Drowned Wednesday

This book takes place in ships and on the Border Sea. Even if you don't like boating books, this also has a lot of magic and mystery. If you've read and liked Mister Monday and Grim Tuesday, don't stop now. This is the best book I've read all summer!

It is Wednesday, and Arthur Penhaligon is lying in a hospital bed with a broken leg and recovering from an unexpected asthma attack while anxiously awaiting for the day's events to unfold. He has defeated Grim Tuesday in the scary Pit and managed to prevent a global economic disaster. Now Arthur has been invited to a luncheon with Lady Wednesday. Arthur isn't quite sure he wants to know how he will get there. When his friend Leaf visits his hospital room, she asks Arthur about the Scoucher and is curious to know about the weird events that have occurred since she met him. Arthur is hesitant at first, but decides it's safe to tell her the truth about his secret occupation. Leaf thinks it's neat that Arthur has exciting adventures, but when Arthur tries to explain that these adventures are not as exciting as she thinks they are, the next one suddenly begins. Arthur and Leaf are almost swept away as the hospital room starts to flood, and a ship called the Flying Mantis makes its grand entrance. Leaf is taken aboard the Flying Mantis while Arthur is accidentally left in the perilous sea. It looks like this could be the end of the Rightful Heir, but then Arthur is rescued by the Moth, whose strange and humorous crew salvage across the Border Sea. This is just the beginning of a difficult quest where Arthur must find the Third Part of the Will and the Third Key, and now his friend Leaf. How he is going to complete his search will have him crossing paths with some dangerous thunderstorms; interesting seafaring creatures called Raised Rats; the infamous Lady Wednesday, who harbors a deadly secret; and a fearsome zombie pirate named Feverfew, who wants revenge against Arthur. Meanwhile, there's another new threat secretly biding its time in the Secondary Realms. DROWNED WEDNESDAY is a thrilling high-seas adventure that is both suspenseful and humorous. This is the best book thus far in Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series. The story reveals more of the mystery of the House throughout, and you are left to wonder whether or not Arthur and the worlds he knows of will continue to exist by Sunday. There will be no stopping readers from putting down this book! --- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle

It's hard to be Arthur Penhaligon. As if moving and being asthmatic wasn't bad enough, now he has had two nightmarish adventures, and dealt with the malevolent Morrow Days. In the third book of Garth Nix's dark fantasy series, "Drowned Wednesday," Nix spins his best story yet in this series. Arthur and his pal Leaf are recuperating from the strange events of Monday and Tuesday... until suddenly the hospital is flooded. Leaf is abducted by a strange boat, and Arthur finds himself adrift on the Border Sea, on a hospital bed. After he's picked up by a shipful of friendly Salvagers, he finds that he's inadvertantly become the target for the malevolent pirate Feverfew, a mortal-turned-Denizen on a ship of bone. He also encounters Drowned Wednesday, who has invited him to lunch. But unlike Grim Tuesday and Mister Monday, Wednesday needs his help, because she is cursed: she takes the form of a whale, and has a monstrous appetite. She's willing to give him the Key, but he has to deal with the malevolent Feverfew first, and rescue Leaf. Unfortunately to do that, he will have to take a rescue submarine to a seaport... which happens to be inside Wednesday's stomach. For some reason, after the publication of "Grim Tuesday," the publishers decided to halt production and rerelease the two previous books in hardcover. As a result, "Drowned Wednesday" took forever to come out. Fortunately, it was worth the wait: as writing and characters go, "Drowned Wednesday" beats the second book and equals the first. "Drowned Wednesday" more or less fits the mold of the previous novels: Arthur deals with the strange residents (rats and Denizens) of the various worlds, while trying to avoid being killed. It sounds grim, but Nix spices it up with plenty of humor, such as the stamp-collecting Salvager captain. One of the funniest moments has Arthur looking at a book about his adventures, which shows him as a buff action hero. Fortunately, Nix keeps the story from getting formulaic by giving new twists to the story. Not only is it a seafaring tale, but he portrays the Morrow Day Wednesday as a victim, not a villain. Though Arthur is initially suspicious, it turns out that she's actually rather pitiful. And the final chapter of the book ends on an eerie cliffhanger involving the Skinless Boy. The biggest change is in Arthur himself. In the previous two books, he was a reluctant hero. But now he is beginning to use the power of the Keys without worrying about it, and he is determined to deal with the other Morrow Days. Okay, he still worries a lot, but he's overcoming that; by the finale, he is much more comfortable as the Heir. "Drowned Wednesday" equals "Mister Monday" for humorous dark-fantasy goodness. Here's hoping that "Sir Thursday" doesn't take long to get here.

Garth Nix is an amazing writer. I think few can argue otherwise. This book is a wonderful addition to Nix's callibur of books. I do believe this book is a big rebound after the events of the very grim Tuesday. Yes that pun was intended. Remember, however, that this book is meant to be read by children aged 9-12, so in order to rate it correctly, I must first look through the eyes of the age. In doing so, this book is fantastic, and can only benefit today's youth. Well done Nix, and keep writing!

I have to be honest, I was disappointed with Grim Tuesday. It was too much like Monday, and for a while I thought Nix had lost his touch. I bought this book not knowing what to expect, and to my utter delight, I found this latest book to be new, inventive, and refreshing, as Arthur begins to realize more, and learns more of the house, the architect, and also of the will. There is a great twist in this book, a deviation from the regular plot of the first two books. It is a plot I had hoped Nix would use, and works well with the overall picture of the series. The plot certainly thickens in this third book. Make sure you pick it out from your bookstore. It's a keeper.