Superior Saturday
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This article or section contains information regarding scheduled, forthcoming or expected future book(s). The content may change as the book release approaches and more information becomes available. |
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| Superior Saturday | |
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| Author | Garth Nix |
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| Language | English |
| Series | Keys to the Kingdom |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy, Young adult novel |
| Publisher | TBA |
| Publication date | UK: July 1, 2008 [1] AUS: June 2008.[2] US: Aug 1, 2008 [3] |
| Preceded by | Lady Friday |
| Followed by | Lord Sunday |
Superior Saturday is the sixth novel by Garth Nix in his The Keys to the Kingdom series. It will, if it follows the pattern set by the five previous novels, deal with the removal of the sixth Trustee, Superior Saturday. The expected release date is July 1, 2008 in the United Kingdom,[1], early June 2008 for Australia[2], and August 1, 2008 for the United States[3]. Superior Saturday, like many books of the Keys to the Kingdom series, has been firstly released in Australia.
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[edit] Character
Superior Saturday is one of the Seven Trustees chosen by the Architect to help Her manage affairs within the House, epicentre of the universe and first Creation of the Architect. When the Architect disappeared, She left behind a Will, stating what was to happen to the Keys to the Kingdom, and with it, the mastery of each demesne of the House.
Saturday was given control of the Upper House, and the Sixth Key. Defying the Architect's wish that control of the House be given to a mortal Heir, Saturday kept the Sixth Key and the Upper House, and with the help of Lord Sunday, convinced the other Trustees (Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, Sir Thursday, Lady Friday) to retain mastery of their respective Keys and demesnes of the House. She serves directly under Sunday, and often makes rulings on things not under her direct control, using his "tacit" approval as authority. It has been revealed that she is the oldest Denizen and the most powerful and knowledgeable sorcerer within the House and she is the third most ancient being in the universe, after the Architect and the Old One. She decried their collaborative experiment (having children) from the outset and resents being inferior to Sunday. For the last 10,000 years she has been hatching a plan to remedy this injustice and rule the House and Incomparable Gardens as is her right. She represents the sin of envy.
As shown in all of the novels in the series, Superior Saturday was the one doing most of the plotting against Arthur Penhaligon. During Grim Tuesday she ordered the creation of the The Skinless Boy. The Skinless Boy is a certain type of Nithling called a Spirit-Eater or Cocigrue; its purpose is to take the place of a mortal within their Secondary Realm. It also has the power to control the minds of anyone whom it touches, using the spores of a symbiotic mould. At the end of Drowned Wednesday, it is revealed that she sent it into the Secondary Realm Earth, to take Arthur's place, preventing his return. Using its mould spores to control the minds of Arthur's family and friends, Saturday was able to hold their memory of him for ransom, in exchange for all of his Keys, Demesnes, and any claim as the Rightful Heir.
Her latest move was to order an invasion of the Middle House during the events in Lady Friday. She proclaims control of the Middle House, but as Friday did not legally abdicate her authority of the Middle House, Saturday's claim was false.
It has been confirmed that Saturday possesses the sin of envy because she is taunted by Sunday when he shows her glimpses of his realm. He is aloof and represents pride.
It was revealed in Sir Thursday that Saturday controls the Bathroom Attendants; Denizens who "wash between the ears" of Piper's children (brainwashing them). She controls elevators between the various demesnes of the House; she also attempts to control the telephones of the House, but as these fall under the authority of the Lower House and the wiring of them under the Far Reaches, she lacks full control. She also (up to the events of Sir Thursday) controlled the Army of the Architect through Thursday. Most of these powers have presumably been granted to her by Sunday.
At the end of Lady Friday, Suzy Blue gave Arthur a piece of paper, ripped from a larger piece, that was found by Ugham, and was given up by Ugham before he was destroyed by the Void of Nothing.
"For the last time, I do not wish to intervene. Manage affairs in the House as you wish.
It will make little difference in the end."
S.
Dame Primus confirms to Arthur that the note is from Sunday, as Saturday would not have signed it with a single S. [4]
The Sixth Key is a pen and the Sixth Part of the Will is a raven. This part of the will seems much more charitable than the others, being willing to help Arthur rescue Suzy. It is implied that Arthur has been turned into an immortal (though it is uncertain of what type, as his blood is a brilliant gold).
