Author: Garth Nix
Series: Keys to the Kingdom (book 2)
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Release Date: 7 Jun 2004
ISBN-13: 978-0007175031
Synopsis
Arthur doesn't think he will ever have to return to the strange house that nearly killed him on Monday -- the house that contains an entire world. But Tuesday brings new challenges -- in the form of an enemy named Grim Tuesday, who threatens the well-being of both Arthur's family and his world. Arthur must retrieve the Second Key from Grim Tuesday in order to save everything -- an adventure that will include stealing a Sunship, surviving a very weird work camp, befriending a bearlike spirit, fighting the voidlike Nithlings, and traveling to the scary Far Reaches for the ultimate showdown.
My Review
After finishing book 1 I went straight onto this one, this one follows on directly and carries on where book 1 left off. Although I did find a continuation error. At the end of book 1 he returns to his house at 1:35 and says he has 10 hours before he can set up the magic cure to be ready for Midnight, which he does. But then at the start of this book his magic phone from the House rings with an emergency and he comments that "It was less than eight hours since he'd defeated Mister Monday,..." (page 24) which of course is not right. Only a slight fault but it niggled me! But I will put that behind me.
This one seems a little bit darker than the first, Grim Tuesday is trying to claim Arthur's Key and take over the Lower reaches of the house, he starts some underhanded tactics to try and get Arthur to hand it over, threatening his whole family and friends. Arthur has no choice but to make his way back to the House and face Tuesday himself.
The only problem is, the House isn't where it used to be and he has to find another way to get in.
Once there he comes out in the Far Reaches, a dark and miserable place run by Tuesday himself, think great big Mine shafts only dirtier, more dangerous and filled with 'Nothing' and 'Nithlings' (creatures made from dark nothing)
Trapped down in the Far Reaches a few steps away from The Pit, Arthur has no choice but to join the workers as they make their way through, but he has to find a way out before Tuesday hurts his family.
Enter Suzy Blue again, I was so glad to see her back again, she seems to light the page up and brings a lighter side to the story.
There is quite a dark part to this story when Arthur meets 'The Old One', he is chained to a giant clock and every time the clock strikes 12 these 2 mechanical beings come out and try to cut out his eyes. That was pretty gruesome so I would warn against that. Apart from that the book is just overall exciting and fast paced.
At 374 pages it's slightly shorter than the first book and I read it in a few short hours.
These are the sort of books that you struggle to put down, something just draws you in.
It's great to see how much the characters have grown since the first book and I look forward to reading more of the series.
Certain details of this book came back to me whilst reading, more that book 1 did. But it didn't spoil it for me, I still enjoyed it.
My Rating
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