Product Description

Get ready for more brilliant page-turning fantasy from master, Garth Nix. On the fourth day, there was war! Pick up with Arthur Penhaligon as his Keys to the Kingdom adventures continue in the mysterious House. Following their adventures in the Border Sea, Arthur and Leaf head for home. But only Leaf gets through the Front Door. Arthur is blocked because someone - or something - has assumed his identity and is taking over his life. Before Arthur can take action, he is drafted by Sir Thursday and forced to join the Glorious Army of the Architect. The Army has its headquarters in the Great Maze, a defensive area of the House. Half of the Maze has already been dissolved by Nothing, and hordes of Nithlings emerge regularly to attack the rest. If the Nithling invasion can overcome the Army and the Great Maze, the House will be lost and the whole universe with it. While Leaf tries to banish Arthur's doppelganger on earth, Arthur must survive his basic training, avoid getting posted to the Front and work out how he can free Part Four of the Will and gain the Fourth Key from Sir Thursday. If the latest, strongest and most dangerous Nithling offensive doesn't break through first!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5626 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback

Review
"[Garth Nix is] the coolest read in the playground." Amanda Craig "Just magical!" Jenni Craig, Book Review Magazine "Nix's imagination is matched only by his prose style" The Times

From the Publisher
Question and Answer with Garth Nix:

What is your favourite piece of clothing?
My R. M. Williams elastic-sided boots
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you want to have with you?
I presume a satellite phone is out of the question, so:
1. "The How to Survive on a Deserted Island Manual"
2. A knife or machete
3. A very large clear plastic tarpaulin
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Absent-minded writer guy
What time do you get up in the morning?
Usually between 4:45am and 7:00am depending upon my young son. Preferably closer to 7:00am!
Do you have any pets? What are their names?
No pets, unless you count the two swallows that are building a nest under the canopy above my office door. Maybe I should give them names.
What are 3 things you love about where you live?
The sea, the trees, the birds
What makes you most happy?
A cup of tea, a good book and my family around me
Did you like school? What was your favourite subject?
I sometimes liked school. My favourite subject was History. Or maybe English. Or Drama.
When did you start writing and what gave you the inspiration to start?
I started writing stories when I was six or seven, but didn't seriously try to write and get published till I was nineteen.
What do you like to read? And what book are you reading now?
I like to read all sorts of books. I'm currently reading a history of Venice by John Julius Norwich.
What was the first book you can remember reading?
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
What is your favourite TV programme and pop band?
My favourite TV program is an old one, Dr Who. My favourite pop band changes, but I guess my all-time favourite would be The Beatles.
What is your perfect holiday?
Taking it easy at a beach house on the NSW South Coast in late Spring, before lots of people go there
If you could travel back in time, who would you be and why?
I would like to be all sorts of people, but I wouldn't mind being a long-lived, healthy medieval king who died in bed at an advanced age, mourned by all.
What is your favourite food?
Sausages and mash
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Give some of it away, invest the rest in interesting projects like making films, or producing a play, or re-publishing some old books that have disappeared
What is your favourite sport?
Fishing
If you could be invisible for the day, where would you go?
The Invisible Club, though it's a pain to find and you keep bumping into people
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Where I live now, near the beach in Sydney
What is your ideal Saturday/weekend?
To be at home with my family, with no obligation to do anything or be anywhere
If you had 3 wishes from a genie what would it be?
That would depend upon the nature of the wishes. If I could make really big wishes for other people I would wish:
* For everyone in the world to be healthy and vigorous (and if that was too hard for the genie, then I'd try for all children to be healthy and vigorous)
* For all the weapons in the world to turn into flowers
* For everyone to be able to experience compassion and understand kindness
If the wishes had to be for myself, I would wish for:
* A really good singing voice
* Extremely good health for my whole family
* A small very comfortable castle on a large private island in Sydney Harbour

From the Back Cover
"Sir Thursday has drafted you," said Dame Primus. "Every Denizen must do their century of military service -" "Century!" exclaimed Arthur. "I can't spend a hundred years in the army!"

