Mister Monday (The Keys to the Kingdom, Book

#131
Title: Mister Monday (The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1)
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 2003
Genre: children's/young adult, fantasy & science fiction
361 pages

The first in a series, and like Nix's Seventh Tower books, intended for a younger reader than his Abhorsen trilogy. The Keys to the Kingdom slides even further into pure fantasy, which often is not to my taste. I find fantasy often to be illogical and picaresque, and to rely heavily on deus ex machina strategies, especially when it is written for young adults. This creates a passive reading experience, since the reader cannot anticipate or predict any events or outcomes. When fantasy is well-written, the author articulates the internal logic of the world and the reader, like the protagonist, can learn the world's rules and engage more actively with the narrative. I do not yet know which direction this series will take, though by the end of this first volume some of the possible courses seem clear. The conceit is that our hero, the asthmatic 7th grader Arthur Penhaligon, will interact successively with the personages who bear the sequential names/titles of the days of the week, ultimately (and not without some twists and turns) saving all of humanity and beyond through compassion and empathy, which is pretty good for a middle schooler. How much internal coherence this tale has, and the extent to which the reader can participate rather than simply receive the story, is yet to be determined.

As always, Nix does a terrific job of worldbuilding and integrates both mythic and historic elements that are fun for adult readers to spot even if younger readers miss them. Some aspects of the set-up may remind readers of Robert Charles Wilson's Darwinia. For what it's worth, "Penhaligon" is an old British place name as well as surname, and means something like "Willow Top" or "Willow Hill."