Arthur Penhaligon suffers from asthma and has been hospitalized many times. During a gym class at a new school, he suffers so badly that two of the students decide to get help and leave him alone. While he is alone, Mister Monday and Sneezer appear out of nowhere and gift Arthur with a clock minute hand which Arthur calls the key. They do this because they believe Arthur is going to die and they can immediately get the key back. (Mister Monday must relinquish the key as The Will dictates but there is nothing that says he cannot take it back). However, the key actually helps Arthur breathe and saves his life. Arthur thinks the whole thing is a hallucination from oxygen deprivation but when the police and ambulance quarantine the school, he starts to believe that something weird went down. Thus starts a bizarre adventure with dastardly villains (Mister Monday to be exact, as well as his evil minions) and danger at every turn. Arthur is immediately swept up into the House and into a very strange situation. Of course, Arthur's only goal is to find a cure for the plague that has shut down his town and return home but The Will has other plans for Arthur.
This is a really interesting story from Garth Nix, an author I've never read before but will definitely be reading again...book 2, Grim Tuesday to be exact as soon as the library coughs it up.
This is a really interesting story from Garth Nix, an author I've never read before but will definitely be reading again...book 2, Grim Tuesday to be exact as soon as the library coughs it up.
