Superior Saturday (The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 6)

#208
Title: Superior Saturday (The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 6)
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 2008
278 pages

In contrast to previous episodes, the sixth installment of the Keys to the Kingdom series ends on a literal cliffhanger and does not in any way stand alone. Though this may disappoint some readers who want each volume to provide some closure, it neatly parallels the changes in the House, which is being destroyed and collapsing into Nothing, sometimes at Arthur's heels. As Superior Saturday strives to disrupt the levels of the house to penetrate the Incomparable Garden of Lord Sunday, the tidy structure of one book for each day is also disrupted. Though the action is briskly paced and interesting, the real story is Arthur's maturation. As he wields the power of the keys on behalf of others and to save himself, he becomes less human and more Denizen. Though Denizens are powerful and attractive, Arthur also  finds himself becoming more aggressive and contemptuous. This process of becoming the other is, of course, a metaphor for becoming an adult, and this aspect of the story is similar to the developmental metaphor of Donohue's The Stolen Child.

I hope that in the final book, Arthur will have to reconcile his human/Denizen identities, rather than renouncing one or the other, which I always think is a too-easy and meaningless solution.

Incidentally, why is there a microscope on cover? Am I forgetting something?