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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well, this was one of the better books in the series because all that we've been building up to finally came to a head, but I still didn't get very excited about it. Nix lost me a long time ago, so at this point I'm just happy to be done. The ending was predictable and then confusing. Arthur becoming the new architect was no surprise, but splitting in two and what happened after didn't really make sense to me. Oh well.
At last, I have made it to the end of a series. I thought it wasn't possible. They always go on and on. This was sort of a calm ending considering the rest of the books. I wasn't particularly suprised by it though. I suppose that's ok.
I thought Lord Sunday was a good conclusion to the series. I had guessed that the ending would turn out similarly to the way it did, but it was still enjoyable despite seeing it coming.
I look forward to Nix's next offering.
I look forward to Nix's next offering.
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Protagonist Breakdown: Young Male Hero
Young adult series can often avoid hard consequences. The stakes may be high but there isn't a cost to victory. This isn't unique to young adult series but when it does happen it is sometimes due to an underestimation of what 'young adults' can handle. That isn't to say unambiguously happy endings are always an underestimation, just that they might be.
Garth Nix does not make the mistake of underestimating his audience of young adults in any of his book series. The Keys to the Kingdom exemplifies that trust in his audience. Victory has consequences. The stakes are not just high but high concept. If you, or your kids, enjoy stories like the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud or the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman then I can very much recommend this series. If you're looking for coming out of a book series happy I recommend you save this series for later.
I have two complaints, but don't consider them combined worth removing a star. I think as the pace of the story accelerated we lost proper endings to each book and we lost world building detail. I think the books could have been longer to address these two things without overstaying their welcome.
Young adult series can often avoid hard consequences. The stakes may be high but there isn't a cost to victory. This isn't unique to young adult series but when it does happen it is sometimes due to an underestimation of what 'young adults' can handle. That isn't to say unambiguously happy endings are always an underestimation, just that they might be.
Garth Nix does not make the mistake of underestimating his audience of young adults in any of his book series. The Keys to the Kingdom exemplifies that trust in his audience. Victory has consequences. The stakes are not just high but high concept. If you, or your kids, enjoy stories like the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud or the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman then I can very much recommend this series. If you're looking for coming out of a book series happy I recommend you save this series for later.
I have two complaints, but don't consider them combined worth removing a star. I think as the pace of the story accelerated we lost proper endings to each book and we lost world building detail. I think the books could have been longer to address these two things without overstaying their welcome.
this was amazing like all of garth nix's books. though i didn't like it as much as the old kingdom series (sabriel/lirayel/abhorsen)which is one of my all time favorites, it was still a pretty decent read. the ending was amazing but it was kind of predictable. not the details of course -spoilers- but i guessed that arthur would become the new architect since book 3. it was nice that he got to live on earth again too though i can't begin to wonder what that would be like, being a part of god. ( architect i mean) the fact that he is immortal but doesn't know it was really touching, and it left a bit to imagination. i love it when there are still somethings about character to wonder about even after the end. suzy as the new lady sunday was cute and there was this interesting thing too throughout the series even -though there wasn't romance even a bit- i couldnt help but ship characters together. :) and there was a love triangle between leaf arthur and suzy in my mind and it was fun that arthur kind of ended up with both as architect with suzy as sunday and as a mortal boy with leaf!
i had some other problems too like the mariner's death. arthur was a caring and kind person and this was the most important part of his character and he did like the mariner! but there was't one single line that showed us how he felt when he died! he wasn't even surprised. i mean did he know that opening the cage would kill him? if he did the arthur i knew wouldn't let him do it. or would at least consider something else. and if he didn't know he should have been at leat a bit surprised! he just died and arthur didn't even look his way. i mean he could have tried to at least use the keys powers to save him or feel a little guilt sadness or anything at all but he was completly emotionless, while he felt a lot of felt pain when elephent died! that scene was the worst one during the whole series! - of course maybe i was so dissapointed becouse i really liked the mariner and would have liked to see a proper end for him! -
though i have to say this last book was the weakest one of the series and i didn't like it as much as the others, the 5 star is for the whole series not this book which was like 3/5 and the whole series were 4/5. but the whole idea of the series was so amazing and so original that made it a great read. i mean i was totally in love with the simple names of the trustees who represented the days or the dawn/noon/dust thing. or simply the amazing characters of denzines with their ranks and personalities, and i loved architect and the old ones family ( architect,old one,sunday,mariner and piper )they were my favorites characters!,even though we hardly got to see them still i liked them more than arthur suzy or leaf!
which was another problem of the series in my oponion.the main character weren't really likable.I don't know why but arthur and leaf were my least favorite characters and i really didnt care if they lived or died ! suzy was better but still not a character to fall in love with! which was probebly the reason that this was one of the few series i didnt cry in the end.i cared a lot more about minor characters throughout the books.the architect family -who all died- Dr.scamandros-btw his tattoos were one of the best points in the book for me at least- , or even arthur's brother were the characters i mostly wanted to know about.
the other problem was a routine in the books about freeing the will which made me want to kill myself.sometimes the only different between the chapters where arthur tried to find and free it was the way the will was imprisond except that it was pretty much the same! there was an algoritm to the books which you would figure out by book 3-4 and then the base of all of books were the same!
anyhow i talked A LOT.to sum up it was a series based on an original and great idea with amazing setting and a story line with enough twists and turns to keep you going.
i had some other problems too like the mariner's death. arthur was a caring and kind person and this was the most important part of his character and he did like the mariner! but there was't one single line that showed us how he felt when he died! he wasn't even surprised. i mean did he know that opening the cage would kill him? if he did the arthur i knew wouldn't let him do it. or would at least consider something else. and if he didn't know he should have been at leat a bit surprised! he just died and arthur didn't even look his way. i mean he could have tried to at least use the keys powers to save him or feel a little guilt sadness or anything at all but he was completly emotionless, while he felt a lot of felt pain when elephent died! that scene was the worst one during the whole series! - of course maybe i was so dissapointed becouse i really liked the mariner and would have liked to see a proper end for him! -
though i have to say this last book was the weakest one of the series and i didn't like it as much as the others, the 5 star is for the whole series not this book which was like 3/5 and the whole series were 4/5. but the whole idea of the series was so amazing and so original that made it a great read. i mean i was totally in love with the simple names of the trustees who represented the days or the dawn/noon/dust thing. or simply the amazing characters of denzines with their ranks and personalities, and i loved architect and the old ones family ( architect,old one,sunday,mariner and piper )they were my favorites characters!,even though we hardly got to see them still i liked them more than arthur suzy or leaf!
which was another problem of the series in my oponion.the main character weren't really likable.I don't know why but arthur and leaf were my least favorite characters and i really didnt care if they lived or died ! suzy was better but still not a character to fall in love with! which was probebly the reason that this was one of the few series i didnt cry in the end.i cared a lot more about minor characters throughout the books.the architect family -who all died- Dr.scamandros-btw his tattoos were one of the best points in the book for me at least- , or even arthur's brother were the characters i mostly wanted to know about.
the other problem was a routine in the books about freeing the will which made me want to kill myself.sometimes the only different between the chapters where arthur tried to find and free it was the way the will was imprisond except that it was pretty much the same! there was an algoritm to the books which you would figure out by book 3-4 and then the base of all of books were the same!
anyhow i talked A LOT.to sum up it was a series based on an original and great idea with amazing setting and a story line with enough twists and turns to keep you going.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated