Lord Sunday (The Keys to the Kingdom, #7) in Aussie Readers

Jun 07, 2014 Anne Hamilton rated it really liked it

Shelves: australia-nz, fantasy, spec-fic, ya

I wasn't sure whether I liked the ending or not. The bittersweet aspects of it left me feeling quite ambiguous. I wasn't in the least surprised by the Will's actions, nor by Arthur's final choice or even the nature of that final choice.

But I didn't expect to dislike the Architect quite so much. Nor the Piper, despite his actions with Banneret Ugham back in Lady Friday. Yet my feelings towards them were tempered by the sacrifice made by the Mariner and the sense that, despite his lofty grandeur, I wasn't sure whether I liked the ending or not. The bittersweet aspects of it left me feeling quite ambiguous. I wasn't in the least surprised by the Will's actions, nor by Arthur's final choice or even the nature of that final choice.

But I didn't expect to dislike the Architect quite so much. Nor the Piper, despite his actions with Banneret Ugham back in Lady Friday. Yet my feelings towards them were tempered by the sacrifice made by the Mariner and the sense that, despite his lofty grandeur, Lord Sunday was speaking the truth when he said Arthur would doom them all. There is a very real sense in which Arthur was, as someone in the series said though I can't remember who, a catspaw of the Will.

It was inevitable that the last story be about pride, since this was the only one of the seven deadly sins yet to explore. The haughty demeanour of Lord Sunday who has refused to intervene for so long, since so many mundane concerns are beneath his notice, was great. Even better was his adoption of such a clever disguise that he was able to gain Arthur's trust immediately. It was cool to see one of the Trustees outwit Arthur early in the piece. (Ok, maybe Lady Friday did too, but not so directly.)

Arthur's adoptive mother is caught in a timeloop inside their home which has been transported to become a living exhibit inside the Incomparable Gardens. Arthur is sufficiently distracted by this that when one of the Piper's children appears, he doesn't really ask enough questions. Thus he falls captive to Lord Sunday who does everything possible to get him to hand over the keys.

And, at the end of the day - or the week - as it may be, I'm not entirely convinced that Arthur made the right choice in not doing so. The reason for the treachery of the Trustees becomes clear and, let's face it, I'm not sure that any reasonable-minded person would have done any differently with the fate of all things at stake.

However, as the reunited Will finally points out, the irony was that the envy of Superior Saturday served to achieve what the Will was to have done all along.

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