Mister Monday: Keys to the Kingdom (Book 1) by Garth Nix

Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world -- where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets. This is another thrilling, triumphantly imaginative series from Garth Nix, the best-selling author of THE SEVENTH TOWER, SABRIEL, and LIRAEL.

Title and author of book: Mister Monday: Keys to the Kingdom (Book 1) by Garth Nix

Fiction or non-fiction? Genre? Young Adult Fiction. Fantasy.

What led you to pick up this book? I have read Sabriel by him, but I didn't love it as much as others. Before attempting to finish that series, I thought I would detour and see if I like this one better.

Summarize the plot, but don’t give away the ending! See above...

What did you like most about the book? It's the titles of the books in this series that first really interested me. I thought a series that took after the days of the week was very creative. I found this book readable. It was an interesting storyline. I think the beginning of the book really caught my interest. I won't go into a lot of detail because then it would be a spoiler! I mainly just liked the many ways that Nix incorporated books and book related things into the book. If all the series has this in common, I think I will be in for a treat!

What did you like least? The writing was a bit too juvenile for my taste. That's what the series is marketed to, though, so it makes sense. It just didn't always work well for me.

Have you read any other books by this author? What did you think of those books? Just Sabriel, which I mentioned above. I have the sequel to this out from the library but haven't read it yet.

What did you think of the main character? I don't really have a strong response to him. I didn't love him and I didn't hate him. To be truthful, Mister Monday and his team have stuck in my mind better than the main character. I think they were very memorably written, while the main character was pretty average. I believe he is the main character to the whole series, though, so he might become more alive for me as I read.

What about the ending? It is set up for a sequel, but not in an annoying way.

Not my favourite book ever, but a fun series. If just for the book theme I will continue reading it. I am a nerd that way!

The Starry Rift Edited by Jonathan Strahan

Books Completed: 27
Completion Date: January 29, 2009
Pages: 530
Publication Date: April 22, 2008

Reason for Reading: Recommendation, Sci-Fi Experience

Truly successful science fiction does two things: it gives credible glimpses into the future while entertaining the reader. With this in mind, noted anthologist Jonathan Strahan-who is also the reviews editor of Locus magazine-asked sixteen of today's most inventive, compelling writers to look past the horizon of the present day. Neil Gaiman (Anansi Boys), Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners), Garth Nix (the Abhorsen Trilogy), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies; Pretties; Specials) and their colleagues have crafted a dazzling range of stories. Whether on spaceships, in suburbia, or in simulated gaming worlds, whether about cloning, battle tactics, or corporate politics, the stories of The Starry Rift will give every reader something to consider. This original anthology is crucial reading for those who want to see where the future-and the future of science fiction-is headed.

So, I am not exactly a person that reads a lot of short story collections. Once in a while they appear on my radar, though, and I feel I need to at least give them a try. The Starry Rift is a book that I have seen reviewed a few times lately, and I decided that it was worth giving a try. There are a lot of award-winning authors in this collection. Some, this is the first time I have read them, while others were authors that I have experienced before. There are sixteen stories in this book, and I think the easiest thing to do is to say something on each story individually. I actually liked all the stories in this book. Some were better than others, but there is not really any in here that I can say I hated and couldn't wait to see the end of. That says something about a collection.

Ass-Hat Magic Spider by Scott Westerfield - This is actually the story that inspired me to get this book. I had heard good things about it, and Carl recommended it to me. This really is a story about a girl that will do anything for a book. I think it is a story that many people can relate to, even if science-fiction is not their usual type of reading. It was also the first time I have read Scott Westerfield, but I have Uglies out from the library right now.

Cheats by Ann Halam - This is a story about a future where you can be inside video games. Instead of using a controller, like most video games today, you can get right inside and experience. The children in this book do not like the players that abuse the system, though, and are attempting to fix the problem.

Orange by Neil Gaiman - I have read Neil Gaiman before, but he is rather hit or miss with me. I have to say, though, I really liked the idea behind this story. You are only given the answers, so you have to figure out the questions yourself. It makes for an interesting story!

The Surfer by Kelly Link - This is the story of aliens. I have watched a lot of shows where aliens are a possibility, and I think I for the most part believe in extraterrestrials. This is a scary future, though. By the sounds of it, humans have become immune to most forms of medication, so a flu-epidemic is a scary thing. This is a group of people under quarrantine, and a man has a suitcase full of science-fiction books that he uses as a sort of library. I like the idea!

Repair Kit by Stephen Baxter - I liked this story, but I have to say... The ending hurt my head. I think I am a bit too practical with some things, and I couldn't wrap my head around how the repair kit worked. I am not going to say much more because I don't want to give anything away.

The Dismantled Invention of Fate by Jeffrey Ford - This story was actually a bit complex, but then it was about fate and fate is a bit complex. It doesn't really make a lot of sense at first, but when the ending is reached and everything is cleared up I was impressed by it.

