The latest book in Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series is Drowned Wednesday, and it's a doozy. Lots of unexpected stuff, from how Wednesday was drowned to a nice little cliffhanger surprise at the end. One thing that is particularly nice about this series is that despite being solidly in the taken-from-his-family-to-a-fantastic-place-where-his-amazing-powers-can-blossom-and-bear-fruit tradition, there is a nicely plausible reason why our hero's near-omnipotence can't be exercised. So it works. Mostly, though, this book is a romp. Pirates, a Leviathan, incompetent pirate wannabes, otherworldly servants, little girls pressed into pirate duty, mysterious sorcerers with moving tattoos, horrible undead cephalopod pirates, a giant talking goldfish, stolen pirate treasure, and a submarine crewed by rats. Did I mention the pirates? If only there were zeppelins, we'd really be cooking with gas.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
So Stephen & I weren’t very impressed by Grim Tuesday, though we very much enjoyed Mister Monday. Is Drowned Wednesday better than Grim Tuesday?
Well, and I liked Tuesday more than Monday, actually, so it would be best to ignore my opinion. Still, I think Wednesday had more cool stuff in it than Tuesday, but not as tight a plot.
Thanks,
-V.
One thing that is particularly nice about this series is that despite being solidly in the taken-from-his-family-to-a-fantastic-place-where-his-amazing-powers-can-blossom-and-bear-fruit tradition, there is a nicely plausible reason why our hero’s near-omnipotence can’t be exercised.
Hey, what if I ask you to pick up Le Guin’s recent book Gifts from the library? I am rapt to know what you’ll think of it, especially wrt the above.
I guess that makes Wednesday a book to check out from the library before purchasing.
Thanks!