Customer Reviews
The rain keeps coming down - By: E. A Solinas, 05 Aug 2008 
Arthur Penhaligan's week is almost over, but unfortunately it's not getting any better. Not for him, & not for the House.
In fact, just about everything is tumbling downin the penultimate book of Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, "Superior Saturday,"in which Arthur finally encounters the malevolent sorceress who's been messing things up throughout the series. It's a suitably chaotic & haunting story, & Arthur's internal struggles & new discoveries are a pretty fascinating read -- but don't expect it to really end on anything but a massive cliffhanger.
Arthur receives an emergency call from his brother, who warns him that the Army is about to nuke their entire town. Desperate, Arthur tries to shield the town, but instead ends up slowing time. Unfortunately that is only one of his worries: the magic of the Keys is transforming Arthur's body & mind into something inhuman, & Nothing is eroding away the very foundations of the House. To stop it, he must somehow steal away Superior Saturday's power, & he has to rely on one of the less reliable forcesin the House to smuggle himself & Suzy into Saturday's domain.
While Leaf & her pal struggle to save Friday's sleeping victims, Arthur explores Saturday's realm. Turns out Saturday is building a vast tower built by Piper's Children & overseen by sorcerers, so she can reach the Incomparable Gardens that Lord Sunday rules -- & what's more, Arthur is having a lot of trouble locating the Will. His only hope is to climb the tower with Saturday's sorcerous army -- but what awaits them at the top?
"Superior Saturday" is not just saturatedin rain, butin desperation. A lot of bad things are happening all at once, since the House is about to collapse, the town is about to be bombed by the Army, all the Piper's rats & children are suspect, & Arthur has found that he can't even trust Dame Primus anymore. There are a lot of bad things going onin "Superior Saturday," but Nix also unfolds some intriguing new revelations about the House & its purpose, during another visit to the imprisoned Old One.
And Nix somehow loads all of this into the plot without making it feel clunky or infodumpy. He spins a suitably dark & gloomy atmosphere over Saturday's domain, full of steampunk-style machinary & lots of ever-drizzling rain. It moves pretty gradually for awhile, but speeds up after Arthur locates the Will, & bumps into another old enemy. And Nix isn't afraid to throwin some horror moments, such as an unfortunate Denizen whose body was dissolved by Nothing, or the chaotic attacks on Saturday's army during the climax.
The biggest problem is that "Superior Saturday" doesn't really end -- the action & tension slowly build for a long time, only to snap like a recoiling spring... on a cliffhanger. Rather than being story unto itself, it's the first half of a story that "Lord Sunday" will finish.
While Arthur seems to accept his transformation a bit too easily, his struggles with his inhuman thoughts ("For a moment he even felt like striking Scamandros, or forcing the Denizen to prostrate himself & beg forgiveness") & rapidly changing body are well-drawn. And Nix raises some intriguing questions about just what it is that Arthur is turning into, since it's made quite clear that he's not transforming into a run-of-the-mill Denizen.
While it has no real ending, "Superior Saturday" is a dark, mildly horrific ride through what is left of the House, & promises a spellbinding finalein the final Keys to the Kingdom novel. An enthralling little book, so long as you don't mind waiting for what comes next.
Superior Garth Nix! - By: Stampy, 25 Jul 2008 In the sixth instalment of the Keys to the Kingdom series, Arthur is on a journey to gain the sixth key from Saturday, the oldest denizenin the House.
After disappointmentin the Thursday & Friday novels, I was wondering if Nix had somewhat gone into too deep with his attention to detail rather than action & suspense but Saturday is right back on track with intensity, action & a mouth watering prospect for Sunday that I believe this latest addition is right behind Mondayin terms of the bestin the series.
We are offered suspense & action right from the first chapter as the stakes are raisedin the outside world as well as the House & now Arthur has to face the biggest challenge, the oldest & most powerful denizenin the house.
I am a slow reader but the writing was so good & fulfilled the uses & gratifications for the reader that it must have taken me around 2 weeks, & that is for an exceptionally slow reader. Intense, powerful, detailed & most importantly exciting Superior Saturday fulfils the fantasy adventure genre beautifully with more new creatures & a new part of the House to explore.
Despite the intensity & action, there is a feeling of repetition as Nix resorts back to using characters from his previous books to move the plot along. Surely an entire house has so much to explore that there is room for some new creatures & parts to explore? There is also some inconsistency. When the action sequences finishes & Arthur is forced to wait or talk, there is an over analytical view of proceedings, which takes away a bit of imagination.
Nevertheless the action, writing & the best ending I have readin a long time, Superior Saturday is one of the best booksin the Keys to the Kingdom series.
8.5/10
Finshed too early - By: Mr. Humphrey Mildred, 25 Jul 2008 
I have loved every single other Keys to the Kingdom book. However i was disapponited by this one after the heights reachedin Thursday & Friday. My main problem was that the novel doesn't have a proper ending. There should be at least three more chapters. Also the epic battle between Saturday & Arthur fails to occur. Questions are still left unanswered. A few plot lines from the previosu books are ignored. Still it is still a good read & i'm defiantly still looking forward to reading the final instalment.
Worth buying - By: Alexandra Birchall, 11 Jul 2008 Superior Saturday is the sixthin Garth Nix's "Keys to the Kingdom" series, so I had high expectations for it. However, whilst certainly a good book, it was perhaps a slight let down after the brilliance of the other five. As Superior Saturday as been made to seem the all-powerful enemyin the previous novels, her defeat seemed a little too easy & less dramatic than expected. The plot followed the same line as the other five, which, although undoubtedly good, has become just a little repetitive: retrieve part of the Will of the Architect, defeat the Trustee & gain the Key, & so lacked a little novelty, apart from the cliffhanger ending that, admittedly, really made me want to know what happened. Another interesting development is that Arthur finally becomes more immortal than mortal & starts struggling with thoughts of superiority, which added a new level to the story & will probably have even greater implicationsin the final installment. I would recommend this book to bookworms aged about eleven & above who enjoyed the other "Keys to the Kingdom" books.
Worked my way through them - for younger kids great - By: Julie Watt, 11 Jul 2008 I read through the Keys to the Kingdom series & would advice tehse books for would-be Darren Shan fans, they are slightly seventies/eightiesin style. Not as good as the Sabriel triology I ahve to say but as I got past Monday, through to wednesday (like Craig David) I started to enjoy these books.
I think Garth Nix wanted something simpler than Sabriel annd that is what he has created. These books are very cheap & can be read easilyin an afternoon, enjoyable but could they be read again, I doubt it, but that's upto you.
If you have read Superior Saturday or the otehrs I would suggest these products for your further reading:
Sabriel
Lirael
Culmintaingin Abhosen, I have signed first editions of these books & re-read themin the intwer onths, as the snow beats down I am readyf or my adventures with Sabriel & especially look forward to the Disrepuatble dog.
Lord Loss (Book One of The Demonata)
For Keys of the Kingdom fans this shold be the next step, these books are very gory & have great descriptive parts. the demonata is actually one of the scariest foes ever.
The Elements of Lore - Volume 1 of The Books of Lore: 1
As readers progress through Nix they should check out this little gem, full of magic & mayhem ready for readers after the Sabriel triology I think. I got a signed edition off one of the private sellers too!
