Product Description

Garth Nix is back with the sixth explosive title in his gripping fantasy series, The Keys to the Kingdom. On the Sixth Day, there was Sorcery Arthur Penhaligon has wrested five of the Keys from their immortal guardians, the Trustees of the Will. But gaining the Sixth Key poses a greater challenge than any he has ever faced before. Superior Saturday is not just one of the Trustees, she is also the oldest Denizen and the most powerful and knowledgeable sorcerer within the House. She has tens of thousands of sorcerers at her command -- and she has been preparing her forces all along for the Will's escape and the activities of the Rightful Heir. Everything is all just part of a greater plan she has been hatching for ten thousand years. As Saturday's schemes become evident, Arthur is beset on all sides. Nothing is eroding the House, and only the power of the Keys can hold back the tide of destruction. His mother is still missing. His home city is under attack. His allies are unreliable.He can't even get into the apparently impregnable Upper House and even if he does, finding the Sixth Part of the Will and gaining the Sixth Key might not be enough to counter Saturday's sorcerous hordes or stop her bid for ultimate power.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 323 pages

Review
"[Garth Nix is] the coolest read in the playground." Amanda Craig

Synopsis
Garth Nix is back with the sixth explosive title in his gripping fantasy series, The Keys to the Kingdom. On the Sixth Day, there was Sorcery Arthur Penhaligon has wrested five of the Keys from their immortal guardians, the Trustees of the Will. But gaining the Sixth Key poses a greater challenge than any he has ever faced before. Superior Saturday is not just one of the Trustees, she is also the oldest Denizen and the most powerful and knowledgeable sorcerer within the House. She has tens of thousands of sorcerers at her command -- and she has been preparing her forces all along for the Will's escape and the activities of the Rightful Heir. Everything is all just part of a greater plan she has been hatching for ten thousand years. As Saturday's schemes become evident, Arthur is beset on all sides. Nothing is eroding the House, and only the power of the Keys can hold back the tide of destruction. His mother is still missing. His home city is under attack. His allies are unreliable.He can't even get into the apparently impregnable Upper House and even if he does, finding the Sixth Part of the Will and gaining the Sixth Key might not be enough to counter Saturday's sorcerous hordes or stop her bid for ultimate power.

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

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Having read and loved Garth Nix's OLD KINGDOM books (SABRIEL, LIRAEL, and ABHORSEN) as well as his SEVENTH TOWER series, I had pretty high expectations when I started in on SUPERIOR SATURDAY. I wasn't
disappointed. The action moves along quickly, with new and original presentations of magic at every turn, and major and minor characters worth cheering for (or, in the case of the antagonists, against).

The sixth book in Nix's KEYS TO THE KINGDOM series picks up right where the fifth book left off, making it a little confusing to understand at first, especially if you're a newcomer to the series, like I was when reading this. The book is certainly good enough to merit your going to the library and checking out all of the previous ones in order to get up to speed, but in case your library is as negligent as mine, here's the background that I wish I could have had going in.

Our protagonist, asthmatic twelve-year-old Arthur Penhaligon, through a series of complicated circumstances described in previous novels, is taken from his home on Earth and granted the power of being the Heir to the Kingdom. Nix's complicated but fascinating universe centers around a grand House that is the epicenter of all universes, and is ruled by seven Trustees, all named for the days of the week. Within the House, each Trustee has its own domain. As the Heir, Arthur's duty is to wrest the Keys to the Kingdom from the corrupt Trustees, and to recreate the Will of the Architect, which the Trustees have consistently disobeyed. The Architect is a mysterious figure responsible for creating both the House and the "secondary realms," including Earth.

In this sixth book in the series, Arthur is up against one of the toughest of the Trustees: Superior Saturday, with her power to work great sorceries with the help of the sixth Key. With the help of friends and acquaintances throughout the House, Arthur attempts to infiltrate Saturday's portion of the House and find the sixth part of the Architect's Will. He's running out of time, though, as the dangerously corrosive Nothing eats away at the House's foundations.

Arthur must retrieve the Key, and the next part of the Will, in time to ensure that the House is not destroyed--for if the epicenter of all universes is demolished, the secondary realms that depend upon its survival will also crumble and fall, making for the end of Earth and Arthur's home.

Nix always has a unique perspective on magic, and this series is no different in that respect. His innovations draw heavily upon archetypes and numerous different branches of mythology that add a richness and texture to his world, even if the average reader does not see them all on the first read-through. I also enjoyed his characterization of Arthur, a young boy who is taking on increasingly difficult tasks and succeeding at them, so that although he is young, there is a strength and maturity to his outlook. Of course, this doesn't prevent him from having his share of doubts.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book and would recommend the series to anyone interested in fantasy adventure.

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

Garth Nix is on top form here, some of the series' best moments to date here
Barcode: 9780007175116

And so we come to Superior Saturday, the 6th book in Garth Nix's fantastic Keys To The Kingdom series. What i've always liked about the series is the way so many elements of it seem so light hearted while on the other hand, there is always a far more mature, serious, darker side lurking just in the background, breaking through the the foreground every so often.

Never more so than Superior Saturday which really ups the stakes. In an interesting cut back to the events unfolding on Earth, the unnamed city now faces destruction by nukes as the army tries a last resort option to control the plague fears. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book and the cutting between Arthur and Leaf no longer feels as jarring as it did previously, Leaf's role in this book being particularly commendable as Nix works in a bit of contemporary action-thriller stuff which works as a nice counterpoint to the fantasy of Arthur's adventures in the house.

And so we come to our lead character himself, Arthur, and finally, he decides to just go for it and accept he's going to have to become a Denizen in order to save the House. I can't tell you how relieved i was when i read that part, finally he could use the key's abilities to their full extent and the way he stops time and holds back a giant wave of Nothing is pretty awe-inspiring cinematic stuff.

Obviously, with this new-found power, comes ever-greater dangers. Saturday is a sutiably aloof villain, Nix's imagery of her 10,000+ feet tower is fascinating as is the workings of its various machinery by the Piper's children. The ever-fabulous Suzy gets a fair share of action too, her cockney charms always serving up great moments humour here and there. The 6th part of the Will is also a likeable character, eager to work alongside Arthur, and along with his increasing powers means that this book just flows that bit better as Arthur is given more freedom.

In this also comes further devlopment of his character and the negative aspects the keys also bring, coming to the fore in momentary flashes of arrogance and anger. Arthur's battle to surpress this side of himself only adds to the dynamics of this book.

Following on from Nix's masterful handling of military elements in Sir Thursday we get another taste of this side of things as Arthur and Saturday's assorted Denizen's raid Sunday's Incomparable Gardens in the book's dramatic finale. It's a fantastic, high-tension end to the book that leads to perhaps the most sudden cliffhanger ever. This will without a doubt leave you wanting more and i'll confess it's 'stopped mid-frame' feel is a little frustrating, especially in the ambiguity that Arthur doesn't really get a proper showdown with Saturday. That said though, i found this book immensely enjoyable and it presents some of the best bits of the series so far. Well recommended!

The rain keeps coming down
Arthur Penhaligan's week is almost over, but unfortunately it's not getting any better. Not for him, and not for the House.

In fact, just about everything is tumbling down in the penultimate book of Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, "Superior Saturday," in which Arthur finally encounters the malevolent sorceress who's been messing things up throughout the series. It's a suitably chaotic and haunting story, and Arthur's internal struggles and new discoveries are a pretty fascinating read -- but don't expect it to really end on anything but a massive cliffhanger.

Arthur receives an emergency call from his brother, who warns him that the Army is about to nuke their entire town. Desperate, Arthur tries to shield the town, but instead ends up slowing time. Unfortunately that is only one of his worries: the magic of the Keys is transforming Arthur's body and mind into something inhuman, and Nothing is eroding away the very foundations of the House. To stop it, he must somehow steal away Superior Saturday's power, and he has to rely on one of the less reliable forces in the House to smuggle himself and Suzy into Saturday's domain.

While Leaf and her pal struggle to save Friday's sleeping victims, Arthur explores Saturday's realm. Turns out Saturday is building a vast tower built by Piper's Children and overseen by sorcerers, so she can reach the Incomparable Gardens that Lord Sunday rules -- and what's more, Arthur is having a lot of trouble locating the Will. His only hope is to climb the tower with Saturday's sorcerous army -- but what awaits them at the top?

"Superior Saturday" is not just saturated in rain, but in desperation. A lot of bad things are happening all at once, since the House is about to collapse, the town is about to be bombed by the Army, all the Piper's rats and children are suspect, and Arthur has found that he can't even trust Dame Primus anymore. There are a lot of bad things going on in "Superior Saturday," but Nix also unfolds some intriguing new revelations about the House and its purpose, during another visit to the imprisoned Old One.

And Nix somehow loads all of this into the plot without making it feel clunky or infodumpy. He spins a suitably dark and gloomy atmosphere over Saturday's domain, full of steampunk-style machinary and lots of ever-drizzling rain. It moves pretty gradually for awhile, but speeds up after Arthur locates the Will, and bumps into another old enemy. And Nix isn't afraid to throw in some horror moments, such as an unfortunate Denizen whose body was dissolved by Nothing, or the chaotic attacks on Saturday's army during the climax.

The biggest problem is that "Superior Saturday" doesn't really end -- the action and tension slowly build for a long time, only to snap like a recoiling spring... on a cliffhanger. Rather than being story unto itself, it's the first half of a story that "Lord Sunday" will finish.

While Arthur seems to accept his transformation a bit too easily, his struggles with his inhuman thoughts ("For a moment he even felt like striking Scamandros, or forcing the Denizen to prostrate himself and beg forgiveness") and rapidly changing body are well-drawn. And Nix raises some intriguing questions about just what it is that Arthur is turning into, since it's made quite clear that he's not transforming into a run-of-the-mill Denizen.

While it has no real ending, "Superior Saturday" is a dark, mildly horrific ride through what is left of the House, and promises a spellbinding finale in the final Keys to the Kingdom novel. An enthralling little book, so long as you don't mind waiting for what comes next.