Sir Thursday

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Title Sir Thursday
Author Garth Nix
Cover artist Sandra Nobes/Hofstede Design (paperback, Allen & Unwin)
Country Australia
Language English
Series Keys to the Kingdom
Genre(s) Young adult
Publisher Scholastic Paperbacks
Released March 1, 2006
Media type Print (paperback & hardcover)
Pages 390 pp
ISBN ISBN 0439700876
Preceded by Drowned Wednesday
Followed by Lady Friday

Sir Thursday is a fantasy novel by Garth Nix, released in March, 2006. Sir Thursday deals with the deadly sin of anger.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It is on Thursday that the reluctant Arthur Penhaligon is about to have his fourth unpredictable adventure wherein he must recover the Fourth Key from Sir Thursday, along with the Fourth part of the Architect's Will. However, matters are made complicated (as usual) when he and his friend Leaf are attempting to return to Earth and it becomes apparent that Arthur has a not-quite doppelganger, called the Skinless Boy.

Forced to stay at the Lower House, Dame Primus brings him bad news: Mister Monday and Grim Tuesday have both been assassinated. This frightens Arthur greatly as he knows it is quite difficult to actually kill a denizen. Arthur soon finds himself in the Great Maze, drafted into Sir Thursday's Glorious Army of the Architect.

Sir Thursday's key is the sword/baton, the Will is a snake and his enemy is the Piper. Arthur Penhaligon is soon mistaken for a Piper's child, and gets washed between the ears. He is then known as Ray Green, an ink filler from the Lower House. He does not remember anything, except basic knowledge. Later, in the first battle against the New Nithings, Arthur throws his power spear which causes a flash of memory, and remembers his name, but nothing else. Much later, he remembers who he really is and what he was there for, and what the letter from Superior Saturday meant.

The Harper Collins Cover
The Harper Collins Cover

Sir Thursday himself is a very capable warrior, his ferocity in battle matched only by his wrath towards anything he might view as insubordination. He seems to have problems co-operating with his own Dawn, Noon and Dusk, known as marshalls, sometimes even placing one or more of them in "temporary disposition" out of anger and frustration. In most situations, he follows the rules handed down by his political superiors, particularly what comes in writing from Superior Saturday, who acts as the Denizen in charge of day to day affairs for Lord Sunday.