Archer's Goon (original 1984; edition 2003)

Howard Sykes comes home from school one afternoon and finds a Goon firmly ensconced in his family’s kitchen. The Goon tells them that he comes from Archer, and that Archer wants his two thousand. This, it turns out is words – Quentin Sykes is an author – not money, and Quentin indignantly claims that he’s already sent them, but he’s persuaded to turn out another two thousand and the Goon leaves. But the next day, the Goon is back: those words won’t do. Quentin goes on strike and, one after another, the seven otherworldly siblings who secretly run the town make their own bids to get hold of his words. Howard has to take a break from designing spaceships in his head and, with the help of his sister, generally known as ‘Awful’, because she is (but her name is Anthea Mildred Dolores, so it’s hardly surprising), and some unlikely allies, step in to save his family, the town, and, in fact, the world – because what most of the seven siblings wants is to run the entire world, not just the town to which they are currently confined.

This is many people’s favourite DWJ, and it’s pretty high on my own list as well. It’s funny, witty, charming and imaginative – and totally original, as only DWJ could be.

"As seen on TV" claims the cover. Not by me, it wasn't. ( )

I've been gradually collecting as many of Diana Wynne Jones' books as I can track down without going broke, so I was excited to receive this as a swap (from Australia, no less). The story starts off quite simply; brother and sister arrive home from school to find a thug waiting for their dad in the kitchen. The goon says their father owes his boss, Archer, 2000 words, and he won't leave without them. There is, of course, the resulting mayhem in getting rid of the goon, and a mystery as to what the 2000 words are actually for.

DWJ was possibly the best at creating unforgettable character personalities; the thuggish goon reveals a certain amount of pathetic charm; the parents are both suprisingly real - they spat, make up, get into tempers, have foolish foibles, instead of being largely ignored as in many YA novels; and the children are both pretty much as children actually are - not wanting to practice violin or piano, watching tv, trying to find solutions on their own, without adults, being petulant or wanting to disappear whenever they are brought into their parent's arguments.

Archer's Goon is a great story well told, with humour, action, adventure and a bit of mystery all aided by excellent characters and their own group dynamics. 4.5 stars! ( )

It all starts when Howard Sykes comes home from school one day to find the Goon sitting in the kitchen. All the Goon will tell them is that he's come from Archer and Quentin Sykes, Howard's father, has got behind with his payments and owes Archer two thousand.

Howard discovers that the two thousand owed by his father relates to two thousand words his father has been writing on a monthly basis although his father's never heard of Archer either. It soon becomes clear that in addition to the mysterious Archer there are other people in town who are very interested in getting Howard's father to write two thousand words for them and that these people also have strange powers which can make life very uncomfortable for the Sykes family.

I really enjoyed this book and although I originally gave it four stars, I'm now considering 4.5 stars. I really like the way DWJ writes about families. Howard's family is dysfunctional, his parents have blazing rows when they're tired and stressed, he often finds his younger sister incredibly annoying (Anthea also known as Aweful) but they also show a great deal of love for each other.

Similarly, the bad guys aren't stereotyped as wholly bad, by the end of the book you can understand why they've behaved the way they have done.

Add in some great humour and this is a fantastic book for children and adults to enjoy. And sadly out of print at the moment. ( )

A fascinating book that follows thirteen year old Howard and his family as they try to understand why his father has been writing two thousand words a month for a stranger. Everything starts when Goon, a frighteningly large man plants himself in their kitchen saying that the last words weren't original. Howard and his sister Awful learn about how everything is not as it seems in their town as their investigation continues. Along the way they discover a group of siblings who's communication problems are causing issues for their town. In the end, the answer isn't what they expected and Howard's thoughts about his own family change. This book is a good one to recommend to a curious reader in Middle School, because the language is not difficult yet the story gets quite complicated. There are some moments of violence, but the heart of this wonderful book is really about family and understanding how your actions affect those around you. ( )

When I was growing up, and first getting into Diana Wynne Jones books, she wasn't nearly as popular in North America as she is now, and it was often quite challenging to find her novels. Even getting a list of all her books was pretty difficult; we often scanned the lists in the novels we found, and then went to find those books. Some took years to find (Castle in the Air, for one), and some we never could find at all, like Archer's Goon.

My mom found a copy, I think online, a couple of years ago, and lent it to me the last time I was down there. With all the build-up behind this, I was almost afraid to try reading it, honestly, but since they're coming up soon and I want to give back the books I've borrowed, I did this one first. Thankfully, it lived up to the billing.

This is the story of Howard Sykes and his family, who are visited by a very large man, the Goon, who is there on behalf of Archer and demanding two thousand words from his father, an author. Why Archer wants it is unclear at first, but Howard and his family find out over the course of the book all about Archer and his family, who have secretly been running his town and want to move on to the rest of the world. Of course, Howard and co. want to stop them.

The plot is actually very well put together, with the threads weaving in and out in surprisingly harmonious ways, as DWJ often does. I really quite like her standalone books of this sort; her style works very well at figuring out where the world will differ from ours and where the magic comes in without making it all seem too strange. The descriptions and the characterization find Jones at her best.

I do regret not finding this years ago, but it's good to still have this sort of book now. This is actually a pretty good place to start with her books in general, I think, if you're looking for a way in. I'd go for it, certainly. ( )