Sir Thursday

A lot of things from previous books came into play in this book -- the Piper, and the Piper's children, and especially the stolen pocket from book one, which was planted in Nothing during book two, producing the Skinless Boy we saw at the end of book three... I love how these threads keep on coming back: few are irrelevant (one that bothers me because of its seeming lack of necessity was the appearance of Grim Tuesday's Nithling-eyebrow).

Arthur continues to grow, too, beginning to take more command, and learning to fight as a soldier. He starts to think about how he's treating people and how well that accords with the person he's been taught to be, and he has to fight to keep his mortality. Leaf also plays a greater part, and her part is actually more interesting than Arthur's, at least to me.

The 'formula' that began in the first two books, of Arthur getting caught up in something at the beginning of the book and returning to his mortal life at the end, has definitely dissolved by this point: this book begins and ends with Arthur already in the House.

I trust the Will less and less with each book.

Episode four of our serial, in which our hero finds himself enlisted in the army of Sir Thursday. The quality of this series remains consistently high.

I really think this is one of my favorites in the series, which is impressive since it's #4. But it's nearly impossible to put down, and the suspense is on a whole nother level. Whether it's Leaf fighting mind-controlling fungus or Arthur in the danger of getting washed between the ears, the action never stops. I love it.And don't get me started on how much I love the ending.

Once again, in the next book of the series of The Keys to the Kingdom, Arthur has to get a key from some ruler, so cleverly named by the author, after the days of the week (for this one it’s Sir Thursday). All of the other books (this is the fourth book) have had villains named Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, and now it’s Sir Thursday. At the beginning of the book, Arthur is going to return from the house, when a problem arises. There is a spirit-eater, a demon that takes the form of a person and lives their lives for them, tapping into the person’s friends’ minds and learning facts about the person they are mimicking, so they can become a more believable fake. It would be a major problem if Arthur returned with it still on earth, first of all, people would be a little freaked out by having two Arthurs in the world, plus, it has some sort of negative magical affect on things.If that’s not enough, Sir Thursday decided he wants to draft Arthur into his army, and Arthur can’t back out or quit, and has to serve for 100 years (people in the house are mostly immortal). Throughout the book, Arthur really has little part in anything because he is having his own problems.The book, Sir Thursday, the fourth book in the series, is an okay book. There is one problem I have started to notice, though. The book is the same as every other one of the books, and surely anybody who has read this has noticed. The books start off with a problem, they are sent way off course trying to solve it, then they get to the person who has the key, somehow battle them, and “woo hoo” he has the key and it’s off to the next book. Like all of the other books, there has been some adventure, and this one had more than the others, making it the best in this department, but as usual, some parts were slow and brought it down. Garth Nix’s books here have been copies of each other with the words changed around.I would rate this book four stars. It has more adventure, which saved it from less stars, but if these books don’t change around in the next one, I’m probably going to stop reading. The repition of events is just really getting old.

Arthur continues his exploits in the House after acquiring the third key from Drowned Wednesday. In this installment Arthur is drafted into the House Army by Sir Thursday who is the trustee in chargeof the military. All residents of the House are required to serve for 100 years and Arthur cannot avoid this obligation. While still a recruit in training he experiences first hand the praactice of being washed between the ears, in essence erasing all of his memories. He doesn't even know who he is. Graduallyhis memories return and he learns what he can in the army, but danger comes when the House is attacked by Super Nifflings lead by the Piper.An interesting side of these adventures and series.

Starts of rather slow but gets more interesting towards the end with the return of the Piper and his New Nithling army.

Arthur Penhaligon is determined to hold on to the third key while he and his friend Leaf return to Earth. But the front door cannot let him through because a spirit eater - a Nithling very like Arthur himself - has taken his place in the world. Leaf goes back to try to defeat the Nithling, while Arthur is drafted into the Glorious Army of the Architect, which means he must travel to Sir Thursday's domain, the Great Maze.Continuing my reread of the Keys to the Kingdom, I realized that this particular title had the most I remembered in it. I remembered the maze and the tile movements, "washing between the ears," and the spirit eater. I didn't remember how Arthur's challenges were solved, however, so much of the reading felt like a new experience to me. I continue to notice more symbolism and details than before. I love that Suzy and Leaf are such well-drawn characters and Arthur, though a reluctant hero, has enough of a backbone when pressed with the Will with an agenda of its own that I enjoy cheering him on.

This is the fourth book in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I think this is easily the best book in the series so far.Arthur is anxious to return back to his own world when he finds out about the presence of the Skinless Boy. He finds he is unable to return to his world and has been drafted into Sir Thursday's Army. Arthur is also very concerned about the magical contamination he has received from using the keys. If he gets too much magical contamination he will turn into a Denizen and never be able to return home. As if this all wasn't complicated enough someone has started killing the former Days. Arthur needs to disable the skinless boy and get the 4th part of the will along with Sir Thursday's key but how will he do all of this from the Army's ranks?This was a great book. Arthur is finally starting to grow up. At least in this book he only spent 20% of the time whining instead of 60%. I am glad the Suzi Blue was in the book more and even more glad that Leaf played a larger role in this book too. The book was a little slow in the middle but the end was full of non-stop action. I thought the role of the Piper was interesting. Also the mention of Lady Friday at the end of the book was very ominous.My only real complaint in this book is (again) Arthur's whining. Also there are points in the book where he seems to be helpless and then suddenly he takes action; it seems a bit inconsistent. This book is still the best of the four so far. I am interested to see what happens in Lady Friday (the next book). I have found it interesting how the personality of the Will changes as more and more parts of it are found. This book does end with a bit of a cliff hanger that will have you wishing for the next book.

Arthur is drafted into sir thrsday's army and he needs to find the fourth part of the will and the fourth key before sir thursday knows who he is while Leaf needs to banish the Arthur's double.

OK, the brain washing just gets creepier and creepier, and the skinless boy scared the bejeebers out of me. And this books doesn't end with Arthur back in the real world of a tiny respite, it heads right off into another danger at the very last line, no chance to catch any breath here at all.

Arthur continues his reluctant quest to obtain the Keys to the Kingdom from all the proctors of the House. Warfare, bloody and brutal, plays a large part in this installment. I liked this better than the odd Drowned Wednesday, but I do hope Suzy Turqoise Blue plays a larger part in Lady Friday.

Book 4 in the series is my favorite yet, the action scenes are gripping and the suspenseful moments make you sit on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen, this in my opinion is the best book in the series so far and I can't wait for more.

Arthur took charge of his own fate in the last book, and in this one he takes command of the fate of The House. If a boy can grow into a man in just one week (remembering that time runs differently in The House, of course), this is obviously that week for Arthur. With all the fantastically imaginative details of these stories, it's easy to remember it's all make-believe, and yet I can't help but be impressed by Arthur and the strong and wise young man he's become. I can't wait to see what happens Friday!

This might be the best in the series yet. Action packed, quick-paced, shifting viewpoints and parallel stories--I hardly put it down!We begin with Arthur desperately trying to get home, after Wednesday's adventures, only to find that he can't get through the Front Door. As it turns out, this happens to be the least of his problems. Reluctantly he sets off back into the house with his ever-growing staff to hold a meeting.Not long into said meeting, his earthly friend Leaf is sent back home to try to deal with the troubles at hand there, and Arthur, upon finishing his orange juice, comes to find himself drafted into Sir Thursday's army. As all Denizens of the house must do a century of service sometimes in their lives, there's nothing to be done in terms of stopping him going. Which turns out to be a blessing and a curse.As a mortal still, Arthur can be easily wounded or killed. But as Sir Thursday is the next Trustee he must take on, being that much closer could prove helpful. He can seek the next key and part four of the will from the inside while his friends search from the outside.Things get more complicated still, when upon arriving for training Arthur finds himself subjected to the same washing between the ears that all Piper's children get, as it is assumed he is one himself. Therefore he forgets who he is and what he's meant to be doing. Luckily, he fights well and makes it through battle, and eventually recovers his memory. Although as he is now headed straight for the center of the Army's world, he's not entirely thrilled with the revelation.The army attacking the house is like none ever witnessed before, and the battles are being won mostly due to the fact that Tectonic Strategy moves portions of the enemy far away every sundown, splitting its forces. When the plates of the maze stop moving, the real trouble begins.Arthur finds himself not only face-to-face with Sir Thursday, but promoted to his Second Lieutenant for the special mission he's taking on to destroy the spike which has defeated his maze. On this mission they learn the truth of the war, who is leading the enemy, and the perils of his presence. Sir Thursday attempts to escape, only to be caught by Arthur, who confronts him on arrival back at Headquarters. He has been told by part four of the will that anger is the only way to distract Sir Thursday, and only when he is sufficiently distracted can the will break itself free of him. So it is that Arthur comes to claim the fourth key, and frees the will.Back at home Leaf has had her hands full on her own adventure; in the end both sides end well, if slightly worse for the wear. And Arthur is beginning to realize that his hope of remaining human will not last--the Morrow Days will not rest, and without using the Keys' powers he cannot defeat them. As this battle has wound its way into Friday, on his world, there is likely to be no rest between missions yet again.