The first man's name is Sneezer, an old man. While waiting for help, Arthur notices two strange-looking men materializing out of thin air. Two of his schoolmates, Ed and Leaf, stop to help him use his inhaler and then run to get help. He collapses because of a severe asthma attack. On Earth, a boy named Arthur Penhaligon is at a new school. It is in this house that Arthur must unravel the secrets of the key - and discover his true fate.' Plot A stranger named Mister Monday, his avenging messengers with blood-stained 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.ĭesperate, Arthur ventures into a mysterious house - a house that only he can see. Along with the key comes a plague brought by bizarre creatures from another realm.

But then he is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock.Īrthur is safe - but his world is not. He is, in fact, supposed to die an early death. Ages 8-12.' Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. With a likeable unlikely hero, fast-paced plotting and a plethora of mystical oddities (e.g., Mister Monday only has 'dominion over everything' on Mondays), this series is sure to garner a host of fans. Nix's grand explanation of the house and key is an original re-imagining of a classic sci-fi theme: the origin and purpose of the universe-and the willingness of man to circumvent that purpose for selfish gain. Here the surreal story becomes even more puzzle-like and visually ornate-a sort of amalgam of Alice in WonderlandĪnd The Phantom Tollbooth. Arthur sets out to stop the Fetchers at the source, and ends up exploring a cavernous house visible only to him (it's 4,000 stories high, a girl inside tells him). Before long, Fetchers, strange dog-faced creatures, attempt to recover the key, and unleash a disease upon humans that threatens massive casualties. The Key resembles the minute hand of a clock, and is actually a powerful talisman, tied to the clock-like device that guards the Will. Nix quickly thrusts Arthur into the heart of the mystery: while recovering from an asthma attack during gym class, Arthur is given a mysterious Key and Atlas from Mister Monday, an ominous wheelchair-bound man (mentioned in the prelude). Next, readers meet seventh-grader Arthur Penhaligon, an asthmatic adoptee who is struggling to fit in at his new school. First, a brief, cryptic prelude tells of 'the Will' that has been kept under cosmic lock-and-key by generations of Inspectors and their robotic sentries. In this first volume in Nix's ( Sabriel) Mister Monday series, magic splashes across virtually every page.

Mister monday book series