Superior Saturday (Keys to the Kingdom, Book 6)

<p><br>The secret of his own identity. <br>The identity of The Architect. <br>The complete Will of the House. <br>The fulfillment of his fate. <br> Arthur Penhaligon is getting closer and closer to these things... but not without risks, conflict, and adventure. <br></p><h3>VOYA</h3><p>In this sixth installment in his endlessly inventive series, Keys to the Kingdom, Nix sends his no-longer-quite-human hero, Arthur, the anointed Heir to the Kingdom, up against the great sorceress Superior Saturday. Complicating Arthur's quest to recover both the sixth part of the Architect's will and the sixth key to the Kingdom is his desire to return to Earth in time to prevent his home from being destroyed by a nuclear weapon. Although the dreaded Nothing has all but eliminated the Lower and Middle Houses of the Kingdom, Saturday has chosen to ignore its encroachment, preferring to concentrate her efforts on building an enormous tower that will allow her to storm the Incomparable Gardens, home of Lord Sunday, and challenge him for supreme power in what is left of the Kingdom. This effort allows Arthur, disguised as a Piper's Child, one of Saturday's human slaves, to make his way up the tower and infiltrate the army of Sorcerers brought together to attack Lord Sunday's realm. Obviously Nix's narrative has developed an extraordinarily complex backstory at this point, and new readers would be best advised to begin with the first book in the series, Mister Monday (Scholastic, 2003/VOYA February 2004). Those who have followed Nix this far, however, will find more than enough of the cockeyed word play, creative plotting, and general all-around strangeness that have made the books one of the most original fantasy series of the past decade. Reviewer: Michael Levy</p>