Sir Thursday

#148
Title: Sir Thursday
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher:  Scholastic
Year: 2006
Genre: children's/young adult, fantasy & science fiction
344 pages 

Part 4 of the Keys to the Kingdom series. Unable to go home due to maliciousness and chaos within the House, Arthur is conscripted unwillingly into Sir Thursday's army. The Piper's Children play a larger role, the Will grows more powerful and officious, and Arthur gains more useful skills. However, each time he uses the Keys, he moves that much closer to becoming a denizen himself. Meanwhile back home, Leaf must fight a creature that has taken Arthur's form and identity.

Drowned Wednesday

#147
Title: Drowned Wednesday
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher:  Scholastic
Year: 2005
Genre: children's/young adult, fantasy & science fiction
389 pages 

Part 3 of the Keys to the Kingdom series. As the narrative continues, Arthur builds more alliances. Unlike the previous two denizens Arthur has vanquished, Drowned Wednesday promises to abdicate in exchange for his help. More of the broader backstory is filled in and the reader learns more about the Architect and her family, as well as the Raised Rats. Meanwhile, the threats in Arthur's own world increase. The speed picks up in this volume, which is a mercy.

Magic's Child

#146
Title: Magic's Child
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Publisher: Razorbill
Year: 2007
Genre: children's/young adult, fantasy & science fiction
291 pages 

Part 3 of the Magic or Madness trilogy. This final volume wraps up some plot points and resolves the action without stifling the reader's speculation about what will happen next. Reason has some important realizations about magic and all of the characters face difficult decisions. A major antagonist is vanquished disappointingly easily; in a reverse deus ex machina, he seems to just pick up his things and go home. Other than that, a satisfying conclusion.

Magic Lessons

#145
Title: Magic Lessons
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Publisher: Razorbill
Year: 2007
Genre: children's/young adult, fantasy & science fiction
304 pages 

Part 2 of the Magic or Madness trilogy. This volume is not a stand-alone as it relies on the reader's knowledge of the first book and willingness to wait for the third for the resolution of most plot points. Character development continues, as does the complexity of the situation and the difficulty of knowing what the best choice of action is. It becomes clear in this installment that a major thematic point is teenagers' discovery of adults' failures and inconsistency.

Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

#144
Title: Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Publisher: Doubleday
Year: 2007
Genre: fiction
336 pages 

After Rant, I feel much more hopeful about Palahniuk's future works. It isn't perfect, and still doesn't attain the crispness of his earlier work, but it marks a return to the characteristics that made that earlier work interesting and engaging. Palahniuk still doesn't trust his reader and undermines his work (here, by a ham-handed and entirely unnecessary front note telling the reader that oral histories may be contradictory. Yes, we know this.

The oral history aspect of the novel works well; the plot doesn't always cohere across those multiple, unreliable narrators, and some of the devices are not well-explored. Still, this "biography" is interesting and engaging and represents a welcome return to Palahniuk's earlier style, with much more of his pleasing world-building. If you haven't read Haunted, just skip it. If you have, you'll find Rant less gross for the sake of gross.

The One and Only Shrek: Plus 5 Other Stories

#143
Title: The One and Only Shrek: Plus 5 Other Stories
Author: William Steig
Publisher: Square Fish (an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Year: 2007
Genre: children's/young adult
200 pages 


A collection of several of Steig's picture books for young readers, all of which contain elements to amuse adults as well as children. Several of these quirky stories are actually pretty moving. The eponymous Shrek provides an opportunity to compare the movie with its origin.