Crazy read. I like the workings of Nix's mind as he tells this tale and describes the dreamlike and alien creatures from the House. Interesting to think of Earth and our Milky Way as a "secondary realm". I enjoyed this story and the places it took me in my mind. Very entertaining.

The writing is way more verbose than I remember, but I love the storyline. 5 stars for nostalgia

3.5

I enjoyed the story, but the way it was written (while it conveyed how the characters actually talked) made it sometimes confusing. I would sometimes go back and reread passages to understand. Not sure if I will read the rest of the trilogy.

Turns out the villain of this series was capitalism all along

(...not a joke)



Surprise! Relevant pandemic feels! I read the first three books in this series like a billion times as a kid but the fourth one took so long for it to come out that I never managed to go farther. Trying out the audiobooks now and really enjoying them. Narrator does a great job, the aesthetics are not at all typical of the genre which is really cool, and it deals with a lot of neat and relatable character things (being adopted! pandemics! asthma & disability! capitalism & bureaucracy!!!!) in a really chill way.

If Harry Potter had been raised as a fundamentalist Christian, and someone gave him LSD, a story like ‘Mister Monday’ by Garth Nix might result. Especially so if he studied the myths surrounding King Arthur (originally an English Christian myth).

Even though I thought the fantasy elements were whimsically fun and interesting, most of the characters are disguised heroes and villains from the Bible. Although apologists try to make the case the author was using tropes from Joseph Campbell's world mythology books, which I have read from cover to cover - twice - I felt as if I was reading a more intense Nardia adventure with more overt and complex biblical imagery.

All Christian beliefs came from older religions. The Bible is a collection of stolen stories from older cultures around the Mediterranean Sea. It seemed to me 'Mister Monday' includes only those religious tropes which were stolen by Christianity from the older religions.

The book is aimed at 9-12 year olds. Christian kids probably adore the book. But I do not believe this is a general world myth introduction for kids.

I found this first book to be extremely entertaining. Filled with mythological and folkloric motifs, mixed with plenty of steampunk settings, and stirred with non-stop action, I devoured this novel in (almost) one sitting. Arthur (the asthmatic, unlikely hero) was well-developed and loyal as was his equally heroic sidekick, Suzy Turquoise Blue (she’s my favorite). Everyone else was dubiously trustworthy for various reasons and I can’t wait to journey to Tuesday to find out. There were also numerous religious overtones within but I didn’t find them to be stifling or overdone. I would recommend this series to teens or older middle-graders as there was some pretty deep philosophy here as well relating to being and nothingness. Overall, this was a stellar, exciting journey.