Weekly Round-up: Superior Saturday and The Viper’s Nest
Posted by panaura on 23rd March 2010
This week I read two young adult novels: Superior Saturday (book 6 in the Keys to the Kingdom series) by Garth Nix, and The Viper’s Nest (book 7 in The 39 Clues series) by Peter Lerangis.
I have to be honest. I didn’t like Superior Saturday. Which is unusual because I love science fiction and fantasy books. But this novel really confused me. I haven’t read the first five books, which are all based on the days of the week (and if you look a little deeper, the seven deadly sins):
- Mister Monday (Sloth)
- Grim Tuesday (Greed)
- Drowned Wednesday (Gluttony)
- Sir Thursday (Wrath)
- Lady Friday (Lust)
- Superior Saturday (Envy)
- Lord Sunday (Pride)
So that might have been my downfall. By book 6, authors expect you to have some background knowledge of the plot 
and characters. So coming into the story with fresh eyes was not the best idea. The series follows 12 year old Arthur as he attempts to gather all seven Keys to the Kingdom–keys, which were left by the Architect, to a mortal heir. But Arthur is growing more and more immortal all the time. In this book, he must find the Sixth Key before his mortality runs out, and return home to stop a nuclear bomb from hitting his city. Those are some big orders to fill for anyone, let alone a 12 year old.
As a long time fan of The 39 Clues series, I really enjoyed The Viper’s Nest. I’m not going to give you too much info on it (the books are so short, I don’t want to ruin any surprises!). But I will say that Dan and Amy travel to South Africa following a clue left by their relative Irina Spasky before she gave her life for theirs. And Dane really steps up to the plate this book, using his awesome decoding abilities. That’s all I’ll say. Definitely check it out.
Tags: 39 clues, adventure, book series, fantasy books, garth nix, keys to the kingdom, kids book series, kids books, peter lerangis
Posted in Book Reviews, kids books | Comments Off