OverDrive would like to use cookies to store information on your computer to improve your user experience at our Website. One of the cookies we use is critical for certain aspects of the site to operate and has already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but this could affect certain features or services of the site. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, click here to see our Privacy Policy.
On the first day, there was mystery. Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is, in fact, supposed to die an early death. But then his life is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock. Arthur is safe–but his world is not. Along with the key comes a plague brought by bizarre creatures from another realm. A stranger named Mister Monday, his avenging messengers with bloodstained wings, and an army of dog-faced Fetchers will stop at nothing to get the key back–even if it means destroying Arthur and everything around him. Desperate, Arthur ventures into a mysterious house– a house that only he can see. It is in this house that Arthur must unravel the secrets of the key–and discover his true fate. The first book of a spellbinding series by Garth Nix, the author of The Seventh Tower, Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen.
On the first day, there was mystery. Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is, in fact, supposed to die an early death. But then his life is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock. Arthur is safe–but his world is not. Along with the key comes a plague brought by bizarre creatures from another realm. A stranger named Mister Monday, his avenging messengers with bloodstained wings, and an army of dog-faced Fetchers will stop at nothing to get the key back–even if it means destroying Arthur and everything around him. Desperate, Arthur ventures into a mysterious house– a house that only he can see. It is in this house that Arthur must unravel the secrets of the key–and discover his true fate. The first book of a spellbinding series by Garth Nix, the author of The Seventh Tower, Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
GARTH NIX was born on a Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. He has won the Aurealis Awards for Best Fantasy Novel, Best Young Adult Novel, and Best Children’s Novel—all in the same year. His novels include Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen as well as the complete Keys to the Kingdom series. These titles are all available on audio from Listening Library. He lives near Coogee Beach in Sydney, Australia, with his wife Anna and their children.
Reviews-
In a fantastic realm discovered by an otherwise unadventurous boy, the clock and calendar take on new identities. The young hero encounters an astonishing definition of reality--including ethereal moving staircases, disposable wings, and words that literally come to life--as he struggles to return to the mortal world. Reader Allan Corduner does justice to the impressively wide range of implausible characters yet somehow leaves room for the listener's imagination. His characterizations are subtly crafted, and he doesn't prematurely reveal which strange creatures are friend or foe. The boy's simultaneous terror and bravery are plausible. Corduner's vocal flexibility is the key to this enjoyable audiobook. N.M.C. 2005 YALSA Selection (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
Starred review from July 28, 2003 In this first volume in Nix's (Sabriel) Mister Monday series, magic splashes across virtually every page. First, a brief, cryptic prelude tells of "the Will" that has been kept under cosmic lock-and-key by generations of Inspectors and their robotic sentries. Next, readers meet seventh-grader Arthur Penhaligon, an asthmatic adoptee who is struggling to fit in at his new school. Nix quickly thrusts Arthur into the heart of the mystery: while recovering from an asthma attack during gym class, Arthur is given a mysterious Key and Atlas from Mister Monday, an ominous wheelchair-bound man (mentioned in the prelude). The Key resembles the minute hand of a clock, and is actually a powerful talisman, tied to the clock-like device that guards the Will. Before long, Fetchers, strange dog-faced creatures, attempt to recover the key, and unleash a disease upon humans that threatens massive casualties. Arthur sets out to stop the Fetchers at the source, and ends up exploring a cavernous house visible only to him (it's 4,000 stories high, a girl inside tells him). Here the surreal story becomes even more puzzle-like and visually ornate—a sort of amalgam of Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Tollbooth. Nix's grand explanation of the house and key is an original re-imagining of a classic sci-fi theme: the origin and purpose of the universe—and the willingness of man to circumvent that purpose for selfish gain. With a likeable unlikely hero, fast-paced plotting and a plethora of mystical oddities (e.g., Mister Monday only has "dominion over everything" on Mondays), this series is sure to garner a host of fans. Ages 8-12.
Title Information+
Publisher
Books on Tape
OverDrive Listen
Release date:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Release date:
Digital Rights Information+
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Burn to CD:
Permitted
Transfer to device:
Permitted
Transfer to Apple® device:
Permitted
Public performance:
Not permitted
File-sharing:
Not permitted
Peer-to-peer usage:
Not permitted
All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
Please update to the latest version of the OverDrive app to stream videos.
Device Compatibility Notice
The OverDrive app is required for this format on your current device.
Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
You've reached your library's checkout limit for digital titles.
To make room for more checkouts, you may be able to return titles from your Checkouts page.
Excessive Checkout Limit Reached.
There have been too many titles checked out and returned by your account within a short period of time.
Try again in several days. If you are still not able to check out titles after 7 days, please contact Support.
You have already checked out this title. To access it, return to your Checkouts page.
This title is not available for your card type. If you think this is an error contact support.
There are no copies of this issue left to borrow. Please try to borrow this title again when a new issue is released.
| Sign In
You will be prompted to sign into your library account on the next page.
If this is your first time selecting “Send to NOOK,” you will then be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."
The first time you select “Send to NOOK,” you will be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."
You can read periodicals on any NOOK tablet or in the free NOOK reading app for iOS, Android or Windows 8.
In a fantastic realm discovered by an otherwise unadventurous boy, the clock and calendar take on new identities. The young hero encounters an astonishing definition of reality--including ethereal moving staircases, disposable wings, and words that literally come to life--as he struggles to return to the mortal world. Reader Allan Corduner does justice to the impressively wide range of implausible characters yet somehow leaves room for the listener's imagination. His characterizations are subtly crafted, and he doesn't prematurely reveal which strange creatures are friend or foe. The boy's simultaneous terror and bravery are plausible. Corduner's vocal flexibility is the key to this enjoyable audiobook. N.M.C. 2005 YALSA Selection (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
