Reviewed by Candace Cunard for TeensReadToo.com

Having read and loved Garth Nix's OLD KINGDOM books (SABRIEL, LIRAEL, and ABHORSEN) as well as his SEVENTH TOWER series, I had pretty high expectations when I started in on SUPERIOR SATURDAY. I wasn't disappointed. The action moves along quickly, with new and original presentations of magic at every turn, and major and minor characters worth cheering for (or, in the case of the antagonists, against).

The sixth book in Nix's KEYS TO THE KINGDOM series picks up right where the fifth book left off, making it a little confusing to understand at first, especially if you're a newcomer to the series, like I was when reading this. The book is certainly good enough to merit your going to the library and checking out all of the previous ones in order to get up to speed, but in case your library is as negligent as mine, here's the background that I wish I could have had going in.

Our protagonist, asthmatic twelve-year-old Arthur Penhaligon, through a series of complicated circumstances described in previous novels, is taken from his home on Earth and granted the power of being the Heir to the Kingdom. Nix's complicated but fascinating universe centers around a grand House that is the epicenter of all universes, and is ruled by seven Trustees, all named for the days of the week. Within the House, each Trustee has its own domain. As the Heir, Arthur's duty is to wrest the Keys to the Kingdom from the corrupt Trustees, and to recreate the Will of the Architect, which the Trustees have consistently disobeyed. The Architect is a mysterious figure responsible for creating both the House and the "secondary realms," including Earth.

In this sixth book in the series, Arthur is up against one of the toughest of the Trustees: Superior Saturday, with her power to work great sorceries with the help of the sixth Key. With the help of friends and acquaintances throughout the House, Arthur attempts to infiltrate Saturday's portion of the House and find the sixth part of the Architect's Will. He's running out of time, though, as the dangerously corrosive Nothing eats away at the House's foundations.

Arthur must retrieve the Key, and the next part of the Will, in time to ensure that the House is not destroyed--for if the epicenter of all universes is demolished, the secondary realms that depend upon its survival will also crumble and fall, making for the end of Earth and Arthur's home.

Nix always has a unique perspective on magic, and this series is no different in that respect. His innovations draw heavily upon archetypes and numerous different branches of mythology that add a richness and texture to his world, even if the average reader does not see them all on the first read-through. I also enjoyed his characterization of Arthur, a young boy who is taking on increasingly difficult tasks and succeeding at them, so that although he is young, there is a strength and maturity to his outlook. Of course, this doesn't prevent him from having his share of doubts.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book and would recommend the series to anyone interested in fantasy adventure. ( )

My book review:
http://ganimede.dreamwidth.org/23446.... ( )

I hadn't read anything in quite a few months. I own a small library of books, but none of them seemed appealing enough to break my reading dry spell until I realized I was still a book behind in the Keys to the Kingdom series, and this book turned out to be just what I needed to get myself reading again.

The further I get in this series, the more solid the characters are, the more suspenseful the plots. True to that pattern, Superior Saturday is my favorite yet. Perhaps I've just grown comfortable with Nix's delightful imagery, but the quirky characteristics of The House that can sometimes feel over-the-top all seem quite natural at this stage in the story. The often predictable formula of Arthur's adventures in the previous books seems to break down as this story takes a few twists, keeping me guessing and engaged. I enjoyed my time in The House and I enjoyed the suspense of this book, but I did not care for the ending, or rather, lack thereof. Books without endings make me feel tricked and cheated, especially when the action is intense and the pages quickly dwindle without any hint of resolution. This was a colorful and exciting read, best of the series so far, and I look forward to the final installation, but I really wanted to throw the book out the window when I realized the action was left hanging until the next book, which has not yet been published. Mr. Nix, that's a dirty trick. ( )

Sooo great, the events of the storyline are getting closer and closer together, until as with the end of Friday and the begining of Saturday, it begins to merge and blend, leaving you holding your breath in hopeful expectancy of the conclusion to the series: Lord Sunday.

Arrgh! Why did I start this series before the last book was published? The ending of each book has been increasingly cliffhanger-ish, but this takes it.
Nix's take on office life is amusing, and the threat to the House and the universe looms most convincingly. Leaf is off stage for much of this book, so we don't know much of what's happening in the secondary realms - and Arthur races from one part of the house to another. This volume is even darker again, with various betrayals and Arthur's claim to humanity dwindling by the paragraph. It'll be a hard wait for the last volume. ( )