[edit] The Upper House
The Upper House, ruled by Superior Saturday, is an as of yet enigmatic demesne. Not much is known about this demesne, other than that this is where House Sorcerers are trained. The Upper House controls most of the phone lines throughout the House. As a result, Superior Saturday tries to stop the phone connection to the Lower House, The Far Reaches, The Border Sea, the Great Maze and the Middle House, but is unable to do so because the wiring for the phone services fall underneath the Far Reaches and the phone operators are located in the Lower House.
The ceiling of the Upper House is actually the floor of the Incomparable Gardens, shrouded usually in clouds. Sunday constantly taunts Saturday by parting the clouds only for her eyes to see the realm Saturday desires and envies. Saturday, for the past (almost) ten thousand years, has been building a tower with her private viewing chamber at the top while the other floors are slotted in below. The purpose of the tower is to reach and invade the Incomparable Gardens above and claim it for herself. However, within the Upper House are four large trees located at the four corners of the Upper House that are constantly growing at a rate faster than Saturday can build her tower. As these trees grow, the Incomparable Gardens move further upwards, irritating Saturday for the past ten millennia, with Saturday building her tower and the trees growing faster than Saturday can build. Saturday plot has been revealed, in the first chapter of her book. Her sorcerers have calculated that if the Lower House and the Far Reaches fall into Nothing, then the four trees would grow at a pace slow enough for her builders to finally reach the Incomparable Gardens.
[edit] Plot
The book begins with Saturday discussing with her new Dusk about her plan to invade Sunday's realm, the Incomparable Gardens, which she has been trying to reach since the Architect disappeared. She is envious of Sunday and believes she should rule the House.
Arthur, returning to earth with Friday's captives, discovers that the army is planning to nuke his hometown to prevent disease outbreaks, and uses the Fifth Key to stop time so he can find a way to stop it. He discovers that he is now more than 60% contaminated by sorcery, and is irrevocably turning into a Denizen. Seeing no other choice, he returns to the Lower House to find it empty, and on the verge of being annihilated by Nothing. He barely escapes, reaching the Deep Coal Cellar, which is partially protected by the sorceries surrounding the Old One's prison. After retrieving Doctor Scamandros and questioning the Old One about his condition (and receiving no definite answers), Arthur returns to the Citadel in the Great Maze and plans a preemptive strike against Saturday. He learns that Saturday has deliberately destroyed the Lower House and Far Reaches to stunt the growth of the Drasil trees that lift Sunday's realm higher than Saturday can build. She believes that even if the rest of the House is destroyed, the Incomparable Gardens will remain. Dame Primus wishes for Arthur to fortify the rest of the House against the influx of Nothing, but is reluctantly convinced to split herself into two (Dame Quarto and Dame Septum) to take care of things while Arthur gets the last Keys from Saturday and Sunday. Arthur asks for the Compleat Atlas, but Dame Primus evasively tells him she doesn't have it, and he suspects she is lying but doesn't know why.
Arthur, with Suzy Turquoise Blue, infiltrates the Upper House using the Simultaneous Bottles owned by the Raised Rats, and find that Saturday is preparing her assault on the Incomparable Gardens, which are now within reach of her Tower. Finding that the Sixth Part of the Will is dispersed in the rain that constantly falls in the Upper House, Arthur goes to a holding tank for the water to reconstitute the Will, but is separated from Suzy when they are attacked by Artful Loungers. Flushed down to the lowest levels of the Upper House, he encounters a force of New Nithlings preparing to attack the Upper House.
With the Will's help, Arthur disguises himself as a Sorcerous Supernumerary, in hopes of rescuing Suzy, but is caught up in Saturday's assault force. In the Incomparable Gardens, Arthur tries to take advantage of Saturday being distracted by Sunday's forces to call the Sixth Key to him, but is thrown through the floor of the Gardens as he completes the incantation, with no certainty that is has worked and whether the nuking of Arthur's home has been prevented.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Amazon.co.uk: Superior Saturday (The Keys to the Kingdom): Books: Garth Nix
- ^ a b Superior Saturday at Allen Unwin Publishers. Retrieved on 4 March 2008.
- ^ a b Amazon.com: Superior Saturday (The Keys To The Kingdom): Garth Nix: Books
- ^ Superior Saturday p75
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