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. ( )

Outstanding, Unique, Brilliant, And Just A Really Good Book

Superior Saturday by Garth Nix
Publication Date: July 2008
5 out of 5 stars
PG - Some Gruesome Violence

The House is being destroyed by Nothing and Earth’s existence is being threatened. And the only person who can save the House and Earth is the rightful heir of the architect, a boy named Arthur Penhaligan.

The Lower House has already been destroyed by the Nothing and without Arthur and his 5 keys he has claimed from the unruly Trustees of the Will, the rest of the House will be destroyed. Arthur, with his best friend Suzy Turquoise Blue, set out in search of the sixth part of the Will. But to get into the Upper House, where Part Six of the Will is hidden, they have to outwit thousands of Superior Saturday’s sorcerers, survive working with the grease monkeys and the creatures lurking in the dark, figure out who they can and can’t trust, and hope that Superior Saturday, the oldest and most powerful denizen, doesn’t detect their presence. If they are revealed, their outcome and the world’s outcome looks dim. With outstanding odds against them, Arthur begins to fear more and more about what he is becoming, then the task at hand. The outcome of Arthur’s victory or defeat will affect the fate of the House, Earth, and all their inhabitants. But first, he has to get in…

Superior Saturday was another outstanding, unique, brilliant book in the Keys to the Kingdom Series. This book was an amazingly fast read, just like every book in the series. The plot was not rushed or clumsy, but steadily sped up with each event and was intriguing and held your attention the whole time.

Arthur’s inner battle was realistic and completely believable. His fight to stay human although his outer appearances began to change at an alarming rate, added to my respect for him. He realizes what is right and wrong and doesn’t sway from his decisions even though sometimes it may appear as not going as smoothly or successfully as he had hoped. Arthur holds tightly to the only thing that now keeps him human, his ability to feel compassion, patience, forgiveness, and understanding how whatever he does effects everyone else. Absolutely great character. Arthur is the biggest reason for a person to read this series.

The creatures, landscape, and dialogue are all amazingly creative. This is one of the most original, unique, interesting series created in these modern times.

I highly suggest The Keys to the Kingdom series to everyone, everywhere.

Date Reviewed: November 9th, 2008 ( )

Want to read some fantasy that doesn’t feel like The Lord of the Rings regurgitated? Look no further than Garth Nix’s The Keys to the Kingdom series – now onto its sixth installment and still going strong. Superior Saturday is definitely the fastest book in the series so far; the pace kicks off in the first chapter with a nuclear bomb threat and barely slows down from there! This book has all the qualities that made its prequels so successful, the most important of which are Nix’s signature humour and irresistible originality. Traditional fantasy may be enjoyable to read, but nothing says ‘fun’ like a novel that throws away the tried-and-true Tolkien mould in favour of some of the most bizarre and fantastic ideas ever put to paper. The more fantasy I read, the more I appreciate the delightful distinctiveness of Nix’s work.

As the penultimate book in the series, Superior Saturday resolves some of the mysteries left by its prequels, but not all. Readers will discover more about Arthur’s bitter archenemy, but the quick pace and succinct storyline leave little room for much else. The focus is on building the suspense for the upcoming Lord Sunday, so readers be warned: this one ends on a mean cliffhanger!

It would be all too easy to say that I ‘can’t wait’ for the next instalment – but after reading Superior Saturday, I hesitate to do so. In some places, there is an unfortunate feel about the writing of being rushed into publication; most likely a side effect of Nix’s impatient fan base. On close examination, the writing contains quite a few niggling minor errors and pieces of description that just don’t seem to gel – flaws that are no doubt present in every novel prior to the thorough assistance of an editor. Sadly, it feels a little like Nix’s editor was not allowed enough time with the manuscript to properly perfect it. Lord Sunday may be scheduled for release in less than a year – but I am more than happy to wait a few extra months if it will mean the difference between a rough novel and a polished one.

Minor flaws aside, however, Superior Saturday is a highly enjoyable novel that fans are sure to rip through without a second’s pause. A decidedly superior read. ( )

My kids and I were quite disappointed in this volume in the series. It will have to be read and there's no reason to think that the final volume won't be better, but this is a low point.

The problem with this book is that we go nowhere!

With each of the first five volumes, Arthur was thrown into a new situation, encountered his enemy and defeated him or her. Some of the stories were weaker (e.g. Mister Monday) and some were stronger (e.g. Grim Tuesday) but each got resolved. With Saturday, however, when the book ends, Arthur has just met Superior Saturday for the first time, he hasn't obtained the sixth key; Leaf is back in the Secondary Realms about to be destroyed from a plan put in place by Saturday; we don't know what's happening with Suzie; Dame Primus has started lying to Arthur; Arthur, himself, is coming under the influence of almost-uncontrollable fits of arrogance induced by his Denizen status...in short, the entire volume is just a build-up to the actual story. I felt cheated and am definitely not happy about waiting another year for Lord Sunday.

There's nothing in this particular adventure (that the readers know of) that required him to write half a book. The only explanation I can think of is that Lord Sunday won't prove to be a villain like the other trustees (there have been possible hints along these lines) and Mr. Nix needed to preserve his final bad guy since the structure of the books required seven volumes.

Bah, as I said, you have to read it to get to the final volume and, if you've come this far, you might as well. As always, this particular series is not even in the same league as his Abhorsen series—neither the characters nor plots are as deep; the target juvenile audience dumbs down the writing slightly; it's just not as much fun. Still, I found the series, taken as a whole, amusing and will wait...irritated...for number seven. ( )