Link to Amazon Description: Lady Friday (Keys to the Kingdom, Book 5)
I'm just going to skip straight to the pros and cons, or cons and pros in this case:
Cons: I have a simple criticism of this series. Nix has done a great job with the characters and the plot in general. The setting works as well. What gets me is that there is a lot of buildup to a single scene in every book where Arthur, the hero, confronts the antagonist of the book. We are expecting some sort of fireworks by that point, or at least a really good fight scene, which we were treated with in book one. In every book since the bad guys have been giving up easier and easier in each one. Lady Friday was the worst offender yet. The conflict builds and Lady Friday is about to commit unthinkable evil. Arthur and his crew show up in the nick of time, but instead of a massive struggle it is over in less than half a page. He shows up, says a few things, and Lady Friday actually says something to the affect of "Yeah, I know I am beat." What kind of resolution is that? Every other character was scared of Friday, but our hero shows up and there aren't any fireworks. It is a bit of a let-down.
Pros: While the resolution is a bit weak, the rest of the plot is not. The world that is the setting is proving to continue to grow while not contradicting itself, framing the story nicely. There are now three factions vying for power, including the good guy, and in each installation we learn more about the threats each contender poses to the protagonist. The threats grow, the stakes grow, and we progress towards the final conflict with each book. In short, the author is doing his job beautifully overall. I look forward to Superior Saturday, which I had to reserve at the local library due to the well deserved waiting list.
Date Completed: 9/12/2008
Rating: 3.9
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