YA Wednesday: The Keys to the Kingdom Series

(Amazon link: Garth Nix books)

     The seven book series, The Keys to the Kingdom, by Australian, YA author Garth Nix (Seventh Tower series, Abhorsen series. See previous post here) is pretty darn fantastic. The title is taken from Matthew 16:19 from the New Testament (or if it isn't, it fits perfectly): "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven". Also, the story takes place within one week and features the "Morrow Days" as antagonists, seven beings that are representative of the seven days of the week. Each of these beings is associated with one of the Catholic seven deadly or cardinal sins. It was intriguing throughout the series to guess which Morrow Day exhibited which issue. Oh, and these books aren't religious fiction per say, they just have cool connections like this that you can pick up on (or read about in Wikipedia). Aside from religious tidbits, there are also various cultural bits snuck in as well like Seven Dials (a road junction in London) and characters such as The Piper (Pied Piper of Hamelin) as well as the children he lead away, and The Mariner ("The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"). This series is very cleverly written and will have you laughing at parts and gripping the cover at others.

     I remember passing Mister Monday (TKTTK Book 1) in the bookstore and always being drawn to it. When I finally read it I had to read the next one, and then the next one, and so on. It's that kind of series. At that time though, only six of the seven books were out so I had to wait for over a year for the next and final book in the series. It was madness! But I made it through. If you haven't read this series yet, you don't have to wait at all. You can just devour them all at once (Wednesday would) or in quick succession -whatever the case may be.

Check out these two Keys to the Kingdom websites for more information:
Allen & Unwin Publishing
Scholastic Publishing

     Directly below is a blurb about Mister Monday and following that are two videos; one is a book trailer for Lord Sunday, the 7th & final book in the series, and the other is an interview with Garth Nix in which he talks about the series.

(illustration by McLean Kendree)

(From Goodreads)

Mister Monday: The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1

Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is, in fact, supposed to die an early death. But then his life is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock.

Arthur is safe--but his world is not. Along with the key comes a plague brought by bizarre creatures from another realm. A stranger named Mister Monday, his avenging messengers with bloodstained wings, and an army of dog-faced Fetchers will stop at nothing to get the key back--even if it means destroying Arthur and everything around him.

Desperate, Arthur ventures into a mysterious house--a house that only he can see. It is in this house that Arthur must unravel the secrets of the key--and discover his true fate.