In the first book of Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom series, Arthur Penhaligon (is it just me, or does that sound a bit like Pendragon?) nearly dies from an asthma attack. Oddly enough, he doesn’t. A couple of men dressed in clothes 100 years out-of-date (Mr. Monday and his servant) give him half of the first Key, expecting him to soon die (thus the Key’s ownership would revert back to them and fulfill a prophecy). Their plans go awry and Arthur, still alive, retains the ownership of the partial Key.

Mr. Monday soon sends his minions to force Arthur to relinquish ownership to the key, bringing a plague. Arthur leaves the Secondary Realms (our universe) to fight Mr. Monday for the greater half of the First Key to the Kingdom, so he can rid Earth of the sickness and free the Primary Realms from the Tyranny of Mr. Monday and the Morrow Days.

Though the writing level is a bit lower than I’m used to, the Keys to the Kingdom series is very enjoyable….and isn’t that the whole purpose of fiction? To entertain?

This entry was posted by Matt on Wednesday, July 4th, 2007 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Fantasy, Fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.