Someone or something has assumed Arthur Penhaligon's identity and taken over his life. Trapped in the House, Arthur must survive basic training, avoid getting posted to the Front and work out how he can free Part Four of the Will and gain the fourth key from Sir Thursday. But even the Glorious Army of the Architect is in danger from the massive onslaught of new Nithlings ...

Customer Reviews

Great addition to the Keys To The Kingdom series
Barcode: 9780007175079

With Drowned Wednesday we saw Garth Nix's fantastic series taking on a more mature, more epic feel and with Sir Thursday this vibe is amped up even more, as is the drama and tension.

Basically, the premise is that Arthur Penhaligon, the hero of the series - in the midst of his troubles combating the Trustees - is forcefully enlisted into the House's army to serve for 100 years. Masquerading as a Piper's Child, he also gets the unfortunate treatment of getting 'washed between the ears', effictively having his memory completely wiped.

There's a lot going on in this story, all of the above placed against the threat of a massive Nithling attack on the House, but it's testamant to Nix's skill as a writer that he keeps everything moving smoothly, paces the story perfectly and all in all creating an extremely well-rounded installment in the series.

There's also some good moments with Arthur's friend Leaf, back on Earth, where she has to somehow solve the problem of the Skinless Boy who has taken on the appearance of Arthur in a Terminator-style flavour. Nix updates the theme wonderfully though, with the government's intense paranoia of chemical attack being of particular importance in the world today.

In this story, we also finally meet the infamous Piper and he's painted as an imposing figure and i found him actually to be a far more convincing 'villain' in this book than Sir Thursday himself who hardly features at all until the end. His character is irritable but doesn't quite possess the gravitas of some of the other Trustees and ultimately is quickly defeated by Arthur.

Another point i'd pick up on is that, due to the scale of this book and the very nature of an army being large, their are a lot of characters introduced in this book (various military personel of differing rank) and apart from Arthur's new friend Fred Gold, they tend to all blend into one character and are swiftly forgotten.

That said, they fulfill their function to the plot well and Arthur's struggle to stay human presents another interesting element both to the story and his character, adding newfound depth to his personality. All in all, this is a fantastic read and just re-affirms Nix as one of my favourite writers.

Series is sagging badly
Once again there is a great deal of rushing about, but it's becoming increasingly clear that the central concept of this series is weak, and the characters are not interesting enough to carry it.

Once again the hero, Arthur has an adventure in The House, the mysterious universe/organisation to which he has become the heir. He must retrieve another of the keys to the house, and another portion of the Will. Pretty much what he needed to do in all the previous books, in other words, and there just isn't enough new here to carry it. There are some fun settings, but we don't learn anything new about how the House works, and the mysticism is becoming irritating.

A few new things are introduced: Arthur is not just afraid he will not be able to go home, but now he has to worry about being transformed into something alien as well. We find out a bit more about Leaf, and meet some new characters. Sadly, they seem a bit too much like characters we've already met, and we don't get much insight into why they behave as they do.

The first book in this series, Mister Monday, was innovative and entertaining, but this feels very tired: it feels like the author is basically treading water till he gets to Sunday: it's got that whole 'must churn out book' vibe about it. Garth Nix can do so much better than this. I wish he'd take a year off then come back and try to beat his Old Kingdom series.

I've stopped buying this series: at some point I may borrow the last books from the library to satisfy a slight curiousity as to what happens in the end. The best I can say of it is that it's decent light reading if you are in bed with 'flu: readable, but the plot won't keep you awake wanting to know what happens next.

I miss the 126 mile long Whale!!
As a bit of a girly girl, I found the Army theme in this really boring. I persevered and finished it but frankly this is my least favorite of the series.

My favourite bit was them riding the Not-Horses. How cool is Nix imagination. I mean "Not-Horses".... fantastic! I love this guy's writing style and would recomend this whole series. The man's imagination knows no bounds!