Drowned Wednesday (The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 3) [Format Kindle]

It's hard to be Arthur Penhaligon. As if moving and being asthmatic wasn't bad enough, now he has had two nightmarish adventures, and dealt with the malevolent Morrow Days. In the third book of Garth Nix's dark fantasy series, "Drowned Wednesday," Nix spins his best story yet in this series.

Arthur and his pal Leaf are recuperating from the strange events of Monday and Tuesday... until suddenly the hospital is flooded. Leaf is abducted by a strange boat, and Arthur finds himself adrift on the Border Sea, on a hospital bed. After he's picked up by a shipful of friendly Salvagers, he finds that he's inadvertantly become the target for the malevolent pirate Feverfew, a mortal-turned-Denizen on a ship of bone.

He also encounters Drowned Wednesday, who has invited him to lunch. But unlike Grim Tuesday and Mister Monday, Wednesday needs his help, because she is cursed: she takes the form of a whale, and has a monstrous appetite. She's willing to give him the Key, but he has to deal with the malevolent Feverfew first, and rescue Leaf. Unfortunately to do that, he will have to take a rescue submarine to a seaport... which happens to be inside Wednesday's stomach.

For some reason, after the publication of "Grim Tuesday," the publishers decided to halt production and rerelease the two previous books in hardcover. As a result, "Drowned Wednesday" took forever to come out. Fortunately, it was worth the wait: as writing and characters go, "Drowned Wednesday" beats the second book and equals the first.

"Drowned Wednesday" more or less fits the mold of the previous novels: Arthur deals with the strange residents (rats and Denizens) of the various worlds, while trying to avoid being killed. It sounds grim, but Nix spices it up with plenty of humor, such as the stamp-collecting Salvager captain. One of the funniest moments has Arthur looking at a book about his adventures, which shows him as a buff action hero.

Fortunately, Nix keeps the story from getting formulaic by giving new twists to the story. Not only is it a seafaring tale, but he portrays the Morrow Day Wednesday as a victim, not a villain. Though Arthur is initially suspicious, it turns out that she's actually rather pitiful. And the final chapter of the book ends on an eerie cliffhanger involving the Skinless Boy.

The biggest change is in Arthur himself. In the previous two books, he was a reluctant hero. But now he is beginning to use the power of the Keys without worrying about it, and he is determined to deal with the other Morrow Days. Okay, he still worries a lot, but he's overcoming that; by the finale, he is much more comfortable as the Heir.

"Drowned Wednesday" equals "Mister Monday" for humorous dark-fantasy goodness. Here's hoping that "Sir Thursday" doesn't take long to get here.

The third book in Garth Nix's The Keys to the Kingdom series, while not as strong an entry as the first two, deepens the scope of hero Arthur's adventures while setting the stage for what promises to be a wild ride through the Upper House.

Drowned Wednesday is typical Nix, chock-full of more intriguing concepts, excellent writing, and real dilemmas than most writers produce in three books. Nevertheless, DW is not as tight a book as its predecessors Mister Monday and Grim Tuesday; Nix never builds up the level of suspense as high as he did in those two. Partly this is due to the nature of Arthur's involvement with Wednesday herself, but I won't say more for fear of spoiling the book. Suffice it to say that DW is much like Lirael in that, while a fine story, it does not have quite the narrative drive of its companions. This is probably to be expected, as Nix has said he had to throw out his first draft after he realized it was bad and started over again (hence the delay in its publishing).

Perhaps the most important feature of DW is the developments that take place within Arthur's psyche as he begins to take proactive rather than reactive action and begins to accept that he must do something, rather than waiting for his enemies to do things to him. By the end of Drowned Wednesday Arthur is determined to settle things with the masters of the Upper House once and for all, and he no longer flinches from using the tools (the Keys) available to him. Suffice it to say that I can't wait to find out what happens next. There are new developments with the Skinless Boy too, and Nix offers up enough information about the Morrow Days to leave us wondering what their game is, whether they are in league together and if so what their purpose is, and most of all what was Drowned Wednesday's exact relationship to them. Is Arthur being double- or triple-crossed? Only time will tell. I can't wait for Sir Thursday.

This book takes place in ships and on the Border Sea. Even if you don't like boating books, this also has a lot of magic and mystery. If you've read and liked Mister Monday and Grim Tuesday, don't stop now. This is the best book I've read all summer!