone bought it - if not for a glowing recommendation from the great and wonderful Cillian/BB. And so here's a big thank-you to her, because while my mind wasn't (quite) blown, I am glad not to have missed out on what seems a fantastic series.My primary reservation about the Keys to the Kingdom series is its target age group - and yes, I know that's silly, because how could the man who wrot...
4 stars!This is one of the books which I thought to be boring at first and set it down to read some other time. And months later when I picked it up again I was up all night! So I guess it basically depends upon mood. I definitely want to continue with the series.The world the Garth Nix has created is eccentric , peculiar and full of surprises. It will surely take your imagination to next level... I loved the concept, which was definitely unique and highly creative and the characters were great
Really fun - nearly 4 stars, but pulled itself short of taking advantage of its potential archetypes and mythic meanings.Aesthetically, a sort of steampunk angelology fantasy, with ghosts and immortals hard at work in a great House, sort of like Spirited Away, and a few whispers of classical tropes like underworldly journeys and a bound titan. Continuous and often-surprising action frequently threaded with short bursts of exposition, the just-enough type that keeps the story flowing but doesn't
An exciting fantasy adventure; can't wait to read the rest of the series!
I'm not sure what to say about this book. I liked it enough that I'm planning on reading the second in the series, but I don't really know why. It was a little bit tough to get through the first half (maybe more) but I perservered and the story seemed to grow on me. That being said, I don't feel the author did a great job of helping the reader to identify, or even care about, the main character(s). I guess the mysteriousness of "The Will" has me intrigued and I've liked other books by this autho...
Okay, so I was all set to love this book. Like REALLY LOVE IT. I picked it up a few weeks ago but had to return it to the library, but because I was so SET TO LOVE IT etc., I went out and bought my own copy to take to New Zealand.:|I just didn't believe a bit of it. I thought the dialogue was rubbish. Arthur came across really nothingy to me. I loved the actual concepts, but it felt badly executed. I'm bothered, because it could've been so fantastic, and I heard an interview with Garth Nix the o...
I enjoyed this just as much as I did the last time I read it, which was probably 10 years ago! A quick, easy read, with an enjoyable plot. Turns out I like middle grade as an adult if I read it when I was part of that age group. Hopefully, this continues with the few I never read back then!
If Harry Potter had been raised as a fundamentalist Christian, and someone gave him LSD, a story like this might result, especially if he studied the myths surrounding King Arthur (originally an English Christian myth).Even though I thought the fantasy elements were whimsically fun and interesting, most of the characters are disguised heroes and villains from the Bible. Although apologists try to make the case the author was using tropes from Joseph Campbell's world mythology books, which I have...
Arthur has such terrible asthma that his main ambition in life is just getting a next breath, so when a magical key is pressed into his hand and he becomes imbued with extraordinary powers, he's more than a bit nonplussed. There's little time to ponder, however, and Arthur quickly learns how to use the key while being chased through his school by dog-faced men in suits. All too soon Arthur is lost in a magical realm where no one and nothing is as it seems. Through it all, Arthur never loses sigh...
Yeah, this one did not live up to my expectations. Maybe if I was like 10 years old this would have been a fun and interesting read, but for me, it was just boring, and this coming from someone who generally enjoys YA. I won't be continuing the series. To be honest, the only reason I even tried to finish it was because I needed it for a challenge.
Mister Monday, the first of seven novels from Garth Nix, is a fantastical fantasy adventure which utilizes imagination.Adventure fiction has always been a part of my childhood, from Gulliver’s Travels to The Famous Five. Amongst these beloved treasures is a series of books that should be read by every child, The Keys to the Kingdom. Within this series of books, Mister Monday introduces the world of dog faced security guards, ceramic komodo dragons that come to life, and an adventure that every c...
This was a decent book, but it didn't really capture my attention. I think listening to the audio didn't help in this case as I kept getting distracted by a million other things. Arthur was a decent narrator and I liked him a bit since he reminded me of my younger brother with his asthma problems. I also haven't read many books with a main character having asthma so that was different and unique. The world that Arthur falls into, was weird and strange. I liked it but I didn't really understand h...
The book starts off great, and then devolves into very dull and pedestrian YA fiction. I bought it from our local used book shop on the strength of the first several pages, in which the world is established. The beginning reads like a saga or a good role-playing session: there is an incredibly powerful artifact called the Will which must never be used but cannot be destroyed. So the powers that be have split the Will into seven parts, and scattered those seven parts across all of creation. We se...