Anda's Game by Cory Doctorow - Another story about video games. The author says in his note he is addressing how people are becoming desensitized to violence. That is something that is happening nowadays, to be truthful. The story is also about the new wave of harsh treatment in sweatshops in Mexico. It was an interesting idea.

Sundiver Day by Kathleen Ann Goonan - What if you could clone the person that you loved, would you? This story looks at the moral and emotional results of this option.

The Dust Assassin by Ian McDonald - This is a sad story, actually. I really felt bad for the main character by the end. There is some very cool technology available in this story!

The Star Surgeon's Apprentice by Alastair Reynolds - A story about pirates! I really don't read enough about pirates... It is also about some not so friendly cyborgs.

An Honest Day's Work by Margo Lanagan - Okay, I was wrong. I forgot I didn't really care for this story. I just found I couldn't get caught up in it, and I hardly even remember it, though it is has only been a couple days since I finished it.

Lost Continent by Greg Egan - My second Greg Egan short story. He is a pretty good short story writer, I must say. This is a story about the ability to travel to the future to escape from wars in the past. They think that life will be better for them there, but things don't always work out how you planned.

Incomers by Paul McAuley - This story might take place on a moon of Saturn, but it could just as easily be taking place on Earth. It is a story of how people are so interested in the modern world that they live in, but forget about the past that got them there. Other things happen, but I think that is an important message.

Post-Ironic Stress Syndrome by Tricia Sullivan - Another story about technological advances, but instead of a game, they are fighting for the world. It doesn't exactly turn out how they planned, though.

Infestation by Garth Nix - A vampire story! What's a short story collection without vampires. It gives a really interesting twist on the usual story, though.

Pinocchio by Walter Jon Williams - I was really interested to learn why this story had this name. It totally baffled me as the story started, but as I started to get into the story I couldn't help being really impressed by the relationship between the title and story.

And, that's the collection! I have another collection edited by Jonathan Strahan coming to me from Carl, so I will be interested to see if it is just as good!

Sabriel - Garth Nix [September/06]

I have had this book just sitting here waiting to be read for quite some time. So, I am glad I finally sat down with it. It really is a rather short book, you would be surprised how fast you can get through it, because it keeps you reading the whole time.

From Amazon.com:

After receiving a cryptic message from her father, Abhorsen, a necromancer trapped in Death, 18-year-old Sabriel sets off into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery, her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits, Mordicants, and Shadow Hands. Unlike other necromancers, who raise the dead, Abhorsen lays the disturbed dead back to rest. This obliges him--and now Sabriel, who has taken on her father's title and duties--to slip over the border into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the realm of the living. Desperate to find her father, and grimly determined to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead, Sabriel endures almost impossible exhaustion, violent confrontations, and terrifying challenges to her supernatural abilities--and her destiny.

Garth Nix delves deep into the mystical underworld of necromancy, magic, and the monstrous undead. This tale is not for the faint of heart; imbedded in the classic good-versus-evil story line are subplots of grisly ghouls hungry for human life to perpetuate their stay in the world of the living, and dark, devastating secrets of betrayal and loss. Just try to put this book down.

For some reason this book has no description on the back or inside about what it is about. I think that is a stupid thing to do, to be honest, because some people are not going to buy it without knowing what it is about.

Anyways, this novel follows 18-year-old Sabriel on her adventures after receiving a very disturbing message from her father. She had lead a sheltered life up until then, and was not really aware of what was going on in the Old Kingdom, the place where she was born. She had lived outside the wall for many years, and her father only occassionally filled her in on what she was missing while being outside. So, when she had to go back there, she found herself on an adventure that she was totally unaware of. Since many Outsiders did not dare to cross the Wall, many people were unaware of what was going on in the Old Kingdom. This meant that Sabriel didn't know her history very well, and had to fill herself in as she went along.

This trilogy received the same sort of attention as Philip Pullman's trilogy, but if I have to be very honest, I liked this one better. I just never was able to get into Pullman's first novel, and as a result have stayed away from the other two books in the trilogy. I will get to them one day, but I would rather read the rest of this trilogy than return to Pullman.

Sabriel is a very human heroine. She gets the job done, but like regular folks she has to deal with fear and indecision. In many hero novels, the main character seems to be super-human, Sabriel is a character that would be easier to relate to. She also has to deal with the fact that if her father was dead, she was now a very powerful person in the Old Kingdom, something that she had never really thought of before and was not prepared to take on. There's even a little romance in the novel, but it is not the most important thing ever. Instead of the damsol in distress, Sabriel saves a young man that has been trapped in Death for about 200 years. I am afraid to say it, but romance just seems to be a given when things like this happen.

You will really enjoy this novel, I can safely say. It is well-written, and Sabriel is not an annoying heroine. She gets the job done, but at the same time has human failings. It makes her the better character to read about, I think. It is also the more interesting fantasy novel I have read with a Necromancer in the fore-front.

4/5