Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Totally magical, totally random, totally amazing! March 13, 2008
L. Green (London, UK)
Barcode: 9780007175031
So, having finished the simply awesome Abhorsen trilogy i was eager to read more of Garth Nix's books and thought where better to go next than the Keys To The Kingdom series. I was quite surprised for a number of reasons but thanfully, it was a pleasant kind of surprise.
My first recommendation is that make sure you read the first novel, Mister Monday, first as there is a lot of stuff you need to know about like the Will, the keys, the days, the house etc. the list goes on. You kinda get thrown in at the deep end and it can all seem a bit random and disorientating at the start but onhce you get into into it the world of the Keys To The Kingdom series is just as magical as the Old Kingdom.
Nix's ingenuity is amazing as he depicts our real world living alongside a mystical 'house' which contains vast areas of land. This particular novel details Grim Tuesday's pit, a kind of vast quarry miles wide. The imagery is fantastic and his legal-esque spin on magical themes is just spellbinding.
Main character Arthur comes across well as the everyman who reluctantly takes up his role of venturing into this world in order to save his family. He is accompanied by the ever-charming Suzy who i think goes on to become the star of the book.
In its feel, Grim Tuesday is perhaps aimed at a younger audience than those used to his other books, but i assure you regular readers will enjoy it just the same. Things never get overly dark and morbid and there's always some lighthearted humour round the corner to make you smile and the semi-immortal characters create a very interesting outlook as it dampens the sense of threat leaving you to focus all the more on the wonder of Nix's world.
My recommendation is to go into this book with an open mind and you are sure to totally enjoy it. I found it an inspiring tale and yet more evidence as to why Garth Nix is one of my favourite authors ever.
 The only weak link so far June 13, 2007
C. E. Magos (Athens, Greece)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Don't get me wrong, I love this eptalogy, but I honestly found this to be the less successful of the series so far. It lacks the wonder and variety of the all the other books.
Basically Arthur now has to return to the House to fight Grim Tuesday, cursed by his Key by Greed. Unfortunately not much happens, Arthur just goes into a gigantic hole (called the Far Reaches) that has been excavated for 10,000 years where the strange substance called Nothing is extracted (and used to create all sorts of objects). However, before he gets to do anything, his friend Suzy Turqoise Blue comes with a plan which involes flying to the top of the hole and drop into Grim Tuesdays tower, where he accumulates his treasures. Luckily there there is a really imaginative adventure occurring in the tower (you have to read the book for that) ;)
The taking of the second Key is a bit disappointing too, seems Arthur gets it far too easily (compared to the great difficulty he had into getting hold of all the others). Grim Tuesdays live eyebrow is best not mentioning, since it seemed like a bad idea...
All in all, not bad, just slightly better than average (I found all the other books in the series are much better). 3.5 stars
 And you thought Mondays were bad July 4, 2006
Amanda Richards (ECD, Guyana)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
If you're going to read this book, I strongly recommend that you make sure that you've read "Mister Monday" first. That way you see, I don't have to explain all about the Architect and the Will, and the seven hidden fragments and the treacherous trustees and all that. Just call me lazy if you like.
Our young and most unlikely hero has barely returned from Mister Monday's domain, when the telephone hotline starts ringing again. Arthur quickly learns that Grim Tuesday has found a convenient loophole in the Trustee agreement, and that all Mister Monday's substantial debts have been passed on to him as the new Master of the Lower House. Grim T. means to collect one way or the other, and as the world's economy gets turned on its end, Arthur realizes that he has no choice but to go back and sort it all out, and of course get the second key and some added responsibility that he can well do without.
Greedy Grim Tuesday runs a huge "nothing" mine using slave labor, and makes all the gadgets and widgets and doodads needed by the Days and anybody with the right currency. Lots of new and deadly creatures await Arthur, some of whom are allergic to salt and some to silver, but all have the common goal of inflicting upon him as much pain as possible. With the help of his friend Leaf (from book one) he finally finds the entrance to Tuesday's mineshafts, and begins his new quest, going deep, deep undercover as one of Tuesday's slaves.
Fortunately for him, he gets a little help from Suzy Turquoise Blue, Japeth the walking Thesaurus, Captain Shelvocke the sea-faring brother of the Pied Piper, and to a lesser extent a hairy, materialistic bit of fluff formally known as "eyebrow". Soon he's sailing off into very strange waters to retrieve the second fragment of the Will, with a heavy heart, a broken leg and almost more problems than he can bear.
Exciting and imaginative, although sometimes a tad long on description, Nix wraps this one up rather quickly at the end, and gives a tantalizing glimpse into Wednesday's woes. A must-read if you've completed your Monday reading.
Amanda Richards
Grim "Tuesday" January 18, 2006
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Things go from bad to worse for Arthur Penhaligon in the second book of this series, "Grim Tuesday." Garth Nix's second Keys to the Kingdom book is a bit more plodding and hard to decipher than the first, but still has his deliciously dark sense of humor and knack for ghastly beasties.
It's less than a day after the near-catastrophic events of "Mister Monday." And poor Arthur thought he was going to go back to a normal life. But he's suddenly called and told that Grim Tuesday has somehow called in debts of Mister Monday's -- including Arthur's entire world, among others. Houses are being mysteriously sold, creatures are swarming through his city, and the stock market is going wonky. So Arthur has to get back to the House and somehow get everything right again.
He narrowly escapes being attacked by one of Tuesday's minions, and ends up being dumped in the Far Reaches. There, he becomes an indentured servant to Tuesday, in an enormous Pit that mines Nothing, and is undermining the very foundations of the House. With the help of his friend Suzy Blue and a nautical captain (and Tuesday's discarded soot-eating eyebrow), he must somehow get the second key and second part of the Will -- or be destroyed by Tuesday.
Nix widens the scope of the world he introduced in "Mister Monday." Now that we're acquainted with concepts like the House, the Will, and the different Days, he goes full-speed into the storyline. There are plenty of interesting hints about the future -- especially a communique from Lady Wednesday. What will Nix do next? Only time will tell.
This book is a little off-kilter -- the bureaucratic terms can make your head spin sometimes. What's more, Nix spends too much time focusing on zipping up with the Ascending Wings and clinging to the top. However, his descriptions of the mine are excellent, full of despair and misery. You can almost smell the soot and grime. Not to mention the hideous Nithlings, as creepy and sinister as anything out of Nix's classic dark fantasy "Sabriel."
Grim Tuesday is an interesting villain in himself -- the ultimate plagiarizer, a guy who can't actually make things himself. So he copies other people's art and machines, and sells them. Arthur is still trying to fight against his destiny (just accept it, kid), and such memorable characters as Japheth the Thesaurus and the quirky Suzy appear to back him up.
While it drags at times, "Grim Tuesday" is still an intriguing, imaginative read with plenty of darkness and humor. It's not as good as "Mr. Monday," but it is a solid continuation and ends with hints for the third book.
VERY VERY VERY GOOD July 26, 2005
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
very good story line from begining to finish and very good choice of words in such things as description. thrilling story grabs you all through the book and the dramatic finish is amazing!!